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| Iraq-Jordan |
| A Message for Fallujah |
| 2004-04-01 |
| The best-written, most effectively pissed-off post I’ve read on this outrage. From Peggy Noonan. The world is used to bad news and always has been, but now and then there occurs something so brutal, so outside the normal limits of what used to be called man’s inhumanity to man, that you have to look away. Then you force yourself to look and see and only one thought is possible: This must stop now. You wonder, how can we do it? And your mind says, immediately: Whatever it takes. What they did in Fallujah, Iraq, on yesterday was such an event. The ambush, grenading, shooting and killing of four American civilians, the setting of their SUVs on fire and the brutalization of their corpses was savage, primitive, unacceptable. The terrible glee of the young men in the crowds, and the sadism they evinced, reminds us of the special power of the ignorant to impede the good. The pictures that television appropriately mostly did not show and the Internet inevitably mostly did were horrifying in a way that was reminiscent of the first still pictures of the Trade Center victims of 9/11. It was like seeing people in business suits falling through the air again. It was as if someone pointed a camera at evil and actually caught it in the act. The Americans who were murdered were, according to the wires, working for a security company, a North Carolina-based subcontractor hired by the U.S. government, among other things, to guard convoys. The convoys carried food. They carried it to Fallujah. The four civilians were not the only American who died in Iraq yesterday. We lost five soldiers in a roadside bombing. The statements of American officials in Iraq were appropriate: This stops nothing, the terrorists will not win. A State Department spokesman said the contractors "were trying to make a difference and to help others." Indeed they were. There are many such in Iraq. They are risking their lives for many reasons, including improving the prospects for health and safety of 12-year-old boys like the one quoted by Reuters who witnessed the actions of his elders after the attack on the civilians. "I am happy to see this," he said. It is hard not to hate the teenagers and young men who celebrated under the bridge where they hanged the charred bodies. They are human expressions of nihilism. They take pleasure in evil, and they were not shy to show it. They are arrogant. They think barbarity is their right. If this time, in this incident, these young men are left unchecked, their ways and attitudes, their assumptions and method of operating will only be encouraged, and spread. So we had better check them. It is possible that the atrocity in Fallujah was spontaneous or not fully thought through, but it doesn’t look like it. It seems likely to have been at least to some degree, and perhaps a high degree, well planned and calculated. The brutalizing of the bodies was done in a way that seemed imitative, as all have noted, of the incident in Mogadishu, Somalia, where in 1993 a frenzied mob dragged the dead body of a U.S. Army Ranger through the streets. The civilized world was horrified, and everyone knows what followed: a quick American retreat. It is not a stretch to imagine the young murderers of Fallujah had this on their minds: Do it again to America, kill them and string up their corpses, because when you do this America leaves. And so this time the response must be the opposite of the response in Mogadishu. We know what the men and boys who did the atrocity of Fallujah look like; they posed for the cameras. We know exactly what they did--again, the cameras. We know they massed on a bridge and raised their guns triumphantly. It’s all there on film. It would be good not only for elemental justice but for Iraq and its future if a large force of coalition troops led by U.S. Marines would go into Fallujah, find the young men, arrest them or kill them, and, to make sure the point isn’t lost on them, blow up the bridge. Amen to that idea! Whatever the long-term impact of the charred bodies the short term response must be a message to Fallujah and to all the young men of Iraq: the violent and unlawful will be broken. Savagery is yesterday; it left with Saddam. It is not only coalition forces that should send this message. It is important that Iraqis themselves--pro-peace and pro-democracy Iraqis who are attempting to build a new government--come forward to denounce what happened in Fallujah. They should stand before the world and denounce the atrocity in the most serious terms. So should our allies. And so should the United Nations. If an unforgettable message is not sent to the young men of Fallujah, the young nihilists will be inspired, and the lesson of their nihilism--brutality trumps goodwill--will gain ground. The progressives of Iraq will be further disheartened, and all of those there from the West to help, from contract workers to military troops, will feel more beset, more resentful and less hopeful of a good outcome. The terrible pictures of the charred bodies on the bridge cannot be erased, and no one who saw them is going to forget them. But they can in time come to be accompanied by other pictures--of determined U.S. Marines, for instance, rounding up the men who massed on the bridge under the bodies, and brandished their weapons, and laughed. |
