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EDITOR'S CORRECTION

I would like to correct an error that occurred in the last issue of Nichols Notes dated April 30. The last two paragraphs were written by Barbara Ketay and I inadvertently failed to give her credit for her comments. She was expressing her own opinion about mercenaries in a letter to the editor. I apologize to all of our readers, Larry Nichols and especially to Ms. Ketay for not identifying her comments. I have taken the liberty of including her letter again immediately below in order that Larry's readers will not be confused as to his statements or news article about the use of mercenaries.

Editor

By Ms. Ketay

You know, as a civilian, I have always had a very negative opinion about mercenaries. I looked at mercenaries as nothing more than "killers for hire", "hit men", "assassins", people of low morals, no loyalty to any country, not even their own, people of little or no integrity, and, a person who would serve any employer for wages or perhaps other sordid advantages.

However, I must admit that I have changed my opinion. I am not responsible for the decisions that mercenaries make. They have to take that up with God. But when I think about this situation and the loss of lives, as well as the life-altering injuries our soldiers are experiencing, in addition to the loss of Iraq lives of men, women and children. And let's not forget the expense of this war, and the terrible drain on the American economy. So my decision is... bring on the mercenaries!

Barbara Ketay

THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS
The War in Iraq Special - Number 3

For the past few weeks I have tried to keep the readers of Nichols Notes informed about the war in Iraq. In addition, I have tried to make recommendations to President Bush that I hope would be helpful in the tough situation he is in. One thing that I hate is the way that pundits point out the problems but never seem to try and help by coming up with solutions. I do not pretend to seem to be a person that has all the answers. But I would hope that my track record and my understanding of the region would be of help. To that end, I think it is time to continue forward, with suggestions, which might be beneficial to the President and his military planners.

In my last article (Volume II, Number 17), I made reference to an option of using mercenaries as a way to fight the insurgents by using tactics and strategies similar to the ones they use. The question now is. WHO would be the best mercenaries to hire for the task?

In my article on April 29 (Volume II, Number 16), I made reference to the fact that we should allow Iraqis to fight for their nation and their future. I would like in this article to use both concepts as a way to succeed in Iraq.

The question must be. WHO would be the perfect mercenaries to hire for the job?

And the next question. WHERE would you find people capable of doing the job?

Well, Mr. President, you had better hold on, because I know WHO would be perfect for the job and I know exactly WHERE they are.

The perfect mercenaries for this task would be some of the people Saddam Hussein used to terrorize the people of Iraq for many years and to find them you need only to look at the various jails that our coalition has them in. Before you laugh or believe that I have gone completely crazy, let me explain. Having worked for Saddam Hussein, they have proven themselves to be capable of killing without the emotions that would plague most people.

Also, they obviously know the area and I would bet would have a very good idea of who the bad guys are. They may even have participated in planning the strategy that is being used against our forces today. I would think that they would know where many, if not all of the caches of weapons are hidden because they probably played some roll in hiding them.

Another factor in their favor is that most of the people in Iraq as well as the insurgents (foreign fighters) and Iraqis joining with them would know their reputation and would be sufficiently scared of them now.

The approach to solicit them to work for us would be simple. At present they are in jail and one day soon will be tried and will face death or jail for the rest of their lives. Probably more significant than their inevitable sentences is the shame that will be placed on them and their families forever. To this end we can offer a different future.

If they choose to cooperate and accept the mission that we can offer, they can be paid well for the job. They will do well and more importantly they can make restitution to the people of Iraq for their sinister past. You see, this time they can work to give the people of Iraq a truly safe and free country, instead of the evil deeds of their past. They can now become heroes for the good that they can do.

It is important for them to understand that if they take on this new mission, each one of them will have inserted in their skin a monitoring chip. Their every move will be monitored closely and if they try to work against us they should know that we have a bomb with their name on it and death will be sure and swift.

I believe that they have become sufficiently impressed with our advanced technology to know that if they choose to try and trick us that we can find and destroy them at will.

For President Bush and all my readers, Saddam Hussein's henchmen are made of exactly the right stuff for the work that needs to be done. The question is. do we have the courage to make such a controversial decision to use them?

You see, this is not a case of trying to be politically correct. This is a chance to win the war. It will be a hard decision and it is an ugly task. I do believe you only need to look at the number of lives that can be saved and the lives of the coalition soldiers and innocent citizens of Iraq is sufficient justification.

Also, measure the speed at which an operation like this can bring an end to the war for the peace and provide a stable environment for the people of Iraq. Sometimes in war exceptions have to be made. Compared to the things we do in a normal society the potential for an operation using Saddam Hussein's henchmen may very well allow for the End to Justify the Means.

Another matter that must be dealt with is the overall size of the force on the ground in Iraq. We need more soldiers in Iraq. What we don't need is more American soldiers there. Easily, a half a million troops would be sufficient for the protection of all hard and soft targets in Iraq. Securing these targets we would be a giant leap forward towards the stability of Iraq.

We should use former members of Saddam Hussein's army for this job. The problem of using these soldiers has been the amount of time it would take to train them. To overcome this, I would suggest that we not try and train them the way American soldiers are trained. They need only to be taught the very basics and be told that they are to guard this target and if anyone comes towards them with what appears to be a hostile intent . SHOOT.

While this type of arrangement does not meet the standard considered acceptable to our military, it would be sufficient for the needs in Iraq. A side benefit to such a move would be the employment of a half of million presently unemployed and disgruntled Iraqis. Economically, a low tech Iraqi soldier could be paid a fraction of the cost paid to an American soldier and still provide an Iraqi soldier with enough money to support his family. It would also instill pride and a sense of direction for Iraq that is now missing. In addition, it would put an Iraqi face on the military there and solve the problem of the image of our coalition troops looking like a conquering army.

Both recommendations outlined here can be implemented in a very short time, weeks, not months or years, as our present plan does. Even though both recommendations seem controversial, the people of the Unites States and our coalition partners can be supportive if properly informed of the alternative.

To President Bush, the readers of Nichols Notes and our military planners, we are in a war unlike any other war in our history. Accordingly, we should consider seriously strategies and tactics that are A-typical to a normal battle plan. Use wisdom instead of the lives of soldiers. Show courage equal to that of our soldiers and bring this war to a swift and victorious end and HISTORY WILL REMEMBER ONLY THAT IT WAS A JOB WELL DONE.

See You Next Week and May God Bless,

NEW LOOK FOR NICHOLS NOTES

Soon we will start delivering Nichols Notes in HTML format. It will look a lot like a web page and will have room for our advertisers to advertise along the side, but will present the newsletter uninterrupted by advertising. For those of you that have trouble reading HTML emails, the same information will be included in regular text format in the same size as current newsletters. We are now experimenting with this and as soon as we have worked out the bugs, you will start receiving your newsletter this way.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

In life what appears or seems to be the end is in all reality a new beginning.

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