[Polybius]

There will be no reckoning in Fallujah in terms of disarming and neutralizing the insurgents. There will be an Arab deal just as there was at Tora Bora. How are you going to judge who is an insurgent? The Bathist general certifies the place pacified and the real bad guys exfiltrate to murder elsewhere.

The Baathist General is under the command of a U.S. Marine Colonel.

Fallujah is completely surrounded by Marines and a five foot high berm built by field engineers.

Nobody is getting out of Fallujah that the Marine commander does not want to get out.

[nathanbedford]

The Baathist General is under the command of a U.S. Marine Colonel.

Please.

These decisions are going all the way to Washington. A week of quiet and the place is certified safe and we declare victory. How are you going to identify a couple of hundred core bad guys from a hostile population of tens of thousands? You are not. You must accept the representations of your new best friends, the Baathists, who are cutting deals every night in the bazaar.

To hold otherwise is to knowingly and gleefully embrace a naiveté which would be amusing if it were not so dangerous

[nathanbedford]

Please see my post number 77