[blam]

Ping.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

The micromanagement from the White House looks like Lyndon Johnson's failure in Vietnam.

This is looking like Vietnam more every day.

It's time to crush Fallujah!

Weakness will cause more trouble than strength.

Fallujah should have been dealt with fiercely and swiftly weeks ago!!

What the hell are we doing getting the troops killed by restraining them?!!!!

[Pearls Before Swine]

Militants were stockpiling weapons in mosques, schools and shrines.

There will be no secrets about where the munitions dumps are.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

It is definitely time. Either put a "Patton" in charge, or get the soldiers out. All of this "poltical" maneuvering is insanity. They hate us. They're not going to hate us any more than they already do. What are we going to have to do? Make it a hate crime to kill an American soldier? That'll slow them down. </sarcasm off>

[SandRat]

In a potential propaganda disaster, the marines called in helicopter gunships to level a 60-ft mosque minaret allegedly being used as a firing platform by insurgents.

What propaganda disaster? Religious and Historical sites are protected under the rules of land warfare until they are used for military purposes. Anyone remember Monte Casino? Hope they have video evidence of firing coming from the minaret to go with all the spent shell casing found in the rubble. Just to shut the lame stream media up.

[dirtbiker]

Militants were stockpiling weapons in mosques, schools and shrines.

Very, very stuipd move on the militants part, unless they don't care for or respect those shrines, schools, and mosques. Seems to me we care more for their "holy" sites than they do.........

[kimosabe31]

Are we going to lose Iraq because we're afraid to destroy a freaking mosque. If muslims gave a damn about their religious sites, they would not use them as military strongholds. They believe our leadership is too "politically correct" to attack and annihiliate them in their mosques. Time will tell.

Meantime we definitely need to begin eliminating these loud mouthed immams.

[Kay Soze]

"assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah was postponed yesterday after local commanders said bloody urban warfare could provoke retaliation across the country and protests throughout the Muslim world. "

Then should we give up the WOT and come home?

[Husker24]

Why do the media keep referring to AK-47's, Morters, and RPG's as "heavy weapons", they may be deadly but they are not heavy weapons, Tanks and Artillery are heavy weapons.

[MonroeDNA]

Let the Marines decide what needs to be done.

The micro-manegement is insane. I can't believe that Bush approved this.

Good God, this is nuts.

Take them all out!!!!!

[Husker24]

I dont understand the thinking, that these people are going to surrender. These are not Iraqi conscripts, these people actually want to fight, if they say they will surrender, then its probably a trick or an ambush or something.

[cynicom]

The "alleged" bullets did however kill our soldiers.

[ovrtaxt]

Is this an Iraqi minaret or a Michigan minaret?

[ApesForEvolution]

If this is true, which I personally see evidence it could very well be, then WHAT THE * IS WASHINGTON * THINKING?

Bush is very savvy, but I hope he gets over this PC war BS and fast. It's killing us.

[ml/nj]

bloody urban warfare could provoke retaliation across the country and protests throughout the Muslim world.

It doesn't have to be "Urban Warfare" where our people get hurt.

If the Muslim World wants a fight with us, now would be better than later. We have to stop worrying what others think or say about us because it's never going to be (honestly) good. Our situation is only slightly different from the one Israel has been dealing with for 50+ years.

(And think about the celebrations that might occur here!)

ML/NJ

[ApesForEvolution]

In a potential propaganda disaster, the marines called in helicopter gunships to level a 60-ft mosque minaret allegedly being used as a firing platform by insurgents.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
* propaganda disasters. PC sockcuckers. The only reason anything is 'brewing' is because we left a pot on the stove.

[FreedomCalls]

Why should we show more restraint for the inhabitants of Fallujah then we did for the inhabitants of Dresden? Is this some sort of "reverse racism"? Are we too politically correct to fight?

Dresden, Germany, February 1944.

[Billthedrill]

"Gunships Level Minaret As US Cancels Assault"

Is that a great headline or what? I think that it inadvertently captures the situation - whatever grand assault some folks - mostly amateurs - were predicting, the truth is (1) it won't be that, and (2) the shooting hasn't stopped, and the bad guys are getting the crap knocked out of them.

I don't want to level Fallujah because it's a city of 200,000 people where more important things than war are happening, and where the militants want us to provide them with a convenient media campaign. Lord knows our own media are complicit in it, and theirs have been positioned for three weeks.

But I certainly don't want to send in a patrol as a stalking horse, either, because people will be killed as justification for a retaliation that I think is already justified and imminent.

Here's what I think will happen in broad terms: we're going to whack these guys by the hundreds. We're going to make them fight and we're going to defeat them when they do. How much of Fallujah is left is really not our concern, but if it's flattened it won't be because that was our first choice. All IMHO and subject to vigorous debate, of course.

[4CJ]

A search of the minaret found "a significant amount of expended shell casings".

Level it.

[hattend]

An American assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah was postponed yesterday after local commanders said bloody urban warfare could provoke retaliation across the country and protests throughout the Muslim world.

I heard that before we attacked Iraq, too. The "Arab street" did not explode. Let 'em protest, clean out the vermin.