Gut check time, America.
And that goes for our military leadership, too. Time to stop worrying about world opinion and really respond to this kind of unprovoked savagery. The response should be swift and forceful. And brutal.
Really really brutal.
[update: more]
Hearing “The Ride of the Valkyries” blaring from loudspeakers attached to a phalanx of helicopter gunships comes to mind. Maybe declaring Falujah as civitas non grata and removing it from the face of the earth is the answer. This sort of tactic has been used quite successfully in the past. Oh, I think we should allow the residents about 48 hours to leave peacefully before bulldozing Falujah out of existence—there’s no need to kill everyone and pile the skulls up as the Mongols used to do as they passed through some of the same areas—but, cease to exist it should, as Yoda might say.
Just put the damn place to the torch.
Send the United Nations’ NGOs to Fallujah, and keep them out of the rest of Iraq.
And I thought I was the only one.
But wait….we’re building schools and introducing democracy and rebuilding their government and helping them out ? Why would the Iraqi public be upset ?
Maybe it’s because the US military fired into unarmed crowds and killed people not once:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=401798
(killed 15 people)
but twice:
(killed 1, injured 16)
http://eatthestate.org/07-18/IncidentatFallujah.htm
“unprovoked” ? I think not.
I’m not saying that it is not the most awful thing to happen since the beginning of this war…I’m just not surprised, and neither should anyone else. If you have been buying the bill of goods that the administration has been selling, you’d think that the Iraqi people are grateful for us being here. Today’s events are not about insurgents…it’s about plain Iraqi citizens.
I was wondering how long it would take some dickless apologist to slither in here belly first and blame American soldiers for the torching deaths and subsequent mutilation of civilian contractors at the hands of a yowling mob of cowardly animals.
Congratutions, Timmy. You’ve officially creeped me out. And that doesn’t happen often, I can tell you.
“Plain Iraqi citizens”? Do you know anything about Fallujah?
I don’t know who educated you, but you should sue for a full refund and offer your post as evidence of malpractice.
Thanks for confirming what I was thinking about this blog.
First, I am not an apologist, and not close to being dickless. I am, however, better at reading than you are, and got my finger futher from the knee-jerk button than you.
What I said, was, that I’m not surprised. I am not blaming the US soldiers, and am closely related to two that have been in the village. I am not surprised, because the fact is, Iraqis are increasingly not happy with the US being there, and that is true whether you or I like it or not. I’m not out to convince you of anything, it’s a fact.
Pundits who attempt to draw very clear and black and white lines between “insurgents” and upstanding Iraqi citizens reveal their ignorance about the situation. Do you really think that there is just some finite amount of insurgents in Iraq, and once they are gone, all that will be left is the smiling faces of grateful Iraqis ? Iraqis are becoming insurgents everyday, for many reasons.
What happened is a TRAGEDY. To deny that Iraqis are becoming increasingly unhappy with our being there would be a grave mistake, and I am sure that the Administration is aware of it.
How about this idea: enough with the fucking Iraqis. I’m fucking tired of hearing of college friends of mine getting killed and maimed for this shit. It’s horrible, and needs to end already.
If anyone is a blind apologist, it’s people who continue to view the US military as victims over there. We don’t need to be there, our time is better spent elsewhere.
Don’t like the blog, move along. I don’t exist to confirm what you think about anything. I write what I believe.
You say you’re not surprised that a gang of thugs attacked civilian contractors in Fallujah? Well, neither am I. Doesn’t make it any less barbaric, nor does it make the US military any more responsible. If every setback is viewed as a telling moment, we’ll be in constant retreat—and not just in Iraq. This has been our MO since at least Beirut, and the Islamofascists waging war against us know that. It’s going to take sweeping reform to change the mindset in the Arab world, but the first step is to gain a foothold.
Listen, you have your anecdotal evidence and today’s shining example from a known anti-American hotzone to back up your assertions about what “plain” Iraqis want. I have facts. Yes, many Iraqis are not happy at being “occupied”; but that doesn’t they want us to leave, either.
Pulling out of Iraq now would be the grave mistake. This is a long and dirty business, but in the end, this is one step toward cleaning up one of the only serious threats left to the US in general and the Western world in particular.
Jeff, the only thing I might quibble with is that I don’t think this is the only serious threat left to the US in general and the Western world in particular. There will always be new threats, until the nature of man changes. Transnational progressivism is the other serious threat on the horizon at this time, IMHO.
I can’t say it any better than Francis Poretto. Here, and here.
Oh, I might add that these Sunni/Baathists/Whatevers are fans of Sharia law, so they should not be surprised at justice on a scale similar to losing a hand for stealing.