We should all be ashamed. The war in Iraq has taken a turn that seems almost indefensible by any standards we as Americans know. We have started taking hostages. Family members of wanted Iraqi former government and military officials are being taken, a note left and we wait. I do not believe that this policy we developed in the field. It was developed in Berlin, most likely at Prinz-Albrecht-Str-8, the headquarters of the Gestapo. NO GODWINS LAW CRAP in the comments please. This is right out of the playbook of the Gestapo, the Kempei-Tai, STASI, and any other secret police organization of modern times.

Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence. On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: "If you want your family released, turn yourself in." Such tactics are justified, he said, because, "It's an intelligence operation with detainees, and these people have info." They would have been released in due course, he added later.

The tactic worked. On Friday, Hogg said, the lieutenant general appeared at the front gate of the U.S. base and surrendered.
...
Senior U.S. commanders here are so confident about their recent successes that they have begun debating whether victory is in sight. "I think we're at the hump" now, a senior Central Command official said. "I think we could be over the hump fairly quickly" -- possibly within a couple of months, he added.

Hogg, whose troops are still engaged in combat every day, agreed. "I think we're fixing to turn the corner," he said Thursday. "I think the operations over the next couple of weeks will get us there."

If there were ever a reason not trust the 1600 Crew, this is it. We're sowing the wind here...and we all know what the payoff for that is, right?