Eerie calms grips Fallujah after gruesome killings, Bremer vows revenge (Fed the dead to the dogs)

AFP ^ | Thu, Apr 01, 2004 | AFP

[Eurotwit]

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - An eerie calm gripped this town west of Baghdad, a day after four American civilians were burned to death and their bodies dismembered, as US overseer Paul Bremer vowed the deaths and those of five US soldiers in a separate attack would be avenged.

"Their deaths will not go unpunished. They have not died in vain," Bremer said in Baghdad as he attended the graduation of a new batch of 479 Iraqi police at the police academy.

Bremer described Wednesday's attacks by insurgents in and near Fallujah as "inexcusable and despicable".

But he vowed that the US-led coalition that toppled the ironfisted regime of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) almost a year ago will forge ahead with efforts to restore security in Iraq (news - web sites) and hand over sovereignty to the Iraqis on July 1.

"They will not derail the march towards stability and democracy," Bremer told the new police cadets.

Reaction was also fierce from Washington, where White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "We condemn these attacks on the strongest possible terms".

In Fallujah, schools and shops were open on Thursday and burn marks on the surface of the main street were the only evidence of the gruesome deaths of the four employees of the private US firm Blackwater Security Consulting, AFP correspondents said.

One witness said that what remained of the charred bodies after they were dragged from their cars, mutilated and strung from a bridge had been "cut up into pieces, with parts thrown into the river or to the dogs".

Residents also took away the carcasses of the two four-wheel-drive vehicles that had been ambushed and set on fire by gunmen, burning the occupants to death, the witness said.

US marines, who were seen Wednesday at the eastern entrance of Fallujah, were nowhere in sight while Iraqi police and paramilitary defence units manned a checkpoint to search cars entering the town and control identities.

The previous evening, hours after the killings, crowds were still celebrating in the streets, with people firing in the air and distributing candies.

They shouted, "Down with the occupation, down with America" and "long live Islam."

"The death of each one of these people is worth 10 Iraqi lives. This is our only deterrence to the (US-led) occupation of Iraq," Nayef, a car merchant who declined to give his surname, told AFP on Thursday.

The previous day a man at the scene, his face hidden by a scarf, vowed that "Fallujah will be the cemetery of the Americans".

Meanwhile the US-backed paramilitary Iraqi Civil Defence Corps urged restraint in Fallujah in a statement handed out to residents late Wednesday.

"An agreement has been negotiated with the occupation forces to lift the siege of Fallujah and to withdraw. We are hoping you will cooperate to protect Fallujah and guarantee its security," the message said.

The death of the four civilians coincided with a roadside bomb blast that killed five US soldiers near the military base in Habbaniya, just west of Fallujah.

It is thought to be the worst single incident involving coalition troops since a US military helicopter was downed on January 8 near Fallujah, killing all nine people aboard.

The latest deaths brought to 291 the number of US soldiers killed in action since US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) declared major hostilities over on May 1, according to an AFP toll.

In other violence Thursday one US soldier was wounded when his convoy hit a roadside bomb in northwest Baghdad, an Iraqi police officer said. The US military did not immediately confirm the report.

And in the northern city of Kirkuk three soldiers were wounded when five Katyusha rockets struck their base located in a local airport just west of the city early Thursday, a US officer said.

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

They still could have and should have dropped at least one small bomb to get those people away from the body. It's ridiculous and just plain stupid for them to let something like that go on for so long while being filmed for future terrorist propaganda. The Iraqis just sat an example for the Arab world that you can kill Americans and mutilate them and we won't respond. The Arab world will take that as cowardice and weakness because that's exactly what it's going to look like through their eyes. Most of them don't understand how politicized our Military is, so they aren't going to understand that point of view. We are suppose to be in control of that town, but it's obvious that we aren't when we can't stop something like that from happening. The amount of time this was allowed to go on is the most incredible part of this disaster. Now we may never find any of the remains of these men. I highly doubt they ever thought they would be allowed to be dismembered on TV for the world to see while the Military, that they once served, did nothing but watch. It was a big mistake not stop this and it's going to be an even bigger mistake if we don't strike back hard enough for the entire Arab world to see it.

http://www.homestead.com/prosites-prs/index.html

[ApesForEvolution]

An agreement to leave? Yeah, right...only minutes before the B52s are overhead.

[ApesForEvolution]

Allowing fostering islamotrash hell-holes to exist with serpents breeding right there....no way. The area needs to be turned into a horror museum dedicated to the outlawed Baath Party...filled with stuffed Baath Members posing in their execution rituals.

[ApesForEvolution]

I totally agree.

[Bigg Red]

It is a cult.

&&

You'll get no argument from me on that score, sir.

And thank you for your service to our country.

[ApesForEvolution]

From your lips to God's ears....

[mcshot]

I too find this unbelievable. I never would have thought we leave our fallen countrymen to such vicious, mutilating mobs. As in Somalia I wondered where the "Lil birds" were with their gun runs and in this case where were the Apaches, A-10s and Spectre gunships.
Totally unacceptable, especially for Marines who claim never leave their fallen behind.
How sad,
mc

[StriperSniper]

"The death of each one of these people is worth 10 Iraqi lives.

10 to 1 is O.K. with this guy? How about 100 to 1, or 500 to 1?

We can provide any number he wants!

[mcshot]

God Cooter did I ever need that laugh.
Now back to the pre-crater discussion.
mc

[madison10]

Coffee originated in Kaffe, Ethiopia. Try again. LOL

[Rik0Shay]

We need to let the Iraqi's take care of this. Send in a brigade or two of heavy armored Kurd units. Let them pacify Saddam's Wanna-b's. Use the US forces as a perimeter and when anyone tries to leave just toss them back in.

[StormEye]

"Yep, the Arabs contributed the concept of Zero to the world centuries ago.....and
that's what they're still contributing. Leni"

Actually it was the Hindus in India. The Muslims brought the idea of zero back to Arabia.

[Darlin']

Fallujah surrendered during the war and never saw any real action during major combat operations. They have no idea of what kinda of misery is about to descend on them thanks to that mob of ignorant, filthy barbarians.

[wimpycat]

If Fallujahns were really frightened, they'd be offering up the people who did this on a platter...

What you said makes a lot of sense...which is exactly why the Fallujans won't do it.

[StormEye]

"The next step is probably going to be a street by street search and the arrest of all
the principal tribal leaders and imams. Maybe 2,000 arrests, thousands of weapons
confiscated. The principal businesses of the tribal..."

Arrests? Arrests to what end? The arrested just spew a lot of lies during the
"interrogations." They know that no bodily harm will come to them from being
"arrested." They know that Americans are "soft." Arrests are a waste of time.
Raze the damn city to the ground. Let our tank gunners and bombers
have some target practice!

[Rik0Shay]

who is .50 cal (JFK)

[Rik0Shay]

who is .50 cal (JFK)

[Saundra Duffy]

They absolutely MUST PAY for this.