I think that the Iraqi situation (Bill mischaracterizes it as a war) is no worse, and probably better than Japan and Germany after big 2.
There is a difference among the three situations:
Germany: defeated militarily with just about no materials or will to fight left.
Japan: defeated militarily and had gotten "a whiff of the atom", but still had the will to fight. If the emperor (god on earth) had publically declared "fight to the last man, woman and child" instead of surrendering, trying to occupy Japan would have been a nightmare no matter how many more atomic bombs we had. Millions more Japanese and Americans would have died trying to subdue it.
Iraq: defeated militarily, but not militarily destroyed. Most units just went home when it became clear they were losing. Some regained their will to fight once the fighting stopped. Additionally, those who want to continue the fight have aid from Syria, Iran and other countries, unlike Germany or Japan which were the last dominoes of the Axis.
Defeating Iraq is more along the lines of defeating Italy in WW2. A good step, but still a long way to go before the end.
I hope that a high election turn out will take the wind out of the sails of those fighting against us in Iraq. If 70% of the nation votes, it will show the world (and more importantly the Iraqis themselves) that support for the terrorists is small. The Iraqis will be more likely to report where the terrorists are if they believe that most Iraqis want them gone.