All this talk of "doubling down" in Iraq is missing something: we've already doubled and lost.
2740 Americans died in the attacks of September 11.
2937 American soldiers have died in Iraq, as of this writing.
Of course, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, so it was a bad bet to begin with. And, we've seen to the deaths of tens (in Bushville) or hundreds (in the reality-based world) of thousands of innocent Muslims, in the process of revenge or as collateral damage - so we've much more than doubled the human losses from the initial attack. And, the deaths of American soldiers or Iraqis won't bring back those we lost. And, we're still holding the mother of all losing hands. And, this isn't poker.