Oh, THIS is going to be interesting!

I've often though that the USA was a little too nice when it came to killing bad guys. It seems that we always take a stance which comes back to bite us in the butt. It's part of our culture, the "Be Nice" mindset that people in this country seem to have.

The Iraqis, however, have a different culture. And now that they're in charge, things might just go a little differently.

Iraq will soon offer amnesty to insurgents so long as they haven't performed "atrocious acts" but the interim president is threatening to use a "very sharp sword" to fight guerrillas threatening the country's security.

"We are offering an amnesty definitely, for people who have not committed too many atrocious acts," Iraqi interim President Ghazi al-Yawer told The Financial Times on Monday. "Everybody except murderers, rapists and kidnappers."

OK, so quite a few people will get a chance to remain among the living. I don't know how they'll be able to tell the difference between a murderer and some guy who just likes to torture people, but that's their choice not mine.

Al-Yawer appealed to insurgents to accept the amnesty and lay down their weapons.

"This is your last chance, otherwise there will be the sword," he said.

Foreign and local insurgents have launched numerous attacks in Iraq in an effort to force U.S.-led coalition forces to leave and to thwart the country's postwar reconstruction. The attacks have killed scores of U.S. troops and hundreds of Iraqi civilians.

"Terrorism isn't just killing and blowing up bombs, whoever threatens the ordinary life of the people is a terrorist," al-Yawer told reporters Monday. "We have a very sharp sword ready for anyone who threatens the security of this country."

Now here is where I pause to chuckle for a bit. By and large, the "insurgents" that are fighting in Iraq are not Iraqi. They're Iranian, or Syrian, or Lebanese, or Palestinian. They aren't going to stop fighting or causing trouble, because a free and stable Iraq is what they're fighting AGAINST. Which means that the Iraqi government is going to be able to wipe them off the face of the earth without hesitation. These terrorists have three options: 1) Leave Iraq (which they can't do without admitting failure), 2) Stay in Iraq but stop fighting (which they can't do without admitting failure), and 3) Stay in Iraq, keep fighting, and die.

And I'm going to sit back and grin.