"To put this plainly: the “strategy” in Fallujah should have been to make it into a parking lot, and build a Wal-Mart at one end. There would have been great loss of life, but the message to our enemies and their supporters everywhere would have been, “We will not be toyed with.” Civilians whose sympathies are with the enemy cannot be won over, and have not been, by the “candy to children” approach. They must be taught that sheltering the enemy -- even involuntarily -- means sharing the enemy’s fate. (The distinction between what is voluntary and involuntary soon changes under those conditions.) And this, in the longer run, is what saves millions of lives."
This is what won't work. There is a 70% swath of people that just want safety, security and a little freedom. Unfortunately you have to be seen as sacrificing for these people, not persecuting them. Then they catch on that the Christian way is the right way to live one's life. The ME needs Christ more than ever. I saw a bumper sticker on the back of a Muslim's (presumably) Suburban at lunch. It stated "Jesus is in the Koran. Read about at at www.koransomethingornother.com."
Is Mohammed a more important prophet than Jesus to muslims? How can they reconcile the "do not make friends of Jews and Christians" with "Jesus is in the Koran, read all about it"? Bottom line is you are simply advocating making a parking lot of the place. Personally I think we are going to go more toward the diplomacy side with the option to flay a few more despotic regimes if anything bad happens in our country or to our assets overseas.
To put this plainly: the “strategy” in Fallujah should have been to make it into a parking lot, and build a Wal-Mart at one end. There would have been great loss of life, but the message to our enemies and their supporters everywhere would have been, “We will not be toyed with.” Civilians whose sympathies are with the enemy cannot be won over, and have not been, by the “candy to children” approach. They must be taught that sheltering the enemy -- even involuntarily -- means sharing the enemy’s fate. (The distinction between what is voluntary and involuntary soon changes under those conditions.) And this, in the longer run, is what saves millions of lives.
We shouldn't have build a Wal-Mart.