let me get this straight...you want to determine the number of american casualties it takes to "break the will" of the country to wage war in iraq..
let's say your right with the 5000 number..
so any despot can attack/blackmail/threaten/destabilize the U.S., and all they need to do is kill 5000
american troops to get the U.S. to back off..
do you understand that other countries and their goverments look at the U.S. and interpret our actions based on
previous events? the fact that negative press and protests at home in the 70's "resulted" in the withdrawal of U.S. troops from vietnam,
made the U.S. look weak and defeatable (by a small country no less) and probably has ENCOURAGED the present eforts in iraq to kill americans.
if we don't present a determined, united front to our enemies (and rest assurred we have enemies not of our own making) a strong argument can be made
that we are encouraging them to continue to fight us.
military force is the last form of diplomacy when all else has failed...it's best role is as a deterrent..but it has to be a credible deterrent to work.
to undermine the credibilty of our military actions is self-defeating..like it or not, that's why some people call the actions of the democrats "treasonous"