Free Republic

HAWIJAH, Iraq, March 2, 2008 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff walked through the bustling market street of this Iraqi town today – a town that al Qaeda ruled just three months ago. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen saw a market crowded with people and shops stocked with goods. And he saw American soldiers and their Iraqi security forces partners operating with incredible professionalism. Three months ago, this northern Iraqi city was the “Wild West,” said Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of Multinational Division North. But a new sheriff came to town in the form of the...

Saddam Hussein's death squads are forcing Iraqis to fight by holding their children hostage and threatening them with execution, allied forces said. From the front lines to Capitol Hill, U.S. officials expressed disgust that fanatical paramilitaries would kill their own people before letting them surrender. "We witness the regime's forces becoming more and more desperate in their actions," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said at a briefing in Doha, Qatar. "Their repressive acts against Iraqi citizens showing any signs of tolerance of the coalition are growing harsher." Reports of Iraqis being ordered to fight at gunpoint were bolstered by grisly evidence:...