USEFUL IDIOTS, UNPUBLICIZED EVILDOERS, AND UNSUNG HEROES:

Shields & lances (David Warren, 3/25/2003)

The larger question of human shields is still under debate. My own view is the one I think will prevail: that allied armies should more-or-less ignore such people, in the selection of targets. For the use of such cover is itself among the illicit weapons of the terror regimes, who will abandon the weapon only when it ceases to work. Those who agree to be used as shields, can hold themselves to account for their fates; those who had no choice are tragically unlucky.

Life is unfair, as my mother so often said. The innocent suffer for the sins of the guilty. We cannot allow the taking of hostages to render the guilty immune from punishment. This is tragic for the hostages, but it must be so.

[A]s we shall soon learn, many of the most accomplished of Saddam's defenders behind the lines are, indeed, members of Al Qaeda, Hamas, and other terrorist groups who have received training in Iraq. We are unlikely to hear much about this, or about the capture of biological and chemical weapons sites, until the war is over (despite several interesting independent reports). This is because the allies are still benefiting from Saddam's hesitation to use weapons that may immediately cost him the support of his few remaining foreign friends.

The left has been a real asset to us. They have given Saddam hope that we may abandon the war; and so he has curled up in Baghdad and defends like a porcupine. This has allowed us to capture much of the country, obviate many dangers, and greatly weaken his regime. The period of greatest danger now approaches. As we begin to prod the porcupine, the Iraqis may conclude that we will fight to the end and so too must they. One Palestinian terrorist was killed when Saddam's leadership bunker was hit on the first night of the war; there are surely many more, and they may have carried some of Iraq's worst weapons to Israel.

[T]he general population ... has greeted invading forces with wary enthusiasm wherever they have appeared, and open enthusiasm wherever they have clearly prevailed. I have now seen several accounts of Iraqi civilians, voluntarily risking their lives to help allied soldiers locate Saddamite gunmen in concealed positions. The Iraqis themselves are, alas thanks to media attitudes in the West, America's most unsung allies.

It is the brave cooperation of Iraqis behind enemy lines that may enable this war to be won without great bloodshed. The CIA has clearly made connections -- most impressively, the bodyguard who gave us Saddam's sleeping quarters on the first night of the war. Let us hope they have many more. Posted by Paul Jaminet at March 25, 2003 11:11 AM