Sobering words about this cakewalk.

Yahoo! News - U.S. Prepared to Pay 'High Price' to Oust Saddam The United States is prepared to pay a "very high price" in terms of casualties to capture Baghdad and oust President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), a senior U.S. Central Command official said on Monday.

"We're prepared to pay a very high price because we are not going to do anything other than ensure that this regime goes away," the official told reporters, adding that U.S. casualties in the 12-day-old war had so far been "fairly" light.

"If that means there will be a lot of casualties, then there will be a lot of casualties," said the official, who spoke on condition that he not be named.

"There will come a time maybe when things are going to be much more shocking," he said, adding: "In World War II, there would be nights when we'd lose 1,000 people.