[Jeff Head]

My guess is that the Marines who fought in Haditha recognized that there were civilians working in concert with or abetting the enemy and when that bomb went off, they took some of them down. There were probably innocents killed in the process...but as you say, Nagasaki, Heroshima, Dresden, and countless other places in World War II suffered for worse fates in that regard...and it was te right decision because it saved more lives than it cost and shortened the war.

The fact is, when parents who support our enemies do not move their children ou of war zones, the blood, IMHO, is as much on their head as anyone else's...and if they are supporting our enemies, most of it is in on their heads.

We should take place like Haditha, one or two of them...or more if need be...and give the citizens who so desire 72 hours to get out...through very thorough checkpoints...and then level the places completely.

After two or three examples, you would see the support for thew terrorists even in those places dry up markedly. We must pacify the enemy and the civilian population that is desposed to support them. No embedded reporters, no press zones...just get it done and do it with extreme prehjudice in those areas where the enemy considers it has enclaves.

[Eastbound]

"No embedded reporters, no press zones...just get it done and do it with extreme prehjudice in those areas where the enemy considers it has enclaves."

I agree. In that the WOT is not specifically nation against nation, the tacticians would be wise to start performing micro-surgery wherever necessary -- each of our troops a scalpel. Whatever works should be S.O.P.

I think giving warning and following through with aerial bombardment, bulldozers and disposal teams will cause the bahstids to sue for peace in short order. It's not our war, it's theirs. We don't want it, so let's fight it and end it on our terms, not theirs.