I don't understand how someone could be so deranged and megalomaniacal that something like this sounds like a good idea. Saddam and his government are a mad dog that needs to be shot repeatedly in the head to ensure that no vestiges of them survive.

We have seen this before. From 'Communism, A History" by Richard Pipes (2001):

"On their return to Cambodia, they [the leaders of the Khmer Rouge] organized in the northeastern hills a tightly disciplined armed force made up largely of illiterate and semi-literate youths recruited from the poorest peasantry. The troops, for the most part twelve and fourteen year old adolescents, were given intense indoctrination in hatred of all those different from themselves, especially city dwellers and the Vietnamese minority. To develop a 'love of killing and consequently war' they were trained, like the Nazi SS, in tormenting and slaughtering animals." (p.132).

The sentence which precedes this in the book begins:

"The leaders of the Khmer Rouge received their higher education in Paris..."

After describing how the Khmer Rouge went on to massacre 2 million Cambodians Pipes observes: "It should be noted that there were no demonstrations anywhere in the world against these outrages and the United Nations passed no resolutions condemning them."

Now that's ugly. If we end up having to fight those kids, it will be a terrible thing.

and this is OK with the French? bastards

Sounds like the Hitler youth to me.

I hope we can nail these kids with water cannons and Brittany Spears CDs or something. They'll grow out of this crap, if permitted to grow at all.

All the more reason we are right to be there. Saddam must pay.

"...and the United Nations passed no resolutions condemning them"

And the US was too tired of SE Asia at that point. We tried and failed cleaning up a French-made mess, I might add). The perhaps sadder thing is that no one else spoke out.

In the Iran-Iraq War, the Iranians led their human wave attacks with children brigades (the Basif) to clear minefields.

The UN doesn't do anything about the 'palistinian" education system either. The first words a palistinian child says is "Jews are pigs"
Education from kindergarten up is 'how to be a suicide bomber'

Saddam and his sons were really and truly following the Nazi model, with Stalin and Pol Pot models added to the mix.

Thank God we moved on this despicable regime before it got strong.

One thing that strikes me generally about this entire war is the disconnect between the wealth available to Saddam and the rather poor training and equipment of his forces.

Why, for example, with billions available for his military are his forces so poorly equipped? Why, other than the WMDs, is the very little home-built equipment in Iraq?

I think the answer to this, in a very broad sense, goes to the fundamental weaknesses of Iraq, and the Arab world.

Their culture simply cannot match western culture in terms of education and economic development, despite their vast oil wealth. Read Victor Davis Hanson's "Culture and Carnage" for insights into this argument. Western democracies are almost unbeatable militarily (if they choose to HAVE a military) because the underlying cultures that the soldiers come from are truly strong.

I can't get into Hanson's entire argument here, but it is truly worth reading that book (though I wish it was edited a bit better than it is). Pick it up. It's worth it.

"Saddam and his sons were really and truly following the Nazi model, with Stalin and Pol Pot models added to the mix."

It's actually the same model.

The really, truly sad thing is that with this level of indoctrination we may have to kill every last one of them.

What's that someone said about villages raising children?

(And Jonathan--IMO that Peter Singer needs to get all the bad publicity he deserves)

Someone watching a little too many reruns of the the movie "soldier"?

Cowboy Bob wrote:

"I hope we can nail these kids with water cannons and Brittany Spears CDs or something. They'll grow out of this crap, if permitted to grow at all."

I have no idea why this should be true. Early indoctrination is *extremely* hard to overcome, and to do so one must *want* to, and be in a society where the change is possible. You can't even use the gangs on the streets of the US for a valid comparison, because assuming they survive to grow up, they (theoretically) have a vast open society, with a thousand options of lifestyles, jobs, towns, religions and so on to choose among. What options does a kid in Iraq have? Maybe you could bring them to the USA. But I don't see anybody clamoring to bring the Ashbal Saddam to the USA to 'fix' them. We have enough homegrown young murderers on our streets.

If Saddam sends his children to attack, that will be a big PR victory for the allies.

If he does, instead of just mowing them down, maybe we could use tear gas (military-grade) to knock them out, then disarm arm them and take them prisoner. Maybe? Well, let's hope we don't have to fire on them, but if we have to, we have to.

Firing tear gas and water cannons at people who are firing back with AK 47s is an excellent way to get killed. I hope that we do not lose a single coalition soldier by trying to handle these brainwashed killers with kid gloves.

Again, it will be real shame if we have to kill them, but the fault will lay with the Hussein regime, not with our soldiers acting in self-defense.

Anybody else have the uneasy feeling that these pint-sized Fedayeen are the attack Saddam is planning on our troops tonight?

We'll have no choice but to mow them down; the negative PR will be disastrous.

It's the Children's Crusades v 2.0.

We could send the kids to France, the French would show them how to behave.lol

"How could you kill women and children?"

"It's easy! You just don't lead them as much!"

yes, excellent idea !

send them to france

"Give me a child for the first 8 years and he'll be a Baathist for life...."

One thing that strikes me generally about this entire war is the disconnect between the wealth available to Saddam and the rather poor training and equipment of his forces.

Why, for example, with billions available for his military are his forces so poorly equipped? Why, other than the WMDs, is the very little home-built equipment in Iraq?

No disconnect at all. Make the military too strong and, as a dictator, you jeapordize your own strength... Those who you make strong may overthrow you...

-Vic

Rest assured, Ladies and Gents, if need be, the boys of the US would fight for our country. Why? Because we would have been givin the news that it was our help that is required (though how unlikely that might be). Best of all, We would know what we're fighting for. I would know that it is my duty, even as a minor, to kick as much ass of a fag that has that diabolical of a mind to send kids to fight for his own evil. I would then find it not hard to fight these kids, because they have the same sense i have against Saddaam Insane. They have been taught that they must kill us captilist pigs (I know thats a Soviet term). How sad it is though, to have to kill such innocence. I pray now that their death be swift because there is an almighty God that loves those children, no matter what kind of brainwashing they undergo and unknowing murder they do.HUZZAH!

(I apologize to all who are afended by my religous beliefs i have expressed)

Sadly, some of these little sods need to be shot. Better still - exploded.

"pour encourager les autres"

And make them turn on their evil masters