U.S. Forces Fire Missiles at Mosque in Fallujah (more details)

wapo ^ | FALLUJAH, April 7 | Pamela Constable, Sewell Chan and Fred Barbash

[dennisw]

Attack Approved After Five Marines Shot From the Mosque

FALLUJAH, April 7 -- U.S. forces fired missiles at a mosque in the flashpoint city of Fallujah Wednesday after taking several hours of fire from insurgents who were using it as cover to attack Marines advancing through the city.

Five Marines had been shot from the mosque before commanders authorized the use of air power and laser-guided missiles against it. They had rejected the air attack several times, according to Marine officers and radio communications monitored from a command post by a Washington Post reporter.

"We've got to be careful," said one officer receiving a request for air support from the Marines around the mosque.

"We have some bad folks dug in," came the response. "They're creating a problem for us. What should we do? We need backup."

[Antoninus]

fiery anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr

They describe this lunatic as "fiery" twice in the same article. "Fiery" and "maverick" are apparently the terms the communist press (AP, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, WaPo, NYTimes) is using fo this homicidal maniac----Our real enemies are closer to home than we think.

[r9etb]

I see the self-proclaimed know-it-all elitists are out in force. You know, the ones with overripe melons who would rather ad-hominem snipe

I see you can very nearly spell "ad hominem", but the underlying meaning of the term is apparently still not quite within your grasp.

than present serious counterarguments

Serious counterarguments are wasted unless there was a serious argument presented in the first place. I do not count "flatten the place," or "create a glass parking lot" as serious arguments, but rather impulsive and poorly considered reactions to uncertain news reports.

or realistic proposals.

There is no requirement to provide serious proposals in response to silly and bloodthirsty rants.

The ones that remind me of Ted Kennedy - you know what they are against, but they never seem to get to explaining what they are FOR.

One thing I'm "FOR" is to not promote stupid and counterproductive ideas. Experience has amply demonstrated that the people who shout loudest about MOABS, nukes, and carpet-bombing, are the least likely to respond rationally to "realistic proposals." Why waste time on them?

[adam_az]

"One thing I'm "FOR" is to not promote stupid and counterproductive ideas. Experience has amply demonstrated that the people who shout loudest about MOABS, nukes, and carpet-bombing, are the least likely to respond rationally to "realistic proposals." Why waste time on them?"

I challenge you to find one post where I have said such a thing.

On the other hand, "I see the FR Keyboard General Staff is back at it today" IS an ad-hominem, as if anyone who expresses an opinion is but a moronic keyboard warrior.

Lets be clear. You didn't specify what type of post you were referring to. My apology for misunderstanding you... but it could have been avoided if you had been more specific.

[adam_az]

And for the record, I think the US armed forces are going about this counterinsurgency in precisely the right manner - I've heard it described as steel fist, velvet glove.

It's also been said that war is but politics by other means. The key is achieving our objective at minimal cost, but our eye always has to be on the objective. This is not a total war as was WWII, it's a classic counterinsurgency effort, something our top brass knows a lot about.

[wjcsux]

WWPD (What Would Patton Do)?
This sh*thole of a building would have been a pile of dirt and rubble last week!

[r9etb]

I challenge you to find one post where I have said such a thing.

You assume that I was talking about you.

My apology for misunderstanding you... but it could have been avoided if you had been more specific.

Not my problem.

[adam_az]

Graciousness is not among your strongest qualities, it seems.

As a further example -

I didn't assume you were talking about me specifically - but your reply indicates your superiority complex has you referring to everyone, since you didn't single out particular types of comments.

[r9etb]

Graciousness is not among your strongest qualities, it seems.

Hm. Irony, I presume?

your superiority complex

You seem to be taking an off-hand comment a bit too much to heart -- perhaps it hit a nerve in your case?