I'm with another poster. Time to round up all the men in the area, contain them, move out the women and children and flatten this area. No questions asked. Then interrogate each one to find out answers. I know there are so many problems with this scenario, but all of this makes me so very angry right now, and I am probably not thinking through what should be done.I agree. We drop leaflets saying that the women and children have 48 hours to get out and then we flatten the place. We demand that the terrorists are turned over or we will continue to bomb. There are some innocent people over there and I feel sorry for them. Unfortunately, the Iraqis who do help us are kidnapped or their family members are kidnapped or they are murdered. Most of them are probably scared to death to assist us even if they wanted to. Fact is, we're never gonna win the hearts and minds over there. Never. People have been fighting in that region for THOUSANDS of years. Ever read up on the history of Iraq? One bloody revolt after another. Most of the population is so young there that they have absolutely no concept of freedom. They've lived under tyranny and poverty their entire lives and they grew up hating the U.S. And we're going to change all of that in a few years? Gimme a break. If we're going to fight this war, we need to fight it with more firepower, more troops and just get it the hell over with.
First, find the killers of our troops then go ahead with your plan. Meantime, secure the area. According to an article posted by Texkat, we have known since April that Yusufiyah is a stronghold for the Shura Council of Mujahadeen, Al Qaeda in Iraq.