The Lessons of Fallujah...
Check out this article in TechCentrl Station by the learned Lee Harris:

http://www.techcentralstation.com/040204D.html

Mr. Harris, for all the respect I have for him, has made a mistake here, I think. People do, indeed, all want the same things, if by that we mean; safety, protection from disease, plentiful food, a job and an education. These are the only things that have enabled civilization to survive in the first place -- and if you don't think Muslims want these things (and more) then ask yourself why so many are willing to defy God and live amongst the infidel to get them.

The problem with Muslims, and particularly the ones in the Middle East, is that they like civilization, they just don't like WHERE IT COMES FROM (i.e. The West). They're absolutely baffled as to how such "godless people" can produce everything from chewing gum to artificial hearts and prosper, while God's own chosen and devoted few often suffer from the lack of basic necessities (water, shelter, freedom, etc). We Westerners must be hiding something from them and it drives them nuts because to figure out just what it is that we have and they don't would require them to: a) engage in critical thinking, b) question God and his "chosen" authorities anc c) admit that they are a fucked up people. None of those options is either attractive nor often even ALLOWED in their societies.

The Lesson of Fallujah is not that the enemy has figured out what they can get away with, the lesson is that we're not dealing with rational people.

The United States has vast experience in dealing with irrational enemies; Japan, Germany, the Moros, the Barbary Pirates, Communists, Fascists and Nazis. We know exactly what to do when an enemy doesn't know he's beat -- we flatten them or destroy them. These folks only understand destruction, so make an example of Fallujah and let it revert to nature.

Sometimes, you have to play the game by the enemy's rules in order to win, even if it's distasteful.