Fascinating program on WAMU public radio (not Al Franken nor Rush Limbaugh) Tuesday evening.

Included interviews with various representatives of different points of view on Fallujah, including several military men, past and present, and a former advisor to the Thatcher government, and an Iraqi dealing with how oil money is to come to Iraqis.

The only one who thought things were going according to plan was the Thatcher advisor, whose only gripe was that it wasn't done earlier. Several others thought that if that if it was to be done, it should have been done earlier. But most of these also thought there were problems, ranging from the military downside of tank-destroyed houses--- (affords more refuge for snipers, sometimes more effectively than the buildings themselves)--to the fact that the ringleaders (Zarqawi etc.) had long since left the city. It happens that on Tuesday night, a particularly holy day in Ramadan, anybody who is killed is guaranteed Paradise, so fighters seeking martyrdom would stay.

Also, several people noted that since the leaders had left, the insurgents would make another stand any number of places--- (why does this sound like the American Revolution?)

The most fascinating commentator was the Iraqi oil consultant, who pointed out that one of the main "success stories" of the new Iraqi army---- touted by the Bush administration----is actually staffed heavily with Kurdish fighters, who don't consider themselves Iraqis. In fact the Kurdish north of the country has been a de facto separate country for many years now--not under Saddam's rule since the end of the Gulf War. The Kurds in north Iraq (several million) have expressed a desire for total independence from Iraq.

So now Mr. Bush, brilliant geopolitical strategist that he is, has sent US soldiers and soldiers who are basically Kurdish mercenaries, on behalf of the supposed Iraqi government, into Fallujah to slaughter anyone who might oppose them. Tell me they'll be careful to distinguish Iraqi civilians from fighters. When the heat-detecting device senses a human behind the door, then what?

But Doug R.---- (and no doubt our courageous Guest US)---- in his boundless generosity
says the people of Fallujah had time to vacate the city---implication-if they didn't they deserve to be slaughtered?

Too bad, Doug, that you and your family members can't be Iraqi civilians in Fallujah, who couldn't make it out, to experience the meaning of your "rough justice".

So the Kurds and Americans kill Iraqis on behalf of the Allawi government, thereby winning the undying loyalty of Iraqis and smoothing the way for elections?
Something doesn't compute here.

Meanwhile the actual leaders of the insurgency slip away to start mischief elsewhere, enticing Bush to destroy another Iraqi city.

Ah, yes, Doug R and courageous Ghost ""Uncle Sam"--no doubt about it--you and your boy are peerless warriors--- (as long as somebody else does it). Too bad body count isn't   actually the goal here. Wasn't there something about a functioning Iraqi state?---"freedom is on the march",, as I recall.

Tell us if you ever get out of your sandbox playing soldier, and realize that a democratic state is not usually created by mercenaries killing citizens and destroying cities.