Bremer: Iraq Deaths Won't Go Unpunished

[Thanatoast]

link (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040402/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716)
By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

FALLUJAH, Iraq - The top U.S. administrator in Iraq (news - web sites) said Thursday that the deaths and mutilation of four American contractors in Fallujah "will not go unpunished," and a U.S. general vowed an "overwhelming" response.
Is this really the tone we want in Iraq? I mean, since the same policies have been so successfull in Israel and all.

[IJ Reilly]

They'll round up a few of the usual suspects, but mainly for show. Bremer has to know a few arrests won't have much of an impact on stopping mob violence, and the kind of measures really required to halt it can't be implemented. My guess is we'll eventually see either a withdrawal of US troops (and aid-workers) from these hotspots or the reintroduction of armored vehicles.

[3rdpath]

My guess is we'll eventually see either a withdrawal of US troops (and aid-workers) from these hotspots or the reintroduction of armored vehicles.

i think the u.s. will send in more mercenaries ( @ $4k/month each) as we gradually reduce our troops.

finally bush can put a positive spin on outsourcing jobs.

[mactastic]

BRING 'EM ON!

[miloblithe]

We can't withdraw though. If the US withdraws, unless the UN replaces US troops, the country will collapse into civil war. And do we realistically think that Turkey will sit idly by while Kurds in Northern Iraq push for an independent Kurdistan, or Iran will stand idly by while Sunnis and Shiites fight in Iraq, or Saudi Arabia will calmly observe chaos to its north, and so on and so on.

The reality is, we've made this mess and must stick it out. But we have to not be idiots about it (meaning Bush has to go). We need real international involvement.

[IJ Reilly]

As of this morning, US forces had withdrawn to the outskirts of Fallujah. The CPA is trying to persuade local authorities to transmit the message that the miscreants must be turned in, but the local authorities are saying that cooperation with the Americans is a death sentence. All of this brave talk about pacifying the city -- I wonder where it will lead, since the continuing problems in Fallujah and elsewhere in Iraq are only exacerbated if not caused by the application of military force leading to the deaths of civilians.

[toontra]

I wonder where it will lead, since the continuing problems in Fallujah and elsewhere in Iraq are only exacerbated if not caused by the application of military force leading to the deaths of civilians.

Exactly! One also has to wonder why the UN should commit its troops to this quagmire in order to facilitate a US withdrawal, considering it was opposed to the invasion in the first place! This is slowly but surely turning into the entrenched mess that many predicted.

[diamond geezer]

Any heavy-handed attack by the US will no doubt make matters worse.

US media keeps stressing about this being Saddam's home town and that these people have lost their privileges and are angry.

This is no doubt true, but lets not forget that 2 weeks after the invasion US soldiers fired on a crowd killed 15 protesters (with zero US casualties), and in the last few months up to 30 Iraqis who were mainly civilians have been killed. I notice that CNN and Fox never mention these killings as possible motives for the deaths.

Revenge by both sides will just keep escalating the violence.