US Promises Overwhelming Response to Iraq Killings

Reuters ^ | 4/01/04 | Luke Baker and Khaled Yacoub Oweis

[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.

[Judith Anne]

Fox News just now saying "Response will be very soon."

[kevao]

this ain't your Daddy's Army.

With all the PC lawyers in charge, I'm afraid it's not my Daddy's Army anymore either. I'll be curious to see what constitutes "overwhelming"; they haven't even attempted to disarm the populace, for God's sake.

[mathluv]

Since Rush is off today, I am listening to Linda Vester. Her audience is behind doing something - big time.

[Joe Hadenuf]

If were not going to be politically correct about this, what are we waiting for?

Observe Decide Orient Act. Be patient, and enjoy the show.

I was told that over a year ago when this thing started. A year later mobs of civilians are killing our people in the streets. What am I waiting for now?

[biblewonk]

To me "overwhelming" means no more town. I expect to be underwhelmed.

[Judith Anne]

I'm listening to her show in the background. She does pretty well...

[Barlowmaker]

Fallujah was the primary source of the "trusted" young men who made up Saddam's elite Revolutionary Guard forces. I have no doubt that the putrid clerics, security henchmen and desperate Baathist political functionaries are telling the young soldiers and their families that the Americans are going to round up, and jail or kill, all the boys who ran from the impending American beatdown last March.

Lies, conspiracy and treachery is a way of life in the Arab world.

Most of the city residents just want to live life, raise their kids and have peace.

The jabbering about razing Fallujah and dropping the MOAB is so ignorant to be embarrassing. We're at War, but we're not going to kill women and children and turn their homes, schools, hospitals and mosques to rubble.

Like I said on another thread ... let a Kurd security detail "audit" the mosques and political establishments if the town mucky mucks won't fork over the murderers in their lap. The town mucky mucks will start forkin', or they'll start runnin'.

The kids from the North will shake out the bad guys in their own effective way. They feel walking into a Mosque with automatic weapons at ready IS politically correct. They'll enthusiastically rifle whip a Muslim cleric/conspirator/Baathist who can't remember. And they won't say sorry.

Neither will I. It won't get that far. The news of 10,000 Kurds heading into town is going to ruin any Fallujan's day. The creeps who are killing Iraqis and Americans are know to all the neighbors. They just need to fear the "Coalition" more than they do the Baathists.

I don't think the Administration or the Iraqi Governing Council have the guts to let the Kurds get some payback in Fallujah. That's my solution, however.

Some garbage the Iraqis need to take out themselves. The Kurds are Iraqis, and the Fallujan Baathists are garbage.

[mikegi]

I wonder what will happen. Maybe occupy Fallujah, arrest some people, kill a few people, bulldoze some houses, then withdraw and wait for the next incident. Sound familiar? What can they do? An artillery preparation followed by armored assault is probably not an option. We'll see. I will always admire our military. I just hope they aren't stuck in a no-win situation there.

Yep. When did this massacre happen? You got it, a day after the Marines left Fallujah following a show of force. The best way to handle this is to have the Iraqi police grow a spine and make massive arrests. We need a local solution.

Anyway, I'll give you my fantasy solution (like all the "MOAB Fallujah", etc. fantasies posted lately): withdraw from the Sunni Triangle and tell the Shiites and Kurds that we are not responsible for what may happen there. Post leaflets in Kurdish and Shiite areas listing Saddam's henchmen and their families who live in the Triangle.

[Quilla]

The DNC is keeping Kerry out of circulation until they can figure out a way to re-invent the guy....

Oh no, are we fixin' to be subjected to excessive make up and earth tones again?

[linn37]

I'm voting for bulldozers and tanks.

[Eva]

No, I don't think that they are working on Kerry's wardrobe so much as his whole persona. The guy comes across as combination of the strawman, the tinman and the evil witch of the west. There was an article by Emmit Smith here last night that said pretty much the same thing, that the Democrats are trying to keep Kerry away from the press.

Did you read about the incident at the Black church where a skeptical man asked Kerry if he knew what the X on his black hat stood for? Kerry's answer was a question, "The roman numeral 10?"

[Quilla]

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.

An excellent perspective well worth repeating, Barlowmaker.

[Eva]

Wrong name I just realized what I posted, Emmit was the last name of the writer. I think the guy I mentioned was a football player.

[Eva]

Geez, I'll get this right yet. Here is the article:


Second tier problems
townhall.com ^ | 4/01/04 | Emmett Tyrrell

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- I believe the Democrats are onto something. I believe they have devised a very clever plan to stop Sen. John Francois Kerry's decline in the polls.

