[conservatism_IS_compassion]

"We captured an Iraqi brigadier general in the raid," he said. "He was completely surprised there were American tanks in the city. He believed their propaganda that the Americans were a hundred miles south, dying by the thousands. All of a sudden he's coming to work and there is a tank battalion rolling down the center of Baghdad."

It became apparent to Perkins that the propaganda being put out by Saddam's regime was giving the Iraqis a false sense of security and emboldening them to continue to fight.

So propaganda was causing people to try to kill American soldiers.

But Peter Arnet had an absolute right to parrot that propaganda line in an interview with al Jazera. </sarcasm>

[Hardastarboard]

Read "The March Up". It is something of a tough read (it seems disjointed and hard to follow the course of events), but is still a wonderful account of how the actual war was totally unlike the media accounts. It was more like a fist fight with a five year old. If you're not careful, the kid may hit you, but even if he picks up a weapon, you're not in any real danger.

The Iraquis were pathetic. The real danger of the war, IMHO, is that down the road the US military and the American public may expect all enemies to be this weak, and not be prepared for the sacrifices that a determined enemy requires.

[Born Conservative]

bttt