The headlines and broadcasts are now showing the realities of war - firefights near Nasiriyah, a jet downed by "friendly" fire, a U.S. soldier apparently turning on his comrades, American soldiers taken prisoner on the battlefield and American protesters demonstrating at home.

To call these incidents "setbacks" is to misunderstand the nature of war. These events are the daily incalculables; a few of the horrors that make war such a bloody and terrible business. They should harden our resolve to end the conflict decisively and quickly.

The media's intimate access to these events means that we will see them with shocking immediacy. Such open access is one of the wonders of our society. But it also risks distorting the war for those of us following it at home. We are seeing the war in sound bites that have little relationship to overall progress or strategy.

The fact that one soldier might roll grenades into the tents of his officers in Kuwait is shocking, but it should be viewed as the aberration that it is, not a reflection of the overall morale of our troops.

That a squad of a dozen soldiers was killed or captured after being caught by the enemy Sunday outside of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq was an awful loss for their families and a grim reminder of the dangers soldiers face, but it is hardly a significant development in the overall conflict.

The fact that a U.S. Patriot missile battery apparently misidentified and shot down a British jet is a regrettable accident, but it is no reflection on the overall competence of our forces or the close coordination of American and British forces.

The fact that thousands of protesters can rally in the streets against the war does not mean our policy in Iraq lacks the support of the American public. Indeed, polls show otherwise. What the protests mean is that in America, unlike in Iraq, dissent is accepted as the right of a free people.

Despite our overwhelming technical superiority, fighting this war is not painless. It is a grim and fearfully dangerous undertaking. We entered into this conflict reluctantly, but believing that failing to do so would leave the world open to even greater horrors.

There likely will be more incidents like those described above in the days ahead. We must face them for what they are and not waiver from our commitment to disarm Iraq and eliminate the threat of Saddam Hussein.