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This is actually from Proud Legions...June is my wife.

Although you make many interesting poiints, I must disagree with your one premise.

I understand many folks' frustrations, but we are not acting quite as politically correct over there as you might imagine by reading news accounts. Every day I hear from my fellow commanders over there exactly what steps and actions they are taking. Where the Iraqis are friendly and supportive, we treat them well. Where they are not, they do pay a price and we do NOT handle them with kid gloves at all. Doesn't excuse this incident---and we should, and will, retaliate hard. Chances are many, though likely not all, of the guilty will pay the ultimate price by the time we have completed our retaliatory actions for this one. But you will hear little about it in the press.

I know of no commander over there who has been told to put kid gloves on.

Everyone must remember that the number one goal of those who attack our soldiers is to get us to punish the average Iraqi citizen who does support us...like the vast majority in Mosul. We need to take hard action against the guilty, but not against those who neither knew of nor supported those who commit these atrocities against our soldiers and others. It would make us all feel better to just bomb away at the whole place, but keep in mind that 70% plus support us there. Attacking that 70% is what the bad guys want us to do. We do that, and they will sit back and laugh hard and dance in the streets, for they will know they have won.

Having said that, I totally agree with us ruthlessly going after those who do these acts, and those who support them.

It would make us all feel better to just bomb away at the whole place, but keep in mind that 70% plus support us there. Attacking that 70% is what the bad guys want us to do. We do that, and they will sit back and laugh hard and dance in the streets, for they will know they have won.

[Beave]:So then if we bomb away then we really mess up and stuff.

If we truly are bringing smack down on those who attack our troops, I'm all for it, obviously, but we need to be more public about it.

No one should ever be in doubt about the consequences of killing American troops, or any American, for that matter.

Long ago, all people in the western world knew that harming a Roman soldier or citizen would mean not only their death, but probably the death of their entire family and possibly their entire village. The consequence of this policy and others like it were fewer casualties among Roman soldiers and citizens, and centuries of the Pax Romana.

Once upon a time, and not all that long ago, Americans had similar protection throughout the world, but it was squandered by fools and traitors. That treachery must be undone and respect for America restored. The way to do that is to prove by our deeds, and beyond all doubt, that no violent act against any American anywhere in the world shall escape swift and terrible punishment.

Considering its plea to President Bush, I cleaned up and sent the text of my earlier message to president@whitehouse.gov. A purely symbolic act, of course, but all human affairs are guided by symbolism, and sometimes even private acts of symbolism can change the world.