This is what I heard on the radio the other day. NPR. Caller calls in and says, "why aren't we talking about our kill ratio, our number of terrorists killed?"
I think that's true, at least for other wars you could make the case that yes, the Battle of the Bulge was horrible, but we also attacked them an did damage etcetera. But now we're not even doing that.
And I think there's a few reasons. Most people, when given a statistic at this point like, "America killed x number of insurgants today" wouldn't even believe it anymore. The enemy doesn't wear uniforms, so who's to say that that number might not contain 10% or 30% innocents? Further, your average American has no gripe with going to war with the people that caused 9/11, people who want to come over here and blow us up. But we have absolutely zero interest in having our own people go off and die fighting both sides of a civil war that has nothing to do with us anymore.
American lives, capitol, and worldwide power and renown are worth more than the Iraqi civil war.