In Iraq, the dirty war gets dirtier, by Margaret Wente
from the Globe & Mail, Tuesday Oct 28
Wente summarizes the problems facing the U.S. in Iraq:
In other words, they simply are not brutal enough for this kind of work. Instead of cleaning out the stew of Sadr City and razing the mosques where the imams preach jihad, they're giving their soldiers sensitivity training for Ramadan. No eating, drinking or smoking in public in the daytime; the soldiers are being told it's offensive.
And so they're stuck. If they play hardball, they will win respect, but they'll be basted on a spit by Human Rights Watch, to say nothing of the UN, Europe, the world media, and half the folks back home. Besides, they don't do brutal very well. It's not the American way. They came here genuinely believing that they could win this war through peace, love and understanding, and they are only just beginning to realize that they can't.
Playing the 'shorter' game:
Europe, the U.N., American liberals and other softies are to blame for the debacle in Iraq, because they'd whine if the U.S Army used the iron fist, which of course they never would because they actually believe in their principles, the poor things.