WWII didn't end with VE or VJ day. We spend years afterwords rebuilding Germany and Japan.
###
The difference is we weren't taking casualities during those years. In 1946 we occupied Germany, Japan, Italy, and northern Africa and we had 5 people KIA and 1 who died of wounds in the whole year, world wide.
After WW II we broke their will to resist before we started nation building. That's what we should have done in Iraq.
The neo-cons like Pearl who are now stabbing Bush in the back, convinced him and Cheney that there would be no resistance in Iraq. which was an assanine assertion.
Iraq wouldn't be an issue if we had 6 battle casualties this year. Tonight the Republican Party is paying the price for that mistake.
F-YOU!