"War is hell."

"Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster." (Emphasis Added)

"If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast."

"You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace." (Emphasis added)

"You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, which can only be done by admitting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride."

These are some quotes from Civil War general William T. Sherman, one of my idols, and one of the first proponents of total war. Back in the civil war, General Sherman took his army on a 60 mile "March to the sea," destroying almost everything in his path. Houses, crops, animals. The only thing he spared were people. This was after he ravaged Atlanta and several other cities in the south.

During the battle of Atlanta, he gave an order to have everybody evacuate the town. When the mayor of Atlanta appealed to him "on behalf of god and humanity," Sherman told him 'find quote here'. Sherman understood that in order to win the Civil War (which at this time had been going for over 4 long years) total domination of the enemy would be necessary. Up to his march, the people of the south had not realized what a horror war is. It had left them relatively untouched. Sherman changed all that. Sherman showed them the horrors of war. He burned down their houses, and left them without any crops. He left them with nothing but their lives.

And the south lost its will to fight. By the end of the Civil War, except for a few fanatics, southerners were as a whole ready for the war to end, win or lose. This is because finally, after Sherman passed through, they realized just how evil and horrible war is. And they wanted no more part of it. Sherman knew how to fight a war. Our generals and politicians today could learn a thing or two from him.

"No b*stard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb b*stard die for his country."

"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't."

"Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home."

"There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wound, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time." (Emphasis Added)

These quotes are from General George S. Patton, a general for the United States during World War II. He saw action in Europe and North Africa. He knew how to fight a war. He smashed at the enemy, settling for nothing less then their total annihilation. And he won every battle he ever fought. He knew how to fight a war, and he was not ashamed to do so.

So what does this history lesson have to do with modern day politics? Everything. The United States is locked into a global war on terrorism, which at the moment has two "hot" fronts, and many other cold fronts. The most heated front is undoubtedly Iraq, where our gallant soldiers battle filthy insurgents every day. The war in Iraq is taking a long time, and it is swiftly turning into Vietnam.

I do not say this lightly. I was for the war at its inception. I am pro war now. Indeed, I am more pro-war now then I was at the inception of the conflict. But there are immense problems with American war policy in Iraq. No, not the problems liberals sight, that the conflict is illegitimate, illegal, and that our soldiers are terrorists for being in there in the first place. That every bomb dropped kills some poor arab farmer.

No. My complaints are a much different set of grievances.

My primary complaint is that the United States is unwilling to make the committment to total war. We rely on "measured responses," where we go in and do just enough damage to say we've accomplished something. But we are not out to kill terrorists. We are out to kill them when it is convienient. We're not out to annihilate our enemies.

And in order to win war, we MUST. We must have the resolve to do what needs to be done. And in Iraq, the goal is simple. Kill the terrorists before they kill us. So, in order to achieve this goal, we must engage in no-holds barred war against the terrorists. Measured responses are not the way to go. Massive area bombing campaigns are. Massive ground invasions, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Take the advice of Patton. Inflict the maximum amount of hurt in the minimum amount of time. This is what war was in 1945, this is what war was in 1975, and this is what war is today. It has not changed, nor will it ever.

Nobody said doing what is necessary would be pleasant. Remember, war is hell. This is not the point. The easiest way to achieve peace is to have a swift victory in war by one side or the other. And in this war, against these terrorists, it must be the United States that is the victor, and no other nation. Patton knew it. Sherman knew it. Neither of them desired war. But both of them knew what had to be done, and did what had to be done.

It takes two to keep peace. Both sides must agree that peace is the best outcome, and make sure their differences do not break into war. But it only takes ONE side to break peace, and hence make war. Think of it this way. There are two ways, and ONLY two ways to convince any person, nation, or government of anything. By persuasion or by force. Persuasion is undoubtedly the more desired option, but if persuasion fails, the only means left is force.

Persuasion does not work with terrorists. We cannot go to them and ask them to stop, in exchange for something. It does not work that way with terrorists. Maybe if the terrorists were an actual government, and not a group of Hitlers in Headscarves this would work. But it doesn't. The only way to convince terrorists to make peace, is to bomb them until there is none of them left. It's that simple.

We must stop our measured response, and blow Baghdad to kingdom come. And we must follow that up with any other city in that godforsaken country terrorists take refuge in. Sometimes the only way to reason with a person is by bombing them into submission. Terrorists fit this bill perfectly. We cannot show the terrorists mercy. They will cut our heads off at a moments notice, and will show neither us nor our loved ones any mercy. Our mercy is that we will not torture them before they die. We will just kill them outright. That is merciful to these scourge of human existance. People do not realize that these terrorists would behead your infant in your arms. They'd rape your wife in front of you. They'd castrate your husband in front of you. Then they'd torture you all and finally decapitate you while you were still alive. These people deserve no mercy for they have none to give us. They must be eliminated before their ilk spreads further.

We must give these terrorists a one way ticket to hell, before they destroy us and everything we stand for.

VICTORY AT ALL COSTS!