Posted on 04/01/2004 9:29:48 AM PST by kattracks
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops on Thursday vowed to use overwhelming force to enter the volatile Iraqi town of Falluja and hunt down those who killed and mutilated four American contractors.
Marines took up positions on the outskirts of the restive town west of Baghdad where insurgents ambushed the contractors on Wednesday, but the U.S. army's deputy director of operations Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said they would return.
"Coalition forces will respond," Kimmitt told a news conference. "They are coming back and they are going to hunt down the people responsible for this bestial act.
"It will be at a time and a place of our choosing. It will be methodical, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming."
Television footage of jubilant Iraqis mutilating the bodies recalled events in Mogadishu in 1993, when a crowd dragged the bodies of American soldiers through the streets, hastening the departure of U.S. forces from Somalia.
Falluja was relatively quiet on Thursday, but residents said more bloody killings should be expected.
"The Americans may think it is unusual but this is what they should expect. They show up in places and shoot civilians so why can't they be killed?" Falluja shop worker Amir said.
U.S. troops fired on demonstrators in Falluja last April, killing at least 15 people. Many residents then vowed revenge.
Guerrillas near the town detonated a roadside bomb as a U.S. convoy passed by, wounding three soldiers. One Humvee left behind by American soldiers near the site of the attack was later set ablaze and looted by a crowd of Iraqis.
A roadside bomb killed five U.S. soldiers on Wednesday in the same area, a hotspot for resistance to the occupation.
The U.S governor of Iraq (news - web sites) Paul Bremer vowed to hunt down those responsible for ambushing the contractors, and those who then torched the corpses and dragged them through the streets before hanging them from a bridge.
"The acts we have seen were despicable and inexcusable," he said. "They violate the tenets of all religions, Islam included, as well as the foundations of civilized society. Their deaths will not go unpunished."
TRADE FAIR CANCELED
As the Falluja violence sparked renewed concern among foreign organizations working in Iraq, a high-profile U.S.-sponsored trade fair for companies rebuilding Iraq was postponed.
Organizers of the Baghdad Expo, a major trade fair that had been due to start on Monday, said it was postponed -- a blow to U.S. efforts to draw investment to Iraq and project an image of a stable country conducive to doing business.
No new date was set for the event.
International companies hoping to win a slice of Iraqi reconstruction had been due to take part in the exhibition, along with U.S. companies that have won most of the contracts Washington has awarded to rebuild Iraq so far.
But many companies had expressed concern about security at the trade fair -- the site where it was due to be held was rocketed last month, and Baghdad's main hotels have also been repeatedly attacked with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
Washington hopes economic growth in Iraq will help undermine the guerrilla insurgency, but so far, the lack of stability and security in some parts of Iraq has hampered reconstruction.
On Wednesday, a car bomb attack in the town of Ramadi, close to Falluja, killed six Iraqis and wounded five, the U.S. army said. It gave no details on the circumstances or target of the blast.
In Basra on Thursday, a mainly Shi'ite city 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad, at least one Iraqi was killed in clashes between Iraqi police and around 100 protesters demanding salaries. The protesters threw stones and set tyres on fire.
The U.S. military death toll last month was the second highest of any month since President Bush (news - web sites) declared major combat over on May 1 last year.
At least 50 American troops died in Iraq in March, according to Pentagon (news - web sites) figures. The deadliest month for U.S. forces was November, when 82 U.S. troops died.
At least 407 American troops have been killed in action in Iraq since U.S.-led forces invaded on March 20 last year to topple Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).
Guerrilla attacks in March also killed at least 16 foreign civilians, including the four who died in Falluja on Wednesday.
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings,
they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
Observe Decide Orient Act. Be patient, and enjoy the show.
C'mon, let's get some perspective.
Fallujah is a city of 500,000 people. The Marines have taken seven KIAs in ten days there. This is GROUND ZERO of the last remnant of the Baathists. That's why our terminating guys were moved in.
If 500,000 folks wanted to kill our 25,000, they could have. They don't. They have a terrorist thug element, protected by their "religious" leaders, making life miserable for all involved.
We'll get 'em.
This ISN'T Somalia. We're gonna find, and kill, the bad guys. We've got them in a box here. This is the last violent skirmish. Fallujah is their Alamo. That's why the Marines are there.
But 499,500 Fallujans just want to survive. As we've learned in Tikrit, Mosul and Baghdad ... that last 1% is a Mofo.
There is no link. They are total heathens and the religion is just a disguise. Too bad Islam takes words over deeds.
"Non-Romans who murdered Romans were subject to crucifixion. There is a story that Julius Caesar opposed this torture, and ordered his soldiers to kill the malefactors humanely. He nonetheless hung the bodies on crosses, with placards describing their offenses, for all to see. Had the French language existed, Caesar might have said, "Pour encourager les autres," or, "To encourage (as an example for) the others." Would-be killers who saw the bodies quickly understood that it was unhealthy to murder Roman citizens. "
US Governor of Iraq Paul Bremer announced today that not only is the coalition committed to a peaceful and democratic Iraq, but it is also committed to preserving the environment. Iraq will now designate the area formally known as Fallujah a national park and naming it "Glass Lake National Park". The park will be ready for the public in the year 3500 when the radiation levels are expected to be below lethal levels.
THIS HAS BEEN A FOXNEWS ALERT
- CAIR Condemns Mutilation, Not Terror Murders
CAIR Condemns Mutilation, Not Terror Murders
On 31 March, 2004, the Council on American Islamic Relations, (CAIR) issued a press release regarding the terror-murder of Americans in Iraq.
In the first paragraph, CAIR writes:
“The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today condemned the mutilation of those killed in Iraq on Wednesday. Four American civilian contractors were ambushed in their SUV's, burned, mutilated, dragged through the streets and then hung from a bridge spanning the Euphrates River”
Nowhere in their press release does CAIR condemn the terror-murders of these four Americans.
In the second paragraph, CAIR continues:
“CAIR said the mutilations violated both Islamic and international norms of conduct during times of war and called on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of the dead and the sensitivities of their families.”
When will we listen to the warnings that CAIR is broadcasting to the peoples of North America? CAIR has declared that the militant Islamist terror murdering of Americans is acceptable under Islam as long as the bodies are not mutilated.
How many times must CAIR tell us that they support those who will, and do, kill us before we wake up and demand action of our civil authorities?
CAIR is so blinded by their hatred for non-Militant Islamist Americans that they can’t bring themselves to condemn the actual murders. Why didn’t CAIR issue a press release condemning the terrorist murders of these Americans?
Why isn’t the so-called “mainstream media” in America calling CAIR to account for this? Where are our elected “leaders” on this issue? For how long must Americans be insulted by these Ameriphobic Islamist terrorism supporters? Where is the outrage? How many more Americans must die in militant Islamist attacks before Americans wake up the reality of what CAIR supports?
Let’s not forget the statement of Nihad Awad, CAIR Executive director:
“I am in support of the Hamas movement”- Nihad Awad
Once again, CAIR has warned us. Will we ignore these words as well?
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