MountainRunner has a great post about the shocking but unfelt costs to most Americans of the war in Iraq.

He discusses the impact (or lack thereof) of the war on the general American population, and then compares it to the impact on the Iraqi population.

IRAQ
Population: 27,499,638 (July 2007 est.)
First Hand Knowledge of War: 9,300,000 - 12,700,000
Percentage of population: 34% - 46%

UNITED STATES
Population: 301,139,947 (July 2007 est.)
First Hand Knowledge of War: 5,400,000 - 8,200,000
Percentage of population: 2% - 3%

Firsthand knowledge means those Americans who personally — extended family, friends, and acquaintances — know someone killed in Iraq, and Iraqis who knows Iraqis who have been killed.

A great post about an important topic — the civil-military disconnect.