Of course you are correct but the civilian casualties will happen with surgical strikes and with occupation.

The fact is, right or wrong the American public is more sensitive to our casualties than civilian casualties and public opinion matters far more than the left or right in all things. Leave everything the same but remove 3000 American casualties and check Bush's popularity. I said from the beginning that we can't handle casualties over an extended period.

The left has never depopularized the first Gulf War in spite of all their efforts because we got out fast with almost no casualties. There were civilian casualties in that one as well.

I am not saying when or if we should ever use our military. I'm jez sayin....pragmatically...