Three U.S. soldiers are still missing in Iraq following an attack on their convoy which left four other soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter dead. Credit for capturing the soldiers has been claimed by al Qaeda, which has also threatened the captives with death if attempts to find and rescue them are continued.
As much as I hate to say, or even to think it, I'm afraid these men are dead.
We are fighting a vicious, ruthless, utterly amoral enemy. In times past, even when fighting an enemy as cruel as the Nazis or as culturally indifferent to prisoners as the Viet Cong, national forces recognized rules of war that governed the conditions under which prisoners could be held. The much-maligned Geneva Conventions kept a lid on the savage passions of war and helped many thousands of POWs come home safe when the guns fell silent.
Things are different, now.
Our troops are fighting an enemy that believes God commands him to kill us. The moral depravity of this enemy is demonstrated by beheadings posted on the Internet, bombs which shred marketplaces crowded with innocent civilians, and airliners crashed into towering office buildings crowded with men, women, and children of every race, nation and religion.
While we hope for the return of the three soldiers listed in military bureaucratese as "Duty Status, Whereabouts Unknown," that hope is slim. Our thoughts go out to the families of these brave men.
The disgusting and depraved twisting of outdated religious beliefs fuels the enemy, and few of his coreligionists have the courage and moral fiber to stand up to him.
It's up to us. We've punched the tar baby, and now it's time to stop fooling around. These people hate us no matter what we do, so perhaps it's time to recall the favorite saying of the Roman emperor Caligula - oderint dum metuant: "let them hate as long as they fear."
Let's either take the gloves off or leave. I don't see another choice.
More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
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