Does the word "wasted" mean the same as the word "sacrificed?"?

Question

On CBS television on Feb. 28, McCain criticized management of the war, saying, "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives, over there." He apologized the next day saying he should have said "sacrificed."

Answer 1

Originally the word sacrifice meant, "To give up something of person value for lesser value or none"

That means a sacrifice is done  to waste the worldly thing, in reality space-time.

You can have an otherworldly reason not to care about what's wasted--but it's literally and specifically being "wasted" here.  The profit would be in a so-called fantasy otherworld after lie and only there--your sacrifice/waste her is an investment of capital/profit seeking in that other universe only.

Answer 2

By saying "we've wasted" he's essentially saying that the war was a disaster, because everything that went into the war was well wasted. Money, time, resources and more importantly humans lives were all just thrown away.

However, this doesn't make him look good as he's pro-war. By not saying sacrificed he's essentially shot himself in the foot when it comes to veterans and soldiers (plus their family and his pro-war supporters). Instead of acknowledging that soldiers are honourably fighting,dying and have honourably fought and died in Iraq he basically said it was all worth nothing.

That's why he apologised.

Answer 3

No, wasted implies that the action was unnecessary or useless or futile  as opposed to sacrificed which makes it seem that these deaths were in the service of some higher idea or for the greater good of our country. ( McCain got it right the first time.. it was an unjust war and those lives were unnecessarily expended, that is to say, wasted!)

Answer 4

No, the meanings are quite different.  His first statement was more correct, but less "politically correct."

Answer 5

No, there is a difference.

Wasted means lost for no good reason. Like wasted food, wasted water, wasted efforts, ...

Sacrificed is lost/used for a good cause. Although a war is not a good cause, but you know what I mean, don't you? Like the sacrifices made for the Gods, or the things you give up in order to be able to have other things, because you can't get them all.