Posted on 04/06/2004 6:51:06 AM PDT by TexKat
US and Iraqi forces clash with insurgents in Fallujah
There have been heavy clashes between US troops and Iraqi insurgents on the edge of the flashpoint town of Falluja. US commanders have been vowing to pacify Fallujah after last week's killing of four US security contractors there. Meanwhile, an Italian news agency has quoted a local official in Nassiriya as saying some 15 Iraqi militiamen and civilians had been killed there in clashes with Italian soldiers. Italian officials said 12 Italian soldiers were wounded. The militiamen are said to be supporters of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, accused of leading a wave of confrontations with occupying coalition forces. 48 Iraqis and nine coalition soldiers were killed in fighting between occupying troops and Sadr's militiamen in Baghdad and Najaf on Sunday. And the US military has said attackers on Monday killed four US Marines in al-Anbar province west of Baghdad, while three U.S. soldiers were killed in separate attacks in a Shi'ite area of Baghdad on Monday and Tuesday.
Amen
15 Iraqis Killed in Clash With Italians
ROME - Italian troops and Iraqi insurgents clashed Tuesday in the southern city of Nasiriyah, killing at least 15 Iraqis and wounding 35, an Italian news agency reported.
Twelve Italians troops were slightly wounded, the Italian Defense Ministry reported.
THE Apcom agency quoted U.S.-led coalition spokeswoman Paola Della Casa as saying the Iraqi attackers used civilians as human shields during the attack. She said a woman and two children were among the dead.
According to the Defense Ministry in Rome, the fighting occurred early in the day as gunmen opened fire on Italian forces patrolling the streets and bridges over the Euphrates, trying to restore orders after violent protests in the area.
The Italians returned fire, and at the end of the gunbattle regained control of the main bridges, said a statement by the Defense Ministry.
The ministry said the coalition headquarters building in Nasiriyah also came under attack during the clashes.
Clashes between militiamen of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and U.S.-led coalition forces have raged since the weekend throughout the country, leaving scores of people dead.
First al-Sally sez this: Then we have this:
Al-Sadr's militiamen clashed with coalition troops Sunday in Baghdad and outside the city of Najaf, to the south, in fierce fighting that killed 61 people, including eight American soldiers.
This guy must be taking lessons from John F'ing, FlipFlopping sKerry!
Wear them out....and chew them up in the process..
I checked out the Fallujah/ Operation Valiant Resolve analysis by Wretchard.
I advocated such tactics on Post 17 of this 1 April 2004 thread and on an earlier thread.
Predictably, the press will call the early phase a "quagmire".
What's your opinion on the tactics of Operation Valiant Resolve, