Heavy Fighting in AR Ramadi Iraq~~~ Sadr's fighters have attacked US Forces.

Fox News

[Dog]

Just broke on Fox

[r9etb]

Dont you think its time Bush start arming the Kurds. The Kurds all support us. The Shiites and Sunnis are anti America.

The Kurds support the Kurds, and you had best remember that.

Arming them also causes trouble for the Turks -- whose lack of support during the war was precisely due to the Kurds.

[thoughtomator]

We took on the whole of Afghanistan with not many more troops than that. Like there, we are using native forces to supplement our own.

Besides, these are US Marines. I have no doubt whatsoever that even 300 US Marines could take on everything that Fallujah can throw at them, and win handily with few casualties. Our guys are so good compared to the enemy forces in training, equipment, tactics, strategy, coordination, and morale, that a numbers comparison is not valuable.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Well, at least there is some hope in the Middle East...

[Samwise]

[tongue-tied]

This isn't WWII. This isn't VietNam, and this isn't even the same as the most recent war in Iraq. This a new form of warfare, and the leaders and planners MUST take into account the political ramifications of what exactly they direct our forces against. We would be viewed as much worse than "weak" if we indiscriminantly attack when provoked. This calls for particular nuance, and here's hoping they have (and use) it.

Having said that, it is difficult not to call for all-out direct assault on any enemy positions. Even in a Mosque.

[StriperSniper]

Probably some of both.

[Poohbah]

And WHY are we taking prisoners? We should be killing them all!

1. Dead men tell no tales. Prisoners can be downright talkative.

2. The grownups are in charge, not you. Do try to deal with it gracefully.

[Mo1]

PLEASE! Did we take prisioners in WW2? Some sure...but overall if people fought us we fought back to win and winning meant that you keep shooting until the OTHER SIDE wasnt fighting back anymore.

You might want to review your history and how WWII was really fought

You don't win a battle going off half cocked and you don't win a war by not thinking

[Jack Black]

Anyone in a mob with an AK or rocket launcher should be shot dead. Anyone who picks up that AK should be shot dead.

[Fury]

"...from what is nothing more than a bunch of gangsters

I believe enemy forces are using crew-served weapons. I also read that there may be use of "technicals" by enemy forces, which would give them some limited mobility for some of their heavier weapons.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

I think that we are afraid to really arm the Kurds. It would tip the balance even more-we would have problems with the Turks who have been somewhat of an ally. I don't think our Gov wants to piss the Turks off by giving that much power to the Kurds.

[Husker24]

I dont know about Callahan, well see I guess, I was really wishing that they would hire Polini, I thought he would bring a breath of fresh air into the program, but I think Callahan has some good ideas especially involving short passing and stuff.

[Labyrinthos]

Im sure if they thought they could do it from the air they would, but for the most part these guys probably blend in with anyone else, and dont have fixed positions. We could just blow up a few city blocks, but we would kill a hell of a lot of innocents and that would just create an even larger Sheite militia.

Whatever we do, we need to stop pretending that the war is over and stop pretending that a well trained police force can handle the situation. We are at war and as much as I hate to say this, we are either going to have to wipe out city blocks with air and artillary power or we're going to have to take the enemy street by street, building by building in the type of bloody combat that our enemies at home (i.e. the dems and the mainstream media) predicted would happen when we first liberated Iraq. I guess the third choice is to withdraw from Iraq, but that would result in a Pol Pot/Rawanda type bloodbath and do more to for the cause of worldwide terrorism than the election of JF'nK would ever accomplish.

[freeperfromnj]

Australian paper reporting that Sunnis and Shiites are uniting against the US for the cause.

Baghdad Sunnis, Shi'ites unite

From correspondents in Baghdad
April 07, 2004

SUNNI and Shi'ite residents of two Baghdad suburbs, once fierce enemies, said overnight they had put their differences aside to unite in their fight to oust the US occupying force from Iraq.

"All of Iraq is behind Moqtada al-Sadr, we are but one body, one people," declared Sheikh Raed al-Kazami, in charge of the radical Shi'ite cleric's offices at a mosque in the Shi'ite neighbourhood of Kazimiya, west of the Iraqi capital.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9214701%255E1702,00.html

[Poohbah]

What branch of the service have you served in?

MEG...didja notice that he hasn't answered your question?

[Sprite518]

What country plays by the rules besides the USA? You see these laws are only designed to punish us, and perhaps some of our Allies. War is hell, and there is way to make it pretty. So lets take care of business before it takes care of us.

[areafiftyone]

ROFLMAO - I like that. Tood bad his head didn't explode!

[MEG33]

Discussion here..add your info about thier attack on our Marines.

[Southack]

"100% AGREE! Arm the Kurds and let them have Iraq! We give them a homeleand and they'll love us forever!"

Unlike the Sunnis and Shi'ites, the Kurds are smart enough to play along with the U.S. until after we leave. Once the U.S. has left Iraq years from now, the Kurds will declare their own independence and then have to fight off Turkey and any Iraqi government.

In the end, I suspect that the Kurds will prevail and win themselves their own nation in what is now Northern Iraq and Southern Turkey...and they will prevail because they are smart enough to wait, and because they are smart enough to know who their real enemy is. In the meantime, the Kurds should make fine U.S. allies while we are in the region.