For one family in Bermuda, the war in Iraq has hit home directly.

Sgt. Jason DiGiacomo, who grew up in Bermuda, was injured this week when his patrol truck was deliberately run off the road by local Iraqis.

His family received the news with a mixture of sadness and relief: Sadness that their flesh and blood was hurt, and relief that his injuries were not worse.

All of Bermuda, whether they are for and against the action against Iraq, should join the family in support and sympathy.

This newspaper eventually decided to accept that there was sufficient reason for the US and Britain to invade Iraq. This position was only taken after long thought and with deep reservations, not only about the action itself, but because it was clear that even though the odds of a military victory in Iraq were very high, winning the peace was certain to be complicated and drawn out.

What has made the situation more complex since that time is that the weapons of mass destruction that both US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said were in Iraq have not been found.

This makes the war itself much harder to justify, except as an act by democracies against a brutal dictator. That's fine, but there are plenty of other brutal dictators around the world whom the coalition has no plans to unseat, and with good reason.

However, what's done is done. It is very clear that the planning for the aftermath of the war was much less expert than the war planning itself and families like the DiGiacomos are right to wonder when it will end.

Sgt. DiGiacomo's father, Bob DiGiacomo, said: "I just hope it doesn't turn out to be another Vietnam."

To be sure, the number of military personnel killed in Iraq in this war is insignificant compared to the 56,000 who died in the Vietnam conflict.

But since President Bush declared combat over on May 1, 60 Americans and four Britons have died. It is reasonable to assume that eventually the number of deaths since May 1 will overtake the 170 or so coalition personnel killed in the actual campaign.

The fact that Iraqis are not falling over themselves with gratitude to their "liberators", even if they do acknowledge that Iraq is better off without Saddam, shows that nation-building cannot be done over the barrel of a gun.

The sooner the coalition troops are replaced with peacekeepers under the banner of the United Nations, the better.