Standard Operating Procedure

No doubt US forces are pumped after taking out Zarqawi and now appear to be on a tear through the area. Unfortunately, new civilian victims abound in the latest round of storm trooper tactics:

U.S.-led forces raided a house near a volatile city northeast of Baghdad on Monday, killing nine people, including two children, the military said.

The raid was staged in the area where terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed, and the military said the targeted terrorists had ties to senior Al Qaeda leaders across Iraq and were involved in helping foreign fighters.

Local residents accused the Americans of targeting civilians, and a man wearing a white dishdasha held up the charred body of a toddler whose head had been blown in half.

We have heard and seen reports like this since nearly day one of the invasion and yet we would still wish to believe that Haditha is some sort of anomoly when, clearly, it is standard operating procedure, which, as indicated earlier, appears to be growing more standard each passing day.

Now, I am not so naive as to believe that insurgents aren't holing up in civilian houses entirely on purpose, just to produce this kind slaughter. They take their pot shots at US forces and, when the inevitable retaliation occurs, their efforts have generated yet more animosity toward US troops. For their trouble, the insurgents either get away or they wind up with 72 virgins. The resulting carnage, however, always plays against the American troops. Quite possibly, a few more jihadists, in the form of grief-stricken family members, have been recruited

There is really only one way this will stop: US forces must leave Iraq. Otherwise, as even Rumsfeld has said, this will be a very long war indeed.