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Politics : The Castle -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (1353)	3/28/2003 10:16:04 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7936

This war is eating the site alive. And breaking it into warring factions.

To: TimF who wrote (1353)	3/29/2003 9:17:30 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7936

I have a topic for you. I just watched an interview on CNN where they mentioned terrorist tactics by the Iraqis and how Saddam, the terrorist leader of a terrorist state, was now using terrorist tactics within a war, like somehow that wasn't cricket. The CNN analyst, a general, seemed to take the same tone of disgust, then went on to discuss how our guys who are skulking around trying to assassinate Saddam and company saying that is sop, part of normal military operations. I agree that that is a legitimate military tactic. What I don't understand is why some of the Iraqi tactics that are reported with such disgust are not also legitimate. So my question is, at what point, by what criteria, do asymmetric warfare tactics (smart) become terrorist tactics (evil)? I recognize that firing when under a white flag or hiding behind the skirts of some civilian grannies and executing POWs are not cricket, but I don't understand why attacking our troops from the rear or exploding car bombs at checkpoints are "terrorist" rather than legitimate tactics given that the Iraqis don't have the wherewithal to beat us with traditional tactics. Is asymmetrical warfare inherently evil? Surely not. Saddam and his bunch are world-class bad guys and terrorists for sure, but it seems to me that the administration and the media are painting events with too broad a brush by finding evil in legitimate tactics.