I understand your statements. I too think the same way. Yes- 400 Dead is a tragic figure. And I don't want to lesson their deaths. But it is hardly indicative of a military "quagmire".
On the the other hand it is a political, diplomatic, and financial quagmire that this country was darn fool to engage in.
But the image of our troops kicking in doors of entire blocks of neighborhoods that they think might harbor rebels? I thought the majority loved us? Wasn't that what we were told?
That brings up images that are not good. And that fact . . . that we have to do such indiscrimante raids- tells this amatuer that our intel is soft and weak and they do more harm than good.
Just an opinion.
My own sources on the ground over there indicate to me that the vast majority are happy we are there. z,pz. I believe that to be the case, but also believe that the media and the democrats and left will do anything they can to paint the picture as badly as possible. We help their cause with such actions as general fire arms confiscations.
...and, on top of all of that, in areas with larger numbers of hold overs, it is a hard and brutal job to ferret them out along with the infiltrators and terrorists from other countries. Intel is soft in some areas, but in others we are getting a lot of help from the locals. The Sunni triangle is the biggest problem and it is no accident that the largest numbers of ba'athist holdovers resides there.