I have a question on the Iraq war.?

Question

I know this subject is very sensitive for many people, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone. I guess my question should be directed to the higher ups in the military, but since you wonderful people are all I have, here goes. Six-eight months ago our soldiers went into Falleujah to clean out the the city of insurgents. We did this; then we left; then the insurgents returned, only to pick up where they left off. I understand and appreciate that we have to be very careful not to injure any civilians. We cannot just "bombs away" indiscriminently, but why didn't we bull doze every building that housed insurgents as soon as they left? Not civilians, but insurgents? Reduce the buildings to rubble; clean out any ammunitions they left behind. This way when they returned, they couldn't pick up where they left off. Don't we have heavy equipment over there to do this? It seems like we are making double work for ourselves.

Answer 1

Not offended and not a bad question. I'm retired military. The "tactic" you have described is partially responsible for the recent change in command in Iraq. That was essentially the same tactic used in Vietnam. It's great if you're fighting a war of pure attrition,but those wars don't really work. The Israelis have been bulldozing the houses used by th palestinian terrorists for years and still, they just keep coming and blowing themselves up. It doesn't work either. If your lawn is being flooded by your garden hose, perhaps you should shut the water off at the valve. You may have noticed that their's been increasing rhetoric and commentary about Iran coming out of Washington. Just yesteray the new Sec.Def., Case, commented that we can proove it is Iran behind the insurgency by looking at the reminants of the weapons used. Forensics, it's a wonderful science. Anyone who's truly been paying attention for any length of time can tell you it's Iran. They have motive and means and they're leaving evidence everywhere. With any amount of luck, the folks in the Pentagon will figure it out that if they secure the border, they'll shut off the flow.

Answer 2

We have a problem: how do you discern an insurgent from a regular citizen?

If you bulldoze buildings, won't regular citizens be affected, as well?

Does decimating a city make it a better place to live?

Should we destroy the country of Iraq, so the citizens can have a better place to live in?

Although it may appear that I'm being sarcastic, these are real issues.

By toppling the Hussein and the Bathe Party's administration, are the Iraqi people better off now then they were 5 years ago?

Can occupying Iraq for another 10 years mke the country any better, or will there always be infighting among the various factions, with the U.S. pouring billions of dollars into the country, not to mention destroying thousands of lives--many of them American?

These questions need to be properly addressed by our chief executive and his administration. "Stay the course" is no longer tolerable; we need a new course of action.

We need resolution, and quickly.

Answer 3

All of that was done and yet they return. There is no easy way to tell the difference between an Iraqi citizen and a ''dormant'' insurgent. So when the U.S. wipes out an area, new or escaped insurgents return and are helped by the ''activated'' insurgents.

Answer 4

If we were fighting an conventional war where the objective was the total destruction of the enemy, leveling everything might work. But this is a gorilla war and the people are the prize. Destroying their world merely converts them to insurgents.

Answer 5

The truth is the army has no idea who is insurgent and who is a civilian. Their are 5 or 6 or more factions all fighting including U.S. military and 75,000 U.S. security contractors without any accountability.
In the end it is the average civilians taking hugest body toll, while American reputation, moral high ground,are shattered around the globe.

Answer 6

Our mission in Desert Storm was much different then the mission at hand now. Saddam Hussein's rejection of diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis led to the decision to restore Kuwait's sovereignty by military force. In short, get Iraq out of Kuwait. Somehow Iraqi citizens felt we left them behind, it was not our mission to free them from Saddam's tyranny.

Now, because of the support Saddam was giving to those that attacked us on 9/11 we moved into Iraq to remove the powers that made our enemies the threat they were. (mission accomplished) Here is the question. Do we now pull out of Iraq and turn them over to a new dictator? They are not a strong enough government to protect themselves from this. The good people of Iraq are to afraid to swear the allegiance to a new form of Government until they know, with out a doubt, that we are there, with them, for the long haul.

Once it is evident that the U.S. and our Allies are there to stay. The good people of Iraq will relax, and take up arms to protect themselves against the insurgents. You need to remember, the previous form of Government was put into power by A. Hitler and his Third Reich. That is a long time to live under one form of Government. It will take them time to adapt to a new way of thinking.

Answer 7

I guess because the insurgents would then chose another building. Than what will you do, level them all? What would the public opinion of the world be. Radical Muslims would use that to show how "evil" America is and increase recruitments for terrorists.

Answer 8

Thats America's problem, theyre letting the Democrats run the Military. The Democrats can have Congress, but the Military should be run by Republicans. Back in the days when you wanted to win the war, you bombed the enemy to Hell. Nowadays, w/ the Democrats, half the soldeirs that shoot someone are thrown in jail or given the death penalty.

Answer 9

How do you know they housed who? Did the people living there leave for fear of their lives and some terrorist move in behind them. No the only way to make this war work get the politicians out of the war, and go back to scorch the earth policies of WWII and forget about civilian casulties.

Answer 10

Because the insurgents were in civilian buildings.

There aren't buildings over there labeled "Insurgent hideout" that we can just destroy.