Killing of nine Americans in Iraq "will not go unpunished:" Bremer Thu Apr 1, 7:06 AM ET Add Top Stories - AFP to My Yahoo! BAGHDAD (AFP) - An angry Paul Bremer, the US overseer in Iraq (news - web sites), blasted the killing of nine civilian and military personnel in western Iraq as "despicable and inexcusable" and vowed that their deaths "will not go unpunished." Addressing 479 new graduates at the Iraqi police academy here, Bremer said "the acts we have seen (Wednesday) are despicable and inexcusable. They violate the tenets of all religions, including Islam as well as the foundations of civilized society. "These murders are a painful outrage for us in the coalition but they will not derail the march toward stability and democracy in Iraq," he told the graduation ceremony. "Their deaths will not go unpunished." In Fallujah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, gunmen ambushed two four-wheel-drive vehicles Wednesday, killing four Americans working for a security firm before angry crowds mutilated the charred remains of two of the victims. Earlier that day, five soldiers were killed when their convoy hit a roadside bomb northwest of the US military base in Habbaniya, 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital. Speaking at the same police graduation ceremony Thursday, Iraqi Interior Minister Nuri Badran pledged that his forces would do their best to find the killers and bring them to justice. "What happened in Fallujah is a flagrant criminal, terrorist act targeted at innocent people," he said. Asked whether he planned to send Iraqi security forces into Fallujah, a bastion of die-hard opponents to the US-led occupation, Badran told AFP: "Forces will be sent there. We don't know when, but we are planning to do that." He said the police needed to build a very efficient, mobile force to go after the elusive insurgents, who are launching hit-and-run raids. US Marines have been relieving soldiers of the army's 82nd Airborne Division in the restive Fallujah area for the past two weeks, mounting almost daily patrols to gather intelligence on the rebels and try to win the support of the local population. ***** The key phrase is in the last sentence: "to gather intelligence on the rebels and try to win the support of the local population." This is a recipe for failure, more attacks and more innocent deaths. They are treating this as a law enforcement problem, like it was a series of riots in southcentral LA. It is not. We don't need the "support of the local population." We're not running for election. We need them to be very, very afraid of us. More afraid of us than they are of the "rebels." Today they see us as weak and soft. They do not fear us. They kill our people and desecrate their bodies with impunity. These are the people who had things their own way when Saddam was in power. They have lost it all, and the only way they will get it back is through force. To their credit they seem to understand this, even if our leaders do not. It is not as if these attacks were isolated. They seem to happen everyday in Fallujah, and our forces are in extreme danger if they go there. To me the solution seems pretty simple. Ring the town with tanks and announce that anyone wanting to leave can leave, but with the clothes on their backs. Then turn it into cinder block rubble. Put the residents into a camp. Let the Iraqi's who take over the government deal with them. At least they won't be able to kill our people for the duration. Problem solved, plus you send a message.
My first reaction on seeing the desecration in Fallujah was one of revenge and retribution. Usually your first reaction to anything is wrong, to high of an emotional state, not enough time to think things out. Having had time to claim down and think about it, I want revenge and retribution, the bloodier the better.
"They violate the tenets of all religions, including Islam..." Why must the PC whitewash of Islam go on like this?! Savagely murdering people and then mutilating their corpses is exactly the sort of thing the 'prophet' Mohammad and his gang of thugs used to do. Uncivilized? Of course. UnIslamic? Not the slightest bit. ...However, I'm not convinced that perpetrating a Mei Lai massacre against these savages would solve anything. No easy answers.
I'm not advocating a massacre, unless they don't want to leave. But I think it is imperative to remove them from their home base, where they obviously have plenty of weapons stashed. Put them in camps where they will suffer and be miserable and have no ability to mount attacks on our soldiers.
May seem extreme to a lot of people, but I think you make a lot of good points. And after all, this is an extreme situation. Sometimes you got to "fight fire with fire". IF we are going to be there, we should be in complete control.....Complete control. All those "if, ands and buts" (so-called rules of engagement, etc.) is part of what got us in a mess in Vietnam.
Move all the people out, destroy all the buildings where weapons are found, move the people back in, arrest the known terrorists while you are at it.
I would like to ask that my tax dollars for year 2003 be applied as a small contribution towards 3 daisy cutters to be dropped in the city of Fallouja at a time deemed appropriate by the 1st Marine Division. And I hope this happens soon, Allah willing.