You're thinking like a westerner. Iraquis aren't Westerners. They may be someday, they currently are not.
Iron fist is all they know. It's what they grew up with. It's what they at least fear if not respect. The entire reason for this continuous spate of bombings and hostage taking is a lack of fear of real retaliation. Saddam just would have slaughted several neighborhoods until things went quiet again. And it would have worked.
All these things are being tried because the fundamentalist muslim perceives anything and everything western as weak.
I'm not advocating a wholesale slaughter - but an iron fist is all they understand and all that will have any chance of working in this kind of situation.
Anything else is likely to simply make things worse.
wads
Onwards the Aussie Spam Invasion!
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