Mark Bowden, best known as the author of the book "Black Hawk Down" has written yet another compelling op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal's Opinon Journal. Besides the obvious comparisons to Mogadishu, Somalia, last week's attack on four civilian contractors in the Baathist stronghold of Fallujah, Iraq presents an opportunity to 'get it right':
"Which means recognizing that the gory carnival on the streets of Fallujah is not evidence of the mission's futility, nor is it something to chalk up to foreign barbarity. It was deliberate and it must be answered deliberately. The lynching of African-Americans would have ended decades earlier if authorities had rounded up and punished those participating in crimes like the one in Marion. Somalia would be a vastly different place today if the U.S. and U.N. had not backed away in horror from the shocking display in Mogadishu."
Read it all - Bowden's essay's are always a highlight of The Atlantic Monthly, where he serves as the magazine's National Editor. His biography can be found here.
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