[gandalftb]

The lack of adequate Marine armor and air has been a significant impediment to pacifying Falluja and Al Anbar province. My gripe is that the Marines were led to believe by CentCom that they were only needed for mopping up, and "hearts and minds". That turned out to be so much crap. Now with both of them in place we can be much more robust.

[antaresequity]

The lack of adequate Marine armor and air has been a significant impediment to pacifying Falluja and Al Anbar province.

On what facts do you base the conclusion that their is a lack of armor, and the subsequent claim that as a result, problems in pacifying Fallujah have been exacerbated?

Their is a carrier task force in the gulf, and at the very least, hundreds and hundreds of M1A1 tanks in theatre.

Air power and tanks are for destroying things. If we wanted to, we could have turned the slums of a Fallujah into a smoking series of rubble piles and craters overnight.

Three AC130 gunships could accomplish the same thing, lobbing 105's around the clock.

[Terp]

My gripe is that the Marines were led to believe by CentCom that they were only needed for mopping up, and "hearts and minds". That turned out to be so much crap.

You don't go about winning the "hearts and minds" of a people until they know they've been defeated. Which doesn't appear to be the case in Fullajah [sarcasm].

We need to convince the people of that city that we're the big dog on the block and then we can worry about winning there darn "hearts and minds" in my opinion.