"THEY CHOP PEOPLE'S HEADS"

Just heard on the radio that 14 U.S. troops have been killed in the past two days in heavy street fighting in Falluja.

Sami al-Jumaili, a doctor at the hospital who escaped arrest when it was taken by US troops, said the city was running out of medical supplies and only a few clinics remained open.

"There is not a single surgeon in Falluja. We had one ambulance hit by US fire and a doctor wounded," he told Reuters. "There are scores of injured civilians in their homes whom we can't move. A 13-year-old child just died in my hands."

Iraq's US-backed interim government sees Falluja and its sister city, Ramadi, as insurgent strongholds that must be retaken in order for nationwide elections to go ahead in January. The US says 1,000 to 6,000 militants - some followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and some loyal to Saddam Hussein - are based in Falluja.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, said victory in Falluja would not end the insurgency. "These folks are determined. These are killers. They chop people's heads," Mr Rumsfeld said. [emphasis mine]

I wonder how that doctor would respond to Rummy's remarks. WE'RE not killers because we don't chop off people's heads, we only decimate the population and raze their cities and towns when we invade a country that doesn't threaten us. We're the good guys, see? Tell that to that 13-year-old child's mom and dad.

Let's see, 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead so far. Maybe if we cut off a few heads THAT would prove we're killers and stop the insurgency. Look for Rummy's next "think piece" memo to raise the issue. They got away with Abu Ghraib, didn't they? What's to stop them now?