According to news reports, they are checking him in at an undisclosed hospital for tendon surgery on his shoulder. That will keep him out of sight for a while. After that, they can try knee surgery. He has a record of knee injuries. Then there are his allergies. Off and on they can check him into an allergy sanitarium.

When he actually does appear on the campaign trail, if his penchant for he-man boasts and embarrassing fibs again sinks him in the polls, he can always be briefly hospitalized for "periodic checkups." His medical records indicate that he suffers enough additional maladies that periodic checkups are completely understandable.

Essentially, the Democrats are settling on a campaign strategy not unlike the Republicans' famous "front-porch campaign" that worked so well for the dolt Warren G. Harding in 1920. The goal is to keep the dud candidate remote from voter scrutiny. Divert the press until the candidate's polling numbers stabilize.

Right now, Kerry's polling numbers are wilting against President George W. Bush, and so it is off to shoulder surgery. Actually, no one should be surprised that the Massachusetts Braggart's popularity drops the more the electorate sees of him. He is an absurd figure. His campaign was dead in the water late in 2003 and only picked up steam when Democratic primary voters noted that their frontrunner, Dr. Howard Dean of unhappy memory, was even more absurd.

Now, the French-looking senator is again in the public eye, and what that eye perceives it obviously does not like: the macho candidate ostentatiously purchasing an athletic supporter (size large!), the vacationing skier taking spills on the slopes and bellowing, "I don't fall down."

Kerry made this silly statement before blaming a Secret Service agent for his tumble and cussing at him. Gentlemen do not act like that. In fact, gentlemen do not bring down on themselves all the ridicule Kerry has provoked by objecting to being referred to as "French-looking." Some White House wag playfully asserted that Kerry "looks French," and Kerry very foolishly threw another of his famous fits, portraying himself as the victim of White House dirty tricks.

Ever since, the nation's wits have been teasing Kerry about his Frenchness. Doubtless he will provide more opportunities for further ridicule -- unless the Democrats can keep him in hospitals and clinics.

The reason Kerry is faltering in the polls is that the Massachusetts Braggart is a colossal phony. He has always been a colossal phony, and that is one reason he has never made it out of Massachusetts. He is a second-tier candidate.

A graver worry for the Democrats than Kerry's fall in the polls is the fact that in 2004 -- as in 1992 -- every Democrat seeking the nomination was second-tier. In 1992, the first-tier candidates feared Bush I. By 2004, it appears the Democrats do not really have a front tier candidate.

John Fund, the insightful political observer from The Wall Street Journal, believes this is because the Democrats are dominated by narrow angry ideologues -- for instance, the feminists and the environmentalists. Another reason for the paucity of Democratic presidential talent is that serious presidential contenders come from the governor's mansions. For the first time in decades, the governor's mansions of the four largest states in the nation are inhabited by Republicans.

Thus, the amused political pundits of the nation can anticipate an agreeably comic campaign from the chap whom we now call the Democrats' "presumptive" presidential nominee. To those of you who hooted in joy when Sen. Jean Francois theatrically purchased that jock strap, may I say you ain't seen nothin' yet.

The only damper I can foresee on the proceedings might be the arrival of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on the ticket. She would not inspire laughter either as vice presidential nominee or at the top of the ticket. But then with her vast political background and national following, she more closely approximates a first-tier than a second-tier candidate. Is it possible that just as a Clinton put the hex on a Bush in 1992, a Clinton might put the hex on a Bush in 2004?

[Quilla]

Emmett Tyrrell, maybe?

[mwl1]

While they are working on Kerry's shoulder, perhaps the doctors will inject a spine and add some cajones as well.

I didn't think so, either.

[RogueIsland]

Did you read about the incident at the Black church where a skeptical man asked Kerry if he knew what the X on his black hat stood for? Kerry's answer was a question, "The roman numeral 10?"

The guy was an "X-Files" fan? :-)

[areafiftyone]

Love that picture! I love BUSH!!

[Eva]

You know, you couldn't make up better material than Kerry provides for the opposition. I am waiting hear what Susan Estrich (campaign manager for Dukakis) has to say about Kerry's campaign. If you notice, she has been conspicuously absent from FOX since Kerry emerged as the presumptive candidate.

[txhurl]

Fox News just now saying "Response will be very soon."

Well, it's been an hour or so. Is it time yet? I've never felt such impatience.