You are right. This Al Jazeera network is having a field day making everyone killed a 'civilian' and provoking outrage on the unfortunate but understandiable collateral damage that occurs when the terrorists use civilians as human shields and when they take advantage of our tight rules engagement.
If nothing else we're making a show that we're willing to let the bad guys come out with their hands up. This isn't for their benefit, but for the non-fanatical residents of Fallujah. I know it's easy to say 'Screw em all', but there are a lot of innocent people there that are afraid of the fanatics. If they can be spared, the effort should be made.
The 'fallujah' demands for ceasefire was for the marines to pull out of the town. This is what tried - and failed - before, less troops getting killed, but it became a haven for terrorists, a nest of vipers. Now we are attacking that nest. If the ceasefire" is that we keep the cordon and Iraqi police run the city and hand over baddies, great. if the ceasefire is we withdraw and give the jihadists time to regroup or escape, then all is lost.
Someone correctly on this board said that the fundamental rule needs to be that the coalition and allies (iraqi police and defense force) have the monopoly on force, no other forces allowed. That has to be the non-negotiable fundamental decision.
If the marines are making one mistake, it is going about this so slowly. Probably more force and a quicker operation would obviate this kind of nonsense about saving fallujah from americans, which feeds off the news cycle. The "ideal" operation would start at midnight and be a fait accompli by dawn. Then let the civilians clean up the blood on the streets of the 'insurgents'.
Precisely. Sadr may call for some kind of truce, but if he and his crew don't plan on giving themselves up, it will be necessary to resume offensive operations. In the mean time, there are a lot of pilgrims and other civilians that will have a chance to get out of the way.
The delay is a merciful one on our part. We can debate the pros and cons of being merciful at this point, but that appears to be our position. There is no question that we can level the city at our lesiure; the fact that we have not yet done so isn't lost on anyone. No one questions our strength, they only question our will. That's why it is vital that we bring Sadr in and make him Saddam's new roomate.