U.S. military chief vows to 'get tough' in Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO141242.htm

BAGHDAD, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The top U.S. military commander in Iraq signalled on Tuesday his forces would take tougher action against insurgents, warning he would not hesitate to use any weapon at his disposal to defeat them.

Both the U.S.-led occupying coalition and their enemies have upped the ante in recent days. Guerrillas have shot down helicopters and the U.S. military has used aerial bombing for the first time since the official end of major combat in Iraq.

"Although the coalition can be benevolent, this is still the same lethal formation that removed the former oppressive regime (of Saddam Hussein)," Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez told a regular news briefing.

"We will not hesitate to employ the appropriate levels of combat power," he said as a slide of a fighter jet dropping bombs was displayed behind him. U.S. warplanes have struck targets near the towns of Tikrit and Falluja in the past week.

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[Wednesdays]

1. Yeah, mow 'em down!

Yeah! Yeah!

:nuke:

[The Zanti Regent]

20. How much longer must we deal with such idiots?

Well, now I KNOW why the Draft is coming down the pike...

[ugarte]

2. What an idiot

You can't kill hate.

[kayell]

5. But you can fertilize it with bombs

Brilliant minds at work in our DOD. Gee, the Arab world doesn't hate us enough yet, let's abuse them some more.

[wtmusic]

3. They love their lexicon

'Combat power', 'lethal formation', blah blah blah.

Face it Ricardo. You're not in control. That drives you crazy, doesn't it?

[bobthedrummer]

4. Superior tech weapons are useless w/o human intelligence network

What's next from Rumsfeld's neo-conservative traitors? Free fire zones???

[NNN0LHI]

6. Why doesn't he say what the "targets" were that he had bombed?

>>>U.S. warplanes have struck targets near the towns of Tikrit and Falluja in the past week.<<<

[gratuitous]

7. You'll love us, by the Christ, or we'll know the reason why!

You can practically see those Iraqi hearts and minds being won over by comments like Mr. Sanchez's, can't you? Yeah, that tactic of mass reprisals works oh-so-well. I've never seen a photo of Mr. Sanchez, but from the sound of those quotations attributed to him, I wouldn't be surprised to see his eyebrows growing bushier day by day.

[Hubert Flottz]

15. History will repeat it's self one more time!

Kortelisy (Ukraine), Lidice (Czechoslovakia) & Oradour-sur-Glane (France): Razed Villages

The German war on the civilian population in Ukraine was ruthless. The entire world heard about the total destruction of the Czech village of Lidice and the killing of all the men in its population of 400 on June 10, 1942. The French village of Oradour-sur-Glane razed on June 10, 1944 is also well known.

But the world never heard about the Ukrainian village of Kortelisy which the Germans burned to the ground on September 23, 1942 and killed all its 2,892 population of men, women and children. There were about 459 villages in Ukraine completely destroyed with all or part of their population by the German Army with 97 in Volhynia Province, 32 in Zhitomir province, 21 in Chernihiv province, 17 in Kiev province and elsewhere. There were at least 27 Ukrainian villages in which every man, woman and child was killed and the village completely destroyed by the Germans.

At least 160 Nazi concentration camps, some holding tens of thousands of prisoners, were established in Ukraine. Many Ukrainians were also sent to Auschwitz and other death camps in Poland. The janowska (Yanivska) Camp in Lviv was especially notorious because the Commandant, SS officer Gustav Wilhaus, used to sit on his balcony and with his automatic rifle use the inmates in the yard as target practice, even shooting children. The camp also had an orchestra and played a tune titled "The Tango of Death" specially composed for it. The orchestra was executed when the Germans closed the camp during their retreat.

http://www.infoukes.com/history/ww2/page-20.html

Reich Wingers like to play Hardball when it's others getting murdered! When their turn comes to face the music they run away!

[Spazito]

8. Every time I think it couldn't get more surreal in Iraq....

some asshole with absolutely no clue opens their mouth and proves me wrong. This is going to inflame the Iraqi citizenry even more, geez!

[Jacobin]

9. Oh!!....Like Saddam did?

Gee, how nice.

[Aidoneus]

10. Why not, it works so well in Chechnya & Palestine

The "get tough" policy of massacres worked SO well in putting those struggles down.. and in Vietnam, the mass-killing tactic won the war for America!

They're getting desperate:--unable to put a face on the "resistance", they assume anyone is the "enemy". When lashing out blindly and zachistki operations fail to lovingly endear the population to the occupation, they'll just beat the love into the people and still act surprised at the results.

[psychopomp]

11. Why not? Our CIC said

"...we've got plenty tough force to deal with any threat." Just after his "bringum on" blunder.

Like many other DU'ers, I've been watching this festering sore develop for the better part of a year. Along the way it seemed there were opportunities for the U.S. to avoid the bloody mess we at which we have arrived. Now, it looks to have crossed the line into total FUBAR. I don't see how we can extract ourselves from this situation at all. It looks like we are stuck in a gut-ridden quagmire, for sure.

[NNN0LHI]

16. "I don't see how we can extract ourselves from this situation at all" I do

Just keep saying the words " leave with dignity" over and over again, and it will come true.

Don

[psychopomp]

19. Thanks

n/t

[beanball]

24. "leave with dignity"

you must leave the way you entered.Think about that.

[DCDemo]

12. I guess that will show them terrorists....

I mean they use such sneaky tactics BECAUSE of our overwhelming military force.....this is just going to give them more popular support, and drive a bigger wedge between us and the locals...but maybe that's the plan to justify a longer term engagement...

[Tracer]

13. General Sanchez has to be ...

... the most witless member of the military command in Iraq. Bar none.

[fizzana]

14. But everything's under control according to Rumsfeld.

I love this quote from him today. It's straight out of Orwell.

Rumsfeld said top U.S. commanders "feel that the problem is in control, which is not to say that a terrorist can't attack at any time, at any place, using any technique."

Other than that minor problem, things are just swell.

[NNN0LHI]

18. It works for me in this "strange new world" n/t

[0007]

17. General Sanchez is just balancing the budget for junior.....

Dropping bombs on what!! Oh, I got it, gotta get tough and scare the living shit out 'em - shock and awe, 'eh?

If ya haven't got Saddam yet and now you're gonna get tough, 'eh?

Insurgents, yeah right!!

[Paschall]

21. This is obviously designed for frustrated war supporters in the US

"a slide of a fighter jet dropping bombs was displayed behind him"

I don't think that after Gulf War I, 12 years of no-fly zones, and the ShrubCo Invasion, the Iraqis need to be reminded of US firepower.

[bobthedrummer]

22. The real Shock and Awe

http://www.dodccrp.org/shockIndex.html

[Barrett808]

23. "he had weighed the risk of alienating ordinary Iraqis with air strikes"

"...but believed most recognised the coalition had to take firm action to defeat the insurgency."

<hits forehead> D'oh!

[BLUEBOY]

25. How about Trent Lott's comment...

"If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens."
Taken from Newsweek's Perspectives page Nov. 10th issue refering to an alternative solution to keeping peace in Iraq... Ya got to love this a-hole. Operation Iraqi "freedom" - I quess Bush could come back and say "I promised the Iraqis "freedom", I never said anything about them staying alive." :+

[Cocoa]

26. they're working on the new operation code names right now

pulling out all the stops. I nominate "Operation Rabid Scorpion"