| Posted by:snellenr |
| #25 Instead of destroying the bridge, why not rename it the "Sunni Bridge of Shame"? Convert the bridge to a toll bridge and use the tolls to pay Fallujah blood money to the survivors of those killed and mutilated there. Humiliate the city over this outrage. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-04-02 12:42:19 AM |
| #24 Lake Fallujah has a nice ring to it. If you didn't bother to notify the residents before you created it, my heart wouldn't break. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-04-01 11:53:35 PM |
| #23 Cyprus in the springtime...this year might not be so nice with all the rain, damn mosquitoes, but it is generally nice here. Good rock climbing too, provided you don't break your ankle, check the latest on my link if interested. On topic, a MOAB wouldn't make me shed a tear. |
| Posted by: hairofthedawg 2004-04-01 11:36:01 PM |
| #22 'Anymouse "19"', Even I can't imagine what the US Coalition would do if we cut off they're water and lights to 'flush' the bad guys out!! What if 90 to 95 percent of the men and women and children protested and stormed the "skirmish Line" in revolt? We'd have to kill hundreds of thousands within minutes or back up like 'crabs in a pot'!! Who would make that call...Whew. |
| Posted by: smn 2004-04-01 10:23:06 PM |
| #21 TGA - ROFLMAO!!! Brought tears to my eyes! Lol! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-01 6:20:46 PM |
| #20 Oh Cyprus has almond blossom, orange blossom... I'm sure there's a lot of blossom there. They also have the very pretty and rare butterflies. I think the UN, the NGOs and relief organizations should really do more to protect those butterflies. There is that very very rare and elusive Fallujah Monarch. We should really do more to protect it. I think in ten years or so some UN bureaucrat can investigate why papers got all messed up and all the aid to help Fallujah ended up in Cyprus, to protect the Fallujah Monarch. I'm sure we can work out a nice apology for the slim peaceful citizens of Fallujah, too. In due time. Until then, let them call Kimmy for those delicious tree bark recipes. Oh they don't have trees in Fallujah? You should have thought about it before you hang people who bring you food on bridges, folks. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-04-01 6:02:04 PM |
| #19 cut their f***ing power, water, food til they throw the dead bodies of the cockroaches out who did it. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2004-04-01 5:16:24 PM |
| #18 TGA - lol! I *snicker* agree wholeheartedly! Let them eat "Life is hard. It's a lot harder if you're stupid." I offer the following as appropriate to tack on to the end: "But it's incredibly frustrating if you're not!" Re: Cyprus - Do they have "cherry blossom" time there, as well? If not, they should contact the Japanese - good plant stock is prolly available -- and a proper attitude and appreciation of this event is paramount! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-01 4:42:35 PM |
| #17 .com, obviously the citizen of Fallujah don't want food from us... should we really force them to accept it? Cyprus is really nice in spring. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-04-01 4:32:13 PM |
| #16 This may have been mentioned yesterday, but . . . if these bastards posed for the cameras, why the hell didn't the camera crew do something to stop them? I heard the camera crew was from al'Jazeera. They almost certainly knew about the ambush before it happened. Heck, they probably filmed the ambush being set up and supplied both the gasoline and rope for the following barbarity. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-04-01 3:55:14 PM |
| #15 RMcLeod raises a good point - We'll go on the offense when we see fit. Gen Conway is one savvy guy. Maybe we're just waiting for things to die down a bit, then in the middle of the night some weeks from now various males of Fallujah between ages 20-40 just disapear. Also, without rhyme or reason to the locals - sections of buildings get cordoned off and searched by battalion level ops. Known derelict and abandoned building are inexplicably razed by hellfire missiles. Food shortages and power outages become the norm. Local head honchos disapear. Marine combat engineers blow the bridge. The infidel Marines blair their heavy metal music from humvees and LAV's every night into the city from 2310 to 0911 in the morning. I would mentally skull fuck & physically exhaust these fuckers until they get the picture that they are no longer running the show. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-04-01 3:52:54 PM |
| #14 TGA - The entities providing food for all of the cities in the Sunni Triangle would be right and proper and morally correct to withdraw to Cyprus - don't you think? The Fallujans and citizenry of the other Sunni Triangle cities must show up there to collect their food. I think this response follows the best model as demonstrated by our moral betters. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-01 3:16:28 PM |
| #13 Couple of points: 1. It is by no means "too late" to exact retribution on the Beasts and their supporters. True, a strike on the bridge immediately would have been great, but remember these were civilians: they may not have been able to communicate what was happening to the military in real time. The key thing is not to pull a Mogadishu. It doesn't matter if we hit them tomorrow or next week. What matters is that we hit them very, very hard. As to the questions about the camera crew from The Doctor, I think the answer is obvious: they were an enemy camera crew from an Arab TV station. They are IN LEAGUE with the enemy, they don't have to worry about getting hurt and they're certainly not going to oppose butchery like this. They ENJOYED filming it. |
| Posted by: RMcLeod 2004-04-01 2:44:10 PM |
| #12 The Iraqi Islamotwerps believe that any food that comes their way is completely deserved, and is a pittance compared to the life they have lost since Sadaam is gone, so they don't care about it. Their interpretation of yesterday's events: "Ha, ha. We torched the Americans! Zionist, American, Jew foreigners--bad. Us good." To them, showing restraint is tantamount to admitting weakness. Another thought--they want Fallujah to be a "graveyard for Americans." Sounds good. Let's level it and turn the whole area into a giant cemetary guarded by USMC. It will make our job disposing of the remains of such miscreants so much easier. "How many do you have there." "Twenty dead Iraqi insurgents, sir." "Okay. Fallujah, sector twenty-nine." We wouldn't even have to plant grass or anything. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-04-01 2:34:15 PM |
| #11 This may have been mentioned yesterday, but . . . if these bastards posed for the cameras, why the hell didn't the camera crew do something to stop them? Don't know about anyone else, but I'm not sure I'd want to go into the country as a reporter without arming myself with something, given the way things are. (Do the rules prohibit this?) Or were they just too scared? This is a truly terrible thing, but the way it's no doubt going to be cited - as an example of "how bad things are in Iraq" - is even more terrible. |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-04-01 2:17:54 PM |
| #10 So they brought food to Fallujah? I'd say it's to dangerous to bring food to Fallujah. For anyone. For quite some time. Just stop anyone who brings food to Fallujah. It's just too dangerous. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-04-01 1:38:14 PM |
| #9 Shipman, Hang them from the bridge (isn't death by hanging dishonorable in Islam?) then take out the bridge..... and several surrounding city blocks.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-04-01 1:05:54 PM |
| #8 to line the streets with crucified malefactors I prefer building a new Hanging Garden of Babylon. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-01 12:17:04 PM |
| #7 Peggy Noonan is a treasure. It is time to kick ass and take names. Semper Fi! |
| Posted by: Sgt.DT 2004-04-01 12:08:48 PM |
| #6 There are times when the rules of civilization are a terrible constraint. It would be more satisfying to line the streets with crucified malefactors in Roman fashion and let the ravens pick them clean. Nevertheless, I have no doubts they will find there is no worse enemy than a US Marine. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-04-01 11:25:36 AM |
| #5 RC is correct. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-04-01 10:50:38 AM |
| #4 I said yesterday that the bridge must come down - NOW. Fallujah needs a big lesson from the Cluebat™. Now that the moment has passed I hate those cheering little f*&kers even more than I did yesterday |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-01 10:36:07 AM |
| #3 CF -- part of the problem is that our press would regard any who do condemn the Beasts of Fallujah as being "sellouts" and would refuse to carry their comments. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-04-01 10:28:00 AM |
| #2 It is important that Iraqis themselves--pro-peace and pro-democracy Iraqis who are attempting to build a new government--come forward to denounce what happened in Fallujah. Query: Has any of the Iraqi 'leaders' and 'Clerics' done so? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-04-01 10:17:47 AM |
| #1 Who would have thought that sweet little old Peggy could be so merciless?! She gives we Bellicose Women™ a good name! |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-04-01 10:13:46 AM |