"...we need another WT Sherman." William Techumseh Sherman would've been astounded at the raw barbarity of this enemy. The Civil War was, by comparison, conducted with considerable honor on both sides.
We need a combination of Sherman, Patton and Vlad the Impaler.
"Passing through Turkey as the Sultan's guest, a professor had his own carriage attached to the train, which stopped at a small station on the Asian side of the Sea of Marmara. The Turkish station master entered the carriage, sized him up and informed him that, regrettably, his carriage needed to be uncoupled from the train."Regulations, effendi," oiled the station master. "Though for a slight consideration, an exception can be made." He held out his hand for baksheesh.The station master was large, his palm immense and Vambery immediately hit it with his crutch. The giant, who could have torn Vambery in two, didn't even try to ward off the blow. "Effendi, I didn't know . . ." he whimpered as he retreated, "in your exalted case, of course, regulations don't apply."Vambery was travelling with a friend. "Didn't you see the size of that fellow?" he asked. "Weren't you afraid to hit him?" "Of course," replied Vambery. "But this is the Orient, I would have been far more afraid not to hit him."
This assessment of what is to be feared most, firmness or appeasement, is not only true for the Orient, but it is more of a rule of thumb when dealing with them.