We had to destroy the village in order to save it...

Read this description of the tactics of the insurgents. I have no way of knowing whether the guy is full of shit, but it sure sounds knowledgeable to me. The insurgents know the name of the game is to get the average Iraqi to hate us, and we have no choice but to play directly into their hands. According to Bush and his apologists we will somehow win this, but for me the appropriate metaphor is a basketball game where you're down by about 50 points and you have to take your starters out just to avoid getting them injured. Except there's no way to wait out the clock, and instead of minor injury it's dismemberment and death that the "players" risk every day.