How many US Soldiers and Marines do believe would killed in house to house, room to room, roof to roof fighting in Fallujah without taking the time to prepare the battlefield?
The "simple" solution would be to turn that city of 300,000 into another Dresden but that would win the battle and lose the war as practically all public support in America would evaporate.
What happens outside of Fallujah in regards to casualties are separate tactical problems that must be addressed individually according to the tactical situation involved in each scenario. Storming Fallujah in house to house fighting is not going to stop the ambush of a supply convoy 50 miles away.
All war have casualties. The Eighth Air Force alone suffered over 50,000 casualties in World War II with half of those being fatalities. The Iranians had one million casualties in the Iran-Iraq War.
Yes, we have lost 90 dead this past month but it seems that many have come to believe that some magical age has arrived when the U.S. is supposed to win wars without sustaining combat casualties.
Up until recently low casualties have been the norm because the U.S. has avoided urban combat like the plague. Well, urban combat can no longer be avoided and the U.S. is taking the necessary steps to ensure that the battlefield is prepared in such a way that the U.S. can still fight on a battlefield prepared to our advantage rather than fighting on a battlefield that maximizes the enemy's advantages.