Hovig,

I believe that W will insist that the attack not begin until after the polls close Tuesday. It would a be a nice gesture of respect to our Marines who deserve a battle free of political taint. Maybe it will give time for some of those French Arabs that Catherine mentions to get inside Fallujah. I hope that if they do they are carrying good ID so that their families can be notified.

Catherine,

Your acquaintance was referring to Hama where Daddy Assad made an example of the Muslim Brotherhood. King Hussein of Jordan also had a great number of Palestinians killed in September of 1970 while driving the PLO from Jordan.

It’s one of those quaint Arab customs that we will see enacted again in Iraq once the elections are held. Whatever remains of Fallujah after the Marines are done is going to be smashed even flatter by the Iraqis later. You can sort of count on a massacre of the al Tikriti tribe too. Again, it’s just one of those customs that we must all embrace if we are to truly celebrate cultural diversity.