With U.S. troops closing in on Baghdad and the timetable of military leaders growing ever more vague, Americans only can expect the U.S.-led war on Iraq to get bloodier.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday he is unsure about the timetable of this war - especially its ending. But it seems the Pentagon's estimated cost of war in Iraq is getting greater every day.

The U.S. military is about to find itself face-to-face against some of Saddam Hussein's most trained and war-ready Republican Guards along with suicide bombers as they enter Baghdad. And many Iraqi soldiers have proven they won't succumb to surrender as easily as U.S. military officials predicted.

While the invasion of the city with about 290,000 U.S. and British troops is on schedule, it seems military leaders are meeting a lot of unexpected hardships - at least they weren't quick to tell the public to expect them.

Although supplies and soldiers are being reinforced for those entering into the battle in Baghdad, no amount of food or weapons will shield those who are fighting from the sword of destruction of both life and goods.

The United States is faced with a military operation that has shown it isn't attached to following traditional rules of war as its troops have hid in hospitals and dressed as civilians improve their chances against the superior power.

It seems the United States' shock and awe campaign on Baghdad was a mere precursor to the horrors which could be displayed by the upcoming attack on the city.

The United States has either underestimated the power of the Iraqi resistance or duped the American public into believing this war wouldn't prove much more costly than its predecessor. Someone is selling us short nonetheless.