i hope you idiots damn well know that our political and military leaders do not favor half measures and pc solutions but are constrained by realities that armchair quarterbacks like yourselves don't have to understand
We don't attack the towns Al-Sadr hides in because we're afraid of a massive Shiite rebellion? We are depleting their resources? Do you mean the same Shiite rebels who are being funded and armed by Iran? Do you mean the potential Shiite threat that the Allawi government wants eliminated as quickly as possible? We do not have the wherewithal to confront Iran at this very moment while we're still stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq (and it is a political impossibility right now, for Bush who is facing reelection, or a victorious Kerry), so the funding Sadr is no-doubt receiving from Iran will not stop any time soon. We should have two focuses in Iraq, and only two. That is to train and arm the new Iraqi military and security forces until they are strong, and eliminate any threats they may potentially face in the future. If we allow Al-Sadr to live, he will only work to strengthen his own base and undermine the Iraqi government. In my view, this massive "shiite rebellion" is already underway, and cannot be prevented. The best strategy for us and the Iraqi government to take is to cut the head from the snake, and confront the body which cannot see where it moves. And I really don't care what the television generals are saying. I believe the politicians are tying their hands like they did in Vietnam, and that if it were up to the Generals, they would have eliminated these threats a long time ago. To act in any other way would be to fight a "sensitive war."