'measured in blood and treasure'

how fitting that is. how sad but true that is.

Rumsfeld ex-aide calls Iraq war 'major debacle' whose outcome is 'in doubt'
Former senior aide to Rumsfeld delivers scathing indictment
A 48-page report written by a former aide to Donald Rumsfeld and issued by the Pentagon's premier military educational institute has called the Iraq war a "major debacle" whose outcome is "in doubt."
"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle," the report's opening line reads. "As of fall 2007, this conflict has cost the United States over 3,800 dead and over 28,000 wounded. Allied casualties accounted for another 300 dead."
Published by the National Defense Institute's National Institute for Strategic Studies, a Defense Department research center, the report does not reflect the official views of the Pentagon or the Defense Department. But it delivers a scathing indictment from the key educational arm of the US Armed Forces.
The report was written by Joseph Collins, a retired colonel and former senior adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. It's importance cannot be overstated, because it is based in part on interviews on former senior defense and intelligence officials who spoke candidly and played roles in preparations for war........