[WaterDragon]

The officer made the decision he thought best, and it probably was the best one. But our military cannot make a habit of this sort of gesture. If we have learned nothing else we know that yielding to displays of Muslim intimidation incites them to violence against us. We are winning the war in Iraq. We have to be careful the peace does not undo the fear and respect we've earned with the blood of Americans. Machiavelli said it is better to be feared than to be loved. That is still true.

[SENTINEL]

The officer should have had his troops take a knee and then said to the crowd through his interpreter something like this.

"We are here to kill or take prisoner members of the Baath party, and Saddam's soldiers. We undertsand and respect your desire for us to not enter your mosque, and therefore will grant you exactly 24 hours to remove Saddam's soldiers from the mosque yourselves. Here are some captured small arms for your use. We will be back in force when we return."