cloth v. disposables. seriously?

While hanging out at my mothers I watched daytime tv for the first time in forever and saw one of those morning "news" shows, you know that one where they go outside and talk to the screaming people, Good Morning America I think. Anyhow, they did a little bit about how many resources the average person uses in a lifetime and they talked about disposable diapers. Showed images of the amount of plastic, paper, cotton, etc used in all the diapers needed for one child - working on shocking us into disgust. But I was very erked that the punchline of this story was not about how to cut down on all the waste. Missed a big chance to give some tips for decreasing the maddness. They didnt seriously talk about cloth diapers but instead said "and in case you thought cloth was the answer"...well you have to wash cloth diapers and that takes water which is precious, so were screwed either way. Hellooo? Yes, washing cloth diapers uses resources. Duh. But after all that calculating about the environmental disaster of disposables its ridiculous to dismiss cloth so flippantly. We need a serious comparative study people! I am so so so so so so so so so tired of people telling me that they have heard that the environmental impact of 'sposies and cloth come out equal in the end. Why not disposable clothes then? Disposable dishes? We can improve our water conservation habits (grey water etc) easier than we can remedy the massive use of plastics and dumping of non-degradable diapers (filled with human waste mind you - also bad for the earth and for us). I was two extra loads of laundry a week. I use warm, not hot water. Cloth users know that bleach is bad for diapers, and many many use earth friendly detergents. A child uses around 3 thousand diapers in their first year (a little less the following years), and typically go 2 or 3 years in dipes. If 'sposies and cloth are comparatively equally earth damaging, somebody better prove it to me.
harrrumph.