For the Todo list

John Derbyshire at The Corner - FALLUJAH -- A MODEST PROPOSAL:

It is now common coin among Bush-doubting conservatives that the cease-fire and withdrawal from Fallujah back in April was a horrible blunder. My understanding is that the administration felt that the political price -- i.e. the body count, both allies and Iraqi collaterals -- was too high to pay just six months before a presidential election.

If that was in fact the administration's calculation, there is nothing particularly contemptible about it. Politics is the art of the possible, and a President has to make political judgment calls like that even when dealing with military matters.

If, however, following the inauguration for a second GWB term in January -- which I now look forward to with confidence -- the bad guys are still ensconced in Fallujah, could we please level the place? Please? And sow salt in the ruins?

It would make a nice parking lot.