US Offensive in Fallujah intensifies

DW -World.DE ^ | 4-6-04

[MEG33]

The bad news is they have taken over the Mosque that is one of Islam's Holiest Shrines....a good hiding place as the Shiites not in Al Sadr's camp would revolt lest any harm come to the Shrine.

[in the Arena]

These poor "warriors for Allah" are going to get their last lesson on the difference between a "street strutting masked Arab gunman" and a trained disciplined warrior..

BTTT for that...

[Dog]

I don't think the other Shia leaders will allow him to control the most holy site in Iraq for to long.

[r9etb]

The bad news is they have taken over the Mosque that is one of Islam's Holiest Shrines....a good hiding place as the Shiites not in Al Sadr's camp would revolt lest any harm come to the Shrine.

No, that's the good news. If they're in the Mosque, there's no reason why we shouldn't let them stay there for months and months, with no electricity or water. Eventually they will come out firing (good), or drown in their own crap (better).

[Cap Huff]

I don't think we're going to move into Najaf with heavy force. I will guess that Sistani is going to take care of it.

[MEG33]

I hope you are right.Sistani can be a pain in the whatsis to the Coalition but he does not wish the militant Sadr to gain in followers and usurp his leadership.

[Cap Huff]

That's what I was getting at in #125.

[TexKat]

20 GIs, 100 Iraqis Killed Since Weekend

[MEG33]

I'd like to see their gaunt faces and protruding ribs after a few months of siege.

[Aeronaut]

20 GIs, 100 Iraqis Killed Since Weekend

That'd be a really good ratio with another 0 after the 100.

Prayers for the fallen and their families.

[MEG33]

God bless our fallen heroes.Prayers for our armed forces.

[johnb838]

One of the pundits on Fox this morning was talking about the way they handled a Tikriti town and he said you cut off the food and electricity and water and let the people know that when they start turning over the bad apples then they start getting the good things of life that are needed to sustain life again.

[Theo]

I believe that's 100 "good" Iraqis. There are likely many hundreds of dead "bad" Iraqis.

[TexKat]

Rumsfeld: Troops Capture Fallujah Suspects

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that U.S. troops have captured a number of people in Fallujah as they begin an operation to pacify the Iraqi city where four American military contractors were killed and their bodies brutalized.

"The forces have cordoned off the city. They have photographs of a good many people who were involved in the attacks against the individuals and they have been conducting raids in the city against high-value targets," Rumsfeld said at a brief news conference in Norfolk, Va.

"They have captured a number of people over the last 36 hours. The city is isolated. A number of people have resisted and been have killed. And it will be a methodical effort to find the individuals who were involved," Rumsfeld said.

He also said that American military commanders in Iraq will get additional troops if they request more soldiers during a time of intensifying fighting in Iraq — both in Fallujah and across the country — amid a growing Shiite uprising.

Commanders are studying ways they might increase troops in Iraq if should violence spread much more widely, a senior U.S. military officer said Monday.

Generals believe they have enough forces to handle the attacks that have been coming from various quarters, including the recent violence by a Shiite militia group. But they want to know what is available if the situation gets worse, said the officer, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

Rumsfeld, at the appearance in Norfolk, said that he and President Bush frequently ask commanders in Iraq if they need more troops. He said commanders on the scene, including Gen. John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command, are constantly reviewing the situation.

"They are the ones whose advice we follow on these things," Rumsfeld said during the appearance in Norfolk with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

"They will decide what they need, and they will get what they need," Rumsfeld said.

At the moment, about 135,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq — "an unusually high level," Rumsfeld said. American officials had expected to go down to about 115,000 troops when a series of rotations of new troops into and older troops out of the country was complete, Rumsfeld said.

"The commanders are using the excess forces that happen to be in there because of the deployment process," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld said there is a possibility that NATO will help in Iraq. The alliance has a peacekeeping force of 6,500 in Afghanistan and is expanding its work there.

"I suspect we'll see, would be delighted to see, NATO take a larger role ... in Afghanistan, then Iraq," Rumsfeld said.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Anything in text you can post from CNN stating that....AFP is giving a rather biased report I just posted :

IRAQ: Shiite bastion boils with anti-US anger after at least 57 killed

[TexKat]

Yes MEG33 God bless our fallen heros and our heros that are currently in the midst of the battle.

Ollie North on Fox News just stated that the Marines in Fallujah have been there for only 2 weeks and among those are some Marines that were there during Iraqi Freedom and volunteered to go back after some additional training.

[MEG33]

Again,I say,I am truly humbled by their service.

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

Per Fox...Some of our Marines who are supposed to rotate out may be delayed for awhile so they can help out with the ongoing situation.

[threat matrix]

Belmont Club is doing a bang up job so far.

[CasearianDaoist]

any more news?