SLATE: Iraq Hawks Down: Is Fallujah Iraq's Mogadishu?

[grytpype]

Iraq Hawks Down
Is Fallujah Iraq's Mogadishu?
By Fred Kaplan
Updated Thursday, April 1, 2004, at 4:11 PM PT



Fallujah

Pentagon officials view Wednesday's horror in Fallujah as the Iraq war's Mogadishu incident: a disaster that may be a turning point for American policy. We will not flee, as we did in Somalia, but Fallujah should teach even the administration's most die-hard optimists that the mission is deeper and muddier than they'd imagined, that the country they have conquered is far uglier and far less pliant than they hoped, and that a new course of policy is necessary if we want to sustain the occupation.

<much more>

http://slate.msn.com/id/2098130/

[teryang]

1. Baghdad's Sunnis do it their way

They've been there a long time, before Columbus discovered America. That didn't count for much in the 19th Century. According to the neo-cons things haven't changed. Well they are wrong. We think we can go in there and teach them parliamentary politics after bombing the crap out them and invading their country? Hey open your land to western exploitation, while we're here, we don't like that nationalization stuff.

Good luck, fools. Get ready for a long hot scorcher of a summer.

[Old and In the Way]

2. The Century of Pax Americanna appears to have lasted only

about 12 months. What's Perle and Wolfie up to these days? Any chance of signing them on as campaign consultants for the RNC?

[SoDesuKa]

3. Blood Lust

There's some very ugly talk coming out of Iraq in response to the killing of four civilian security contractors in Fallujah. Administrator Paul Bremer pledges a retaliation that will be ". . . deliberate, it will be precise, it will be overwhelming." My guess is that it will be vengeful, indiscriminate, and bloody.

American foreign policy has been taken over by swaggering cowboys. These people see nothing but the insult of American bodies dragged through the streets and the need to teach the Iraqis a lesson. There won't be any rational perspective when the Americans seek to satisfy their blood lust.

I hope I'm wrong.

[JPZenger]

4. They Were Protecting Food Shipment

I think its sad that the American civilians who were killed were simply providing security for a food convoy for THAT TOWN. I guess the U.S. will have to stop shipping food into that town until it is secure. So if the residents want food, they can turn over the perpetrators in order to make the town safe enough for the shipments.

[JeebusH]

5. ahhhh, yes

So if the residents want food, they can turn over the perpetrators in order to make the town safe enough for the shipments.

starving them will really win their hearts & minds

[lolly]

6. Oh, right

Food shipments.

Our government was paying a crew of men 1000/day each to guard--food shipments.

The killers ignored other foreign soldiers and attacked these hard-care, ultra-trained men who were guarding--food shipments.

[Skittles]

7. LOL

you actually believe that ridiculous story about FOOD SECURITY? Perhaps you may be interested in some bridges I am selling.

[rfkrocks]

8. Well whatever they did nothing excuses their deaths

For which I hold the POTUS responsible-imagine all the resources or even half spent in Iraq going to Kabul-would we have made it safer and healthier than the basket case it is now? another narco-terror state (deja vu)-The fact we are in Iraq is still a dream to me but unfortunately for our troops it is a nightmare-what are they dying for? A democratic Iraq? We need 500,000 troops for that and frankly General Custer/Bush doesn't have them up his sleeve