I don’t think there are enough troops for an Algerian style cleaning either. Anyway its a moot point… even if Bush thought he would get away with it… I seriously doubt US troops would actually go ahead with it… well most of the troops at least.
I didn’t know the Russians used these methods in Chechenia ! Much good did it do them… or their children.
The factions might be united against the occupying power, but they are certainly not presenting a united front in any other respect. Sadr, for example, is trying to create a shitte theocracy at the same time other aspects of the opposition are targeting shitte mosques. The only thing that unites them is their desire to get rid of the westerners. I still think it’s possible that the insurgency will fracture if they can no longer creditibily claim that they are fighting against a US occupation. At this point they may also loose their support amongst the populace, since they will no longer be fighting the hated occupation. They will then be vulnerable to being swept away by a federal gov’t and its army/police force.
This of course assumes a lot (the US will actually be able to leave a belivable federal gov’t with a stable defense force chief amongst them). But I think it’s at least a possible, if optimistic, scenario.
a link posted by pervert in another thread chimes with reports I’ve heard on BBC radio - that the “native” insurgents are getting pissed off with outsiders like Zarqawi