I thought that Fallujah, Mosul, and other cities that showed evidence of Islamic extremism should have been cleared out early on when we first went into Iraq. And we should have had twice as many troops. Thats the benifit of hindsight that Tommy Franks didn't have (and I like Franks, I bought his book).
Actually, I have been quite pleased this time with the quick reaction in Mosul etc when the bad guys have popped up quickly.
I'm starting to wonder... One of the things that's happened as a result of our having *not* clobbered Fallujah early on, is that large numbers of islamic scum have concentrated in there. So now we've been able to really whack them - especially since they were stupid enough to try to face off with the American military.
The only chance the rug pilots have, is to sap America's will by continued terrorism. The Viet Cong learned that the hard way - every time they tried to take us on in a full-on engagement, they got their heads handed to them.
By leaving them a "safe zone", we emboldened them and got them to concentrate and package their forces for destruction. Undoubtedly it was an "unintended consequence" that it worked out that way, *and* you've got to wonder if it could possibly have been worth the casualties that we took from islamikazis operating out of the "safe" zone (not to mention the islamic slaughterhouses they set up).
But still, as a tactic for luring what would otherwise be disassociated and difficult to uproot cells into concentrating themselves in one area...