I'd favor napalm.
Posted on 03/31/2004 7:04:44 AM PST by Charles Henrickson
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Jubilant residents dragged the charred corpses of four foreigners — one a woman, at least one an American — through the streets Wednesday and hanged them from the bridge spanning the Euphrates River. Five American soldiers died in a roadside bombing nearby.
The four foreigners were killed in a rebel ambush of their SUVs in Fallujah, a Sunni Triangle city about 35 miles west of Baghdad and scene of some of the worst violence on both sides of the conflict since the beginning of the American occupation a year ago.
It was reminiscent of the 1993 scene in Somalia, when a mob dragged the corpse of a U.S. soldier through the streets of Mogadishu, eventually leading to the American withdrawal from the African nation.
In one of the bloodiest days for the U.S. military this year, five 1st Infantry Division soldiers died when their military vehicle ran over a bomb in a separate incident 12 miles to the northwest, among the reed-lined roads running through some of Iraq's richest farmland.
Residents said the bomb attack occurred in Malahma, 12 miles northwest of Fallujah, where anti-U.S. insurgents are active. U.S. Marines operate in the area, but it was unclear whether the slain troops were Marines.
Chanting "Fallujah is the graveyard of Americans," residents cheered after the grisly assault on two four-wheel-drive civilian vehicles, which left both in flames. Others chanted, "We sacrifice our blood and souls for Islam."
Associated Press Television News pictures showed one man beating a charred corpse with a metal pole. Others tied a yellow rope to a body, hooked it to a car and dragged it down the main street of town. Two blackened and mangled corpses were hung from a green iron bridge across the Euphrates.
"The people of Fallujah hanged some of the bodies on the old bridge like slaughtered sheep," resident Abdul Aziz Mohammed said. Some of the corpses were dismembered, he said.
Beneath the bodies, a man held a printed sign with a skull and crossbones and the phrase "Fallujah is the cemetery for Americans."
APTN showed the charred remains of three slain men. Some were wearing flak jackets, said resident Safa Mohammedi.
One resident displayed what appeared to be dog tags taken from one body. Residents also said there were weapons in the targeted cars. APTN showed one American passport near a body and a U.S. Department of Defense identification card belonging to another man.
U.S. military officials in Washington said the situation was still confused but they did not think the victims were American soldiers and believed the SUVs were not American military vehicles.
Witnesses said the two vehicles were attacked with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.
Hours after the attack, the city was quiet. No U.S. troops or Iraqi police were seen in the area.
Fallujah is in the so-called Sunni Triangle, where support for Saddam Hussein was strong and rebels often carry out attacks against American forces.
In nearby Ramadi, insurgents threw a grenade at a government building and Iraqi security forces returned fire Wednesday, witnesses said. It was not clear if there were casualties.
Also in Ramadi, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy, witnesses said. U.S. officials in Baghdad could not confirm the attack.
On Tuesday in Ramadi, one U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt.
Northeast of Baghdad, in the city of Baqouba on Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew up explosives in his car when he was near a convoy of government vehicles, wounding 14 Iraqis and killing himself, officials said.
The attacked convoy is normally used to transport the Diala provincial governor, Abdullah al-Joubori, but he was elsewhere at the time, said police Col. Ali Hossein.
On Tuesday, a suicide bombing outside the house of a police chief in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, killed the attacker and wounded seven others.
A bomb exploded late Tuesday in a movie theater that had closed for the night. Two bystanders were wounded by flying glass, said its owner, Ghani Mohammed.
The latest violence came two days after Carina Perelli, the head of a U.N. electoral team, said better security is vital if Iraq wants to hold elections by a Jan. 31 deadline. The polls are scheduled to follow a June 30 transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi government.
Top U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer said Tuesday he had appointed 21 anti-corruption inspectors general to government departments to try to prevent fraud. More will be named in coming days, he said.
The inspectors will work with two other newly formed, independent agencies. Together, they will "form an integrated approach intended to combat corruption at every level of government across the country," Bremer said.
So what are we then hoping to achieve with the Iraq occupation? The whole thing is starting to look like a liberal social engineering project gone wrong.
Because those people want the press to see this stuff, so that it gets out to the rest of the world. For better or for worse, both sides need and use the press.
This is what Mssr. Kerry wants you to think - I wager he'll blame this on Bush.
An Iraqi man stands close to a charred human limb thrown tied to a brick onto an electricity cable
Fallujah, the new Carthage. Works for me...
We have their pictures, hunt them down and kill them.
Perhaps the animals in this picture should be turned into charred corpses.
All good suggestions, I kinda like the idea of napalm.
I'd favor napalm.
The response requires a distillation of fear that is unmistakable in the arab world, yet subtle in western minds.
I am uncertain as to exactly what that response is, however what the SS did to certain villages in eastern europe is probably over the line.
An Iraqi flashes the victory sign as a charred body hangs from a bridge
1. Set up a cordon sanitaire around Fallujah. Nobody goes in. The residents only go out, once, through check points to be sorted into "totally harmeless" or "in need of imprisonment"
2. Wait as long as it takes to have nobody left in the city except the Bathist die-hards.
3. Wage mechanical urban warfare on the city and the holdouts with heavy emphasis on air power and artillery and practically no emphasis on infantry.
4. Sustain the attack until there is not a stray dog left alive to roam the streets.
May I add:
5. MOAB the remains until no stone stands upon another. 6. Salt the earth.
I predict yes. Great Question.
Prayers for Our Troops and Civilians in Iraq, And for those on our side, the side of Freedom. (including many Iraqis)
May the response by our CIC and Military be decisive and extreme to those guilty of even support for this hideous and pathetic act.
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