INEVITABLE ATROCITIES

New York Post ^ | 4/01/04 | RALPH PETERS

[kattracks]

April 1, 2004 -- YESTERDAY, Sunni Arab gangsters and terrorists ambushed four American reconstruction workers in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The bodies were dragged through the streets, burned and dismembered. In the finest traditions of the Middle Ages, two of the corpses were hanged from a bridge. Crowds cheered.

[Judith Anne]

Interesting post.

I don't care what it's a sign of, weakness or strength, this attack must bring an overwhelming unmistakeable response.

[muawiyah]

The real problem for the Sunni Triangle is going to come when the Shia living in Sadr City come into their own as major players in the Iraqi government.

The only question remaining on the table is whether or not the United States military should protect the barbarians in Fallujah, Tikrit and Ramadi when it becomes the responsibility of the new Iraqi government and military to clean out the rats' nests they made of themselves.

At the moment I am highly motivated to take the position that our troops should be kept out of it.

[mcshot]

I concur! Without an "overwhelming unmistakeable response" our mission is doomed. The enemy needs to be neutralized and the area "sanitized" as the experts our saying on FOX.

[PokeyJoe]

Sadly, I agree.

Reverse the wastewater pumps - let the town heal itself for 4 weeks with no medicine, no food, and no fresh water.

[OpusatFR]

I'd let the Sunnis know in no uncertain terms that if they continue this course, we will stand aside when the Shiites take power.

[nuconvert]

Good article.

"The terrorists are wrong. We're not quitting. But the tragic cowardice of the Spanish electorate last month encouraged civilization's enemies to believe that the West is inherently weak. They do not understand that America isn't Europe..."

[WhiteGuy]

Such atrocities are inevitable.

I disagree with the author on this point.

1.Level the place.

2. Bring our servicemen home.

[Dako no tane]

Does anyone else find the phrase "a cabal of Pentagon civilians" objectionable? Cabal: a small group joined in a secret intrigue.

First of all, it was no secret that the top civilians in the Pentagon favored small, rapid forces. They were quite open about it; it was a central theme of Bush's major defense policy speech (the Citadel speech).

Second, the term implies that the "cabal" had the intention to pursue its own narrow interests, rather than a sincere belief that their favored course of action was best for the country.

Third, the term is more than vaguely anti-Jew.

[browardchad]

They hope to repeat their electoral success in Spain and imagine, wrongly, that a Democratic victory would mean that Washington would retreat from Iraq and the War on Terror.

But whoever our next president may be, America won't - and can't - quit. Politicians from both parties have a responsibility to make that unmistakably clear over the coming months.

Exactly what has John Kerry said that gives Peters the impression that he would continue the WOT -- as a war, not as a law-enforcement operation -- as President? It is precisely because the Dems are running on an anti-war platform that we can expect more attacks aimed at undermining Bush's re-election.

[q_an_a]

I would call the major and the "tribe council" people into a room and tell them that then next ATTACK will result in a complete evacuation of the town, that it will be hit in 72 hours with Daisy Cutters and Thermo Bombs and that the people can live in the tents we had planned at the time of the first invasion. Everyone in a camp will be searched, everyone leaving town will be searched and when they return to rebuild the town will be FLAT.

[Elkiejg]

It is precisely because the Dems are running on an anti-war platform that we can expect more attacks aimed at undermining Bush's re-election.

BINGO!! And every time I hear some RAT say I have no right to question their patriotism, I want to point to every American death in Iraq and tell them the blood of those people is on their hands.

[expatguy]

Here is the problem.

Did we go to war against Iraq or Saddam Hussein?

If we went to war against Saddam Hussein, then the war is over. If we went to war against Iraq, then we need to beat them into submission until all Iraq is begging us for mercy and chocolate bars. Only then will we find peace and Iraqis desirous of reform.

In war, it is the loser who ends the war and not the victor.

If you are going to fight then you have to have the WILL to win. No one wins a fight by showing restraint.

There was a time when the world respected and feared the United States. They respected our power and they feared us because they knew that we could unleash Hell on them in the blink of an eye and the push of a button.

Once given that power, we have become afraid to use it and our enemies know this and it emboldens them.

It is time that the United States reminds the world that we are a paper tiger with nuclear teeth.

[Elkiejg]

I would call the major and the "tribe council" people into a room and tell them that then next ATTACK will result in a complete evacuation of the town, that it will be hit in 72 hours with Daisy Cutters and Thermo Bombs and that the people can live in the tents we had planned at the time of the first invasion. Everyone in a camp will be searched, everyone leaving town will be searched and when they return to rebuild the town will be FLAT.

AGREE! I happened to catch the first part of Bill O'Reilly's radio show yesterday and he made the same comment - but in much stronger words. I've grown tired of his bluster, but had to agree with him on this one 100%.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Good idea. Level the damn city.
Then air-drop a couple tons of pork rinds over the rubble.

[randita]

I would call the major and the "tribe council" people into a room and tell them that then next ATTACK will result in a complete evacuation of the town, that it will be hit in 72 hours with Daisy Cutters and Thermo Bombs and that the people can live in the tents we had planned at the time of the first invasion. Everyone in a camp will be searched, everyone leaving town will be searched and when they return to rebuild the town will be FLAT.

I disagree and think it is bad policy to strike while angry and with such force. There are much better strategies. First of all I would advocate tying the area in knots--martial law, e.g.. Go door to door with random and unrelenting searches. Root out all weapons and arrest those even suspected of being connected with the Ba'athist regime. Let the Iraqis handle them with their own system of justice. A public beheading or two would send a strong message

Put roadblocks on every corner. No one can walk or drive past the roadblock without being subject to questioning and searches. The average citizen wil be greatly inconvenienced and that's what we need. We need to make the average person angry enough at the criminals and their actions that they rat on them. The pervasive surveillance will cause the terrorists to scatter. We need to disconnect the terrorists from each other and from their center of power and control.

IMO, this calls for the boa constrictor approach, not the rattlesnake one.

[HateBill]

This piece is Monday morning quarterbacking at its best. I can guarantee that had President Bush pursued Peters' suggested strategy and "flooded the zone" with American military in an occupation, the fatalities would be far greater, the progress toward a free Iraq would have been delayed, there would be far more anti-American acts throughout the country and it would make Vietnam look like a pancake breakfast.

Not to mention that Kerry would be leading President Bush 80-20.

[FITZ]

Why not send back the Iraqis who live in the USA who claim to be here for freedom but remain Iraqis --- let them go work for freedom back home. If Iraqis won't fight for their own country and freedom then why should Americans die for them?

[smith288]

Fallujah:

"Conan, what is good in life?"
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you,
hear the lamentations of the women."

[verity]

It is fortunate that your are in charge of nothing except your keyboard.