Spalind, you are missing the whole war of liberation vs war against aggression difference.

We bombed civilians in WW2 because they were part of the German/Japanese war effort.

If we are indeed fighting to liberate these people from an oppresive government, we just cant go around killing all of the people we are trying to liberate.

I agree that the Iraqi people should be doing more to stem the tide of insurgents that seek to harm them as well as American soldiers.
I guess we will disagree as to how "culpible" the Iraqi civilians are in helping the terorists.

They need to realize that if they see a guy setting up a mortar outside thier house, they should get their AK-47 (all of them have at least one in the house dont they?) and kill the bastards.

I bet if they knew we were going to retaliate to that area, that would motivate them to put a stop to it. But since we are not allowed to retaliate, what good does it do to stop them?

But we all must remember that when that bomb drops on that mortar position, and a few innocent houses are destroyed, the homeowners will not blame the terrorist for bringing the steel rain to them, they will blame the US for launching the steel rain.

We would do well to convince the Iraqi populace that it is in thier own best interests to help us fight the terrorists.