Sherman, Not McClellan

That's the advice Victor Davis Hanson has for American war planners in Iraq. End the gentlemanly desire not to insult anyone's religion, go after militants in mosques, call radical Muslim "clerics" what they are -- thugs and killers. Best paragraph:

"We should simply ignore most supposed Islamic restrictions on war-making since they are entirely one-sided, asymmetrical, and self-serving. All during the Afghanistan campaign we worried about Ramadan, and were warned by the impotent Arab Street about the repercussions to follow if we shot back at Taliban thugs who hid in mosques and sniped at us during their holy days. Did we remember that when Egypt invaded Israel during its sacred Yom Kippur holidays it bragged of the sneak attack as the 'Ramadan War'—and in pride, not shame? Did we hold back from attacking Nazi Germany on Hitler's Birthday? And was it really wise to impose what turned out to be a one-sided truce at the Tet holiday in Vietnam?"

During the Cold War we were warned by the pro-detente crowd that we shouldn't provoke the Soviets by appearing too belligerent or overly powerful. That was bad advice then and it's deadly advice now. Every time coalition forces have engaged the rag-tag thugs that make up the Iraqi "resistance," they've sent the paramilitary Baathists running for their lives. After victory in WWII America didn't try to be sensitive to the emperor's claims to divinity -- we scuttled them. We didn't try to ensure freedom of speech to Germans who still saw themselves as a superior race -- we censored them or jailed them. Iraqis, like everyone else, will choose stability over chaos. By moving forcefully against armed militias and thugs left over from the old regime, coalition forces can keep Iraq on the road to internal peace.