Target Centermass

Day: August 10, 2004

  • U.S. Demands Najaf Militants End Fighting

    While it is a somewhat interesting twist in an ongoing story, I felt driven to post this just because I love the quote I’ve put in bold.

    U.S. forces adopted a new tactic Tuesday in their sixth day of battles in this city south of the capital, sending patrols armed with loudspeakers into the streets to demand that militants loyal to a radical cleric drop their arms and leave Najaf immediately or face death.

    The call, broadcast in Arabic from American vehicles, added a psychological component to the U.S. offensive. It came as U.S. helicopter gunships pummeled a multistoried building 400 yards from the gold-domed Imam Ali Shrine with rockets, missiles and 30 mm cannons — one of the closest strikes yet to what is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam.

    Plumes of thick, black smoke rose from the building, which serves as a hotel for visitors to the shrine. Witnesses said insurgents were firing from inside it and that U.S. forces returned fire.

    “We’ve pretty much just been patrolling and flying helicopters all over the place, and when we see something bad, we blow it up,” said U.S. Marine Maj. David Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment.

    Nearby, Bradley fighting vehicles swept through a huge cemetery, pursuing small pockets of militants hiding in elaborate concrete tombs. Choppers provided support, firing rockets from above, witnesses said.

    I’m thinking Maj. David Holahan would’ve made a good tanker.

  • Grab a Drink and Read This

    Doffing the CVC to the greatness that is Vodkapundit for his look at strategies going forward in the war against radical Islam based on lessons learned from the Cold War.

    By now, you probably know where I’m going with this little history lesson: How do we define victory in the Terror War, and what will the peace look like.

    Let’s get the second part out of the way first.

    What will the peace look like? I don’t have a damn clue. And neither do you. And if you meet anyone who claims to know, feel free to laugh at them really hard. So hard, you get a little spit on their face. Sometimes, justice can be small and spiteful – ask a meter maid. Anyway.

    When peace comes, it could look like whatever Mecca, Tehran, Damascus, Riyadh, Pyongyang, Khartoum, Kabul, Cairo, etc., look like after being hit by big city-busting nuclear warheads. Or it could end with the entire Arab and Muslim world looking like the really well-manicured bits of Connecticut. My best guess is, somewhere in-between. But that’s only a guess.

    NOTE: It’s a sad state of affairs (their affairs, not ours) that the first scenario, no matter how repugnant and unlikely, still seems more likely than the second scenario, no matter how virtuous.

    Now that we know that we don’t know how we’ll win, that leaves the question (and the oxymoron): How do we win?

    Go. Read. Learn why Stephen Green is one of my favorite bloggers.

  • Palestinian Inquiry Blames Arafat for Anarchy

    It seems that even the Palestinians have figured out that Arafat is the Palestinian problem personified.

    A Palestinian Legislative Council investigation says the Palestinian Authority, and its president Yasser Arafat, are to blame for failure of the Palestinian security forces to restore law and order in the Gaza Strip. The committee also calls for the resignation of the Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia’s government and that new general elections be held.

    The panel’s report follows a month-long inquiry in which dozens of people were interviewed, ranging from Prime Minister Qureia to leading commanders of security forces, and activists from the mainstream Fatah faction from all over Gaza. Their blunt testimony charged that the Palestinian leadership failed to build state institutions and as a result used clan loyalties instead of law to deal with out-of-control armed factions.

    The five-member committee was made up of both Arafat loyalists and those advocating reform with the Palestinian Authority.

    The report lays the blame for the failure of the security forces to restore law and order to what it calls “the total lack of a clear political decision” and to no definition of roles for security forces “either for the long term or the short.”

    Unfortunately, the Palestinians haven’t figured out the true first step in repairing their problem, which is the abandonment of Arafat the terrorist. Peace and prosperity for the Palestinian people cannot be attained under Yasser, as they would only lead to his eventual loss of relevance in the region and on the world stage. Arafat knows this and will not allow it.