I was making a point online the othere day, and for historical perspective, I chose Iwo Jima.
We lost 6800 young men in 36 days. It just STAGGERS me to think of it, given how small Iwo Jima is.
Any death in war is terrible, but given the size of Iraq and Afghanistan, in historical terms, have done pretty well.
But I still wished we hadn't been attacked, and I wish we had those 3000+ on 9/11 and 2500+ killed in our military since then, back amongst the ranks of the living.
Iwo Jima was a heck of a slog. The airfield made it worthwhile. When the real war starts up and casualties are in the millions rather than the thousands, then there are going to be a lot of confused and pampered citizens with drool running down their chins not knowing what to do.