14 DEAD CIVIES=GREATEST CRIME IN HUMAN HISTORY

Four years ago, Klintoon and Crazy Wesley Clark killed lots of civilians in Kosovo. They intentionally targeted civilians. They conducted a deliberate terrorist campaign.

I remember how a market was bombed one day. I remember the photos of dead old ladies in the street.

Another day, they bombed a bus. I remember that too. And I also remember that on another day, they bombed a train.

Lots of innocent civilians were deliberately targeted by Klintoon and Clark, and lots of civilians were killed. And I remember there was not a single peep of protest from any of the people who are protesting today. Not a single peep. Ever.

Today, something hit a market in Baghdad and killed fourteen civilians. There's no proof that what hit was one of our bombs or cruise missiles. Most probably, it was either an Iraqi missile or AAA. But of course, the world KNOWS that we did it. And more than that, they KNOW we did it deliberately. Janeane Garofalo, who arrogantly proclaimed, never having set foot in Iraq, that there were no WMDs there, would probably likewise proclaim that a Tomahawk slaughtered those fourteen civilians, even though she probably doesn't even know what a Tomahawk looks like.

We're fighting a two-front war, and I don't mean on the ground. We're fighting on one front to topple Saddam and destroy his WMD, and we're fighting on another front to win the hearts and minds of people. I would say that the first part of the battle is attainable, but the second may not. How can we win the hearts and minds of people whose hearts and minds have been hardened by so much hatred and propaganda?

We're trying very hard not to kill any civilians, and that is an honorable and worthy goal. But how long before this strategy becomes a hindrance to our primary goal, the destruction of Saddam's regime and his weapons? Saddam's thugs will not play by any rules. They know we're very concerned about civilians, and they're using that against us with expert skill. So what do we do? If every bad guy in Iraq hides behind a civilian, what do we do? Call off the war and bring the troops home, because we can't shoot at anyone anymore?

Imagine a situation in which an armed and dangerous criminal hides behind a hostage to keep the police at bay. What do the police do? Do they let the criminal flee? Do they stand there in paralysis and allow the criminal to control the situation? Do they not take action in the end, because an endless stand-off cannot be permitted and they must do their job?

Al Jazeera and all the media in the ME are rabidly claiming that we're intentionally targeting civilians, and we're taking great pains to stress that we're not. But if Saddam's thugs hide behind civilians, then we have to change the ROE and take out the bad guys even if we take out some good folks unintentionally. If we do this, what difference will it make to our reputation? How would it change the world's opinion of us? It would make absolutely NO difference and make NO change, because they're ALREADY claiming we're doing it and the world BELIEVES it. The one difference it WOULD make, I believe, is that these whiners would suddenly shut up and see that we mean business. As long as we try to be nice, which they perceive as weakness and which they despise and exploit, they're going to be taunting us and slandering us. But once we take the gloves off and do what has to be done to get the job done, I guarantee the accusations will stop. As long as they know we're afraid to kill civilians, they'll continue slandering us with accusations that we're killing civilians. Once we show them we'll kill civilians if we have to in order to get the bad guys, they'll shut up in fear.

Think of it as a peacenik who keeps taunting you and trying to provoke you into a fight, calling you a warmonger. He does it to get you to prove his point for him. No matter how much you refuse to take the bait and you remain calm, the peacenik keeps insulting you and trying to get you to punch him. If you stand there and take it, he'll do it forever. But the minute you punch him out, do you think he'll proclaim, "See! I proved you're a warmonger!" No. What he'll do is shut up and slink away like the coward he is.

It's about time we start acting like the bully all of our enemies accuse us of being. No matter how nice we try to be, our enemies will slander us and calumniate against us 24/7 with accusations of being warmongers and barbarians. But I bet that the moment we start acting like what they accuse us of being, they won't whine anymore. They will shut the hell up, quake with fear, and give us respect.

We are failing to understand the psychology of these people. We are seeing them through a prism of our own psyche. To them, living under an iron hand is normal, a condition they accept and do nothing to change, because it's all that they know. While WE would never accept living under tyranny, they accept it because they've never known the alternative. I submit that should we dispense with the compassion, and instead use an iron hand stronger than Saddam's, these people would get in line and respect us.

Trying to win their hearts and minds right now is, I believe, misguided. They don't support us not because they see us as invaders, but because they see us as "weak" compared to Saddam and don't believe we can prevail against Saddam. Even those among them who hate Saddam admire him because he's standing up to us. What a contradiction, but that is their psyche. When the choice is either to support the dictator they hate or the compassionate liberators, they support the dictator because of his defiance of the liberators. We should therefore show them we are tougher than Saddam, and instead of playing the part of liberators, we should fully accept the role of invaders and conquerors. These people respect only conquerors, they understand only conquerors. After Saddam is gone and these people are free, THEN we can be compassionate and start to show them what liberty is all about, and show them we were never conquerors at all.

Something else which needs to be pointed out is that none of the people around the world who condemn us for supposedly killing those fourteen civilians ever said a peep about the thousands and thousands of Iraqis that Saddam and his thugs have killed. And all of these people around the world who condemn us for fourteen civilian deaths which may not be our fault, were perfectly satisfied with leaving Saddam and his thugs in power to continue slaughtering thousands and thousands more. They have absolutely no inkling that their supposed moral superiority is a complete, total sham.

Any time I hear anyone complain about the innocents killed in the war I have to explain that there will be less innocents killed in this war than Saddam and his goons will put to death in a single year.

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