Tim Blair

This bombing was horrendous, but even worse was the reaction of the locals afterwards:

They chanted "to hell with Bush, to hell with the Jews..."

I *want* to agree with the President that the average Iraqi wants to live in peace, dignity and freedom, but, you know what?

I don't. Not really.

Better for us, I think, had we simply destroyed the evil regime and walked away and to hell with all of them.....

One has to wonder if Arabs are capable of not being violent and destructive. It is easier to burn a house down that to build one. The hard left must be loving this. The US can not leave a fundamentalist state in Iraq so this is going to drag on unfortunately.

Remember that the bombers are the ones Michael Moore has compared to the Minutemen.

MUSLIMS killing muslims and so many Muslims quiet.....

This is a recurring problem. Why the authorities still insist on leaving car access to recruitment centres can only be because they are stupid.

If they had roadblocks, or tank traps around these places then car bombs would be far less effective.

BTW, it's time for a new word:

Suckercide bomber: A gullible stooge who has been convinced by a persuader that it is much, much, much better that they blow themselves up rather than the person persuading them.

While it doesn't seem to be the case this time, I've heard time and time again reports of applicants being killed while queing to apply to be a recruit. Some sort of ticketing system might help if that's the case.

/Armchair critic

We should have known (and were told, as I recall) that establishing a free and open society in the Middle East would be costly, bloody, and drawn-out. It's going to take longer than a year, or two years, or ten. We're going to be there for a long, long time, because there is no other way. We might as well get used to it.

"I *want* to agree with the President that the average Iraqi wants to live in peace, dignity and freedom, but, you know what?

I don't. Not really."

KevinV, don't believe everything that's shown on the idiot box at face value. If I was in the psyche game, and I was one of these low-life murdering scum, I'd make sure I had supporters around when a bomb went off. Give a few chants when the media vultures turn up and you've got a picture of disenchanted Iraqi people and more to the point, an audience back home wondering why they're soldiers are over there trying to bring civility to the country. This is where the people back home must have resolve. Understand, this is about a clash of civilisations.

On one side you have the filth that wish to push Islamic nations back into the dark ages, with its bigotry, superstitions and terror. To this end they have perverted the teachings in the Koran to eliminate anyone who is of a different religion or who has a less radical view of the Islamic faith.

On the other side, there is a group of nations known as the coalition, that have brought democracy to 26 million people. A shining light of hope has been lit for Iraq, that disturbs the religious and government leaders of most middle eastern countries. For when the terrorism in Iraq is eliminated, what will be left is a peaceful, technologically advancing, Islamic nation. A country where individuals can speak openly of their desires and act towards achieving their goals with no threats to their health or that of their family. More to the point, the success of Iraq will make the peoples of all those broken nations in the Middle East question why they are in such disarray. Then, their leaders will have much to answer for.

Here is how I see Fallujah going.

A. After our election, when Bush dont have to worry about them dumbass undecided voters, he will turn the dogs of war loose on the streets of Fallujah. House to house fighting will result in the well deserved deaths of 50000 or 1/3 of the male population. If we properly terrorize them, they will be glad to live under the rule of a Shiite majority government. But I am not so confident Bush will ever have the courage to let the Marines and their billion dollar weapon systems do what they were designed for without limiting their abilities for political considerations.

B. We pacify them just enough to get through the Iraqi election. Then let the new legitimate Iraqi leaders do what any other Arab leader would do to survive. Wholesale slaughter of all resistance to the tune of 50000 dead Sunni Insurgents. Then maintain control over the surviving populace by tried and true brutal Arab methods.

C. After both elections, the US and the Iraqi governments both come to realize that the Iraqis dont have enough free neurons to ever grasp the concept of living together in peace and freedom.

Continued unpreventable sabotage to oil and power infrastructure, and continued assassinations of political leaders, security personnel, and any citizen that supports the elected government can only be resolved by letting them dissolve into a long overdue three-way civil war of bloody annihilation.

Based on all the evidence I have seen, I vote for "C". They have proven they dont want to live in the freedom that was offered to them by outside forces that had their best intentions at heart. Lets let them earn their own freedom, or lets let them wallow in the brutal oppression they seem to prefer. Lets let the country fall into the natural 3 way partition that nature and religion has dictated, and sink all our resources into providing the only rational faction, the Kurds, with a modern, civilized, prosperous, and free society that they alone deserve. A fully independent Kurdistan can be the beacon of freedom and democracy we intended for Iraq.

Hey, if they are busy killing each other, they wont be a threat to America anyway. I am tired of kidding myself into believing they are capable of being rational. If the so called moderate majority is not willing to take this historic opportunity we have provided them, and police their own society for their children to live in freedom, they simply dont deserve it.

Don't forget that the people being hurt are Iraqis willing to risk their lives to join the local police and other essential service organisations. I think that speaks volumes for what sort of future the Iraqis are really looking for.

Too right Heebee.

The bombers blow up people in anti US areas, to anger them more.
They blow up people in areas that support the US, to scare them more.
Ingenious bastards.

The Iraqi's will work for their democracy. It's just going to take a lot more time and effort than some folks have the patience for.

Heebee's right, Redneck Texan, as is your President, freedom is a natual human desire.

Iraq will be free, they would have it no other way.