More ferocity?

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Editorial

Like Lyndon Johnson, George W. Bush used a pretext to wage war, and now he's stuck there with the Hobson's choice of withdrawing troops or sending more troops in.

But more troops is not the answer, as Howard Zinn persuasively argues this month. So long as it is a U.S. occupation in Iraq, it is doomed to failure.

A majority of Iraqis now want the U.S. troops to leave, according to a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll at the In the war, the U.S. killed tens of thousands of Iraqi troops and about 10,000 Iraqi civilians. And during the recent uprisings, the U.S. has killed hundreds more innocent Iraqis. That toll, and the hideous toll on U.S. troops themselves, is likely only to rise. The military is also detaining thousands of Iraqis in outdoor pens; their families don't know where they are, or whether they are alive. Some U.S. soldiers have even engaged in torture. In his hapless press conference on April 13, Bush vowed that U.S. military commanders have the authority "to use decisive force." On April 29, he reiterated that they can "take whatever actions necessary."

And some of the commanders seem to be itching to flex American muscle. "First, we are going to win," said General John Abizaid, head of the Army's Central Command. "And second, everyone needs to know that there is no more powerful force assembled on Earth than this military force."

In case you missed the threat, he added: "The fact that we have been so judicious in the use of this force should not be lost on anybody. This country will not suffer intimidation.... Those who oppose moving democracy forward will have to pay the consequences if they don't cease and desist."

Many Iraqis might quarrel with Abizaid's boast of judiciousness.

How many people will the U.S. military kill when it becomes less judicious? And how many American soldiers will die in the process? The fundamental trap for Bush and Abizaid...