NEWSWEEK COVER: 'Can This Man Save Iraq?' (Iraqis have less restrictions when dealing with terror)

Prnewswire ^ | Sunday June 27, 10:48 am ET

[Brian Mosely]

NEWSWEEK COVER: 'Can This Man Save Iraq?'

Sunday June 27, 10:48 am ET

'You Don't Just Flip a Light Switch. You Don't Build an Army or Police in a Matter of Months. This Is a Perilous Mission,' Says Lt. Gen. Petraeus

'We Will Hit These People and Teach Them a Good Lesson They Won't Forget. Americans ... Have Certain Restrictions We Won't Have,' Iraqi Defense Minister Says of Insurgents

# NEW YORK, June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, whose job is to oversee the preparation of Iraqi national forces to take over from their U.S. counterparts, is the closest thing to an Iraqi exit strategy the United States now has, reports Baghdad Bureau Chief Rod Nordland in the July 5 Newsweek cover story (on newsstands Monday, June 28). Soon, Iraqis themselves are going to handle the insurgency and take responsibility for the security and safety of their own country, a process that officially begins with this week's handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi interim government. Then, "every day the Iraqis get better at securing their nation is a day sooner that our troops can come home," says National Security Council spokesman James Wilkinson.(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040627/NYSU002 )

But Petraeus tells Newsweek he's worried that once the Iraqis get sovereignty, they will be under extraordinary pressure to do too much, too soon. "One of the lessons learned in the early-April period was the sense of doable missions-set these units up for success. You want to accelerate, but not so that you risk failure. You don't just flip a light switch. You don't build an army or police in a matter of months. This is a perilous mission."

< snip >

But following a recent string of fatal attacks on Iraqi officials by the insurgents, Iraqi Minister of Defense Hazim Shaalan tells Newsweek that "we will hit these people and teach them a good lesson they won't forget. Americans and allied forces have certain restrictions we won't have." He declined to be more specific, except to say, "It's our country, its our culture and we have different laws than you do." (A few days later, after yet another suicide bombing, he was more blunt: "We will cut off their hands and behead them.")

[lawgirl]

(A few days later, after yet another suicide bombing, he was more blunt: "We will cut off their hands and behead them.")

Now here's a country that means business!!!

[Brian Mosely]

Of course, after they start doing this, the Bush administration will either be:
A) Raked over the coals by the dems and media for being too soft on terror
B) Raked over the coals by the dems and media for allowing the Iraqis to deal with these swine in this fashion
C) Raked over the coals by the dems and media for a combination of both...being too soft and also letting them deal with the terrorists. "We weren't forceful enough and now we have Abu Ghraib all over again!!!"

[Tom Bombadil]

"We will cut off their hands and behead them."

As long as Jimmy Carter isn't president it might work.

'Bet the Iraqi people get behind this one. They live there and know what it takes to quiet things down.

[OSHA]

"We will cut off their hands and behead them."

That's better than the dreaded pantie hat!

[Brian Mosely]

Aside from all the talk about removing hands and heads, this is actually a pretty informative article on the guy...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5305713/site/newsweek/

From the article:

But Petraeus's most important asset may be his intellect, and his knack for politics. He graduated in the top 5 percent of his class at West Point, which means he's just what the Army likes (smart, but please God, not brilliant). He also married the daughter of the West Point superintendent. Graduating in 1974, he was too late for Vietnam, and he spent the gulf war serving as aide to the Army chief of staff. In 1991, Petraeus nearly died in a training exercise, when an infantryman tripped and discharged his M-16, firing a bullet into Petraeus's chest. The wounded Petraeus was medevaced to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., where a young surgeon rushed off the golf course to operate on him. The surgeon, Dr. Bill Frist, is now the Senate majority leader. The two men are firm friends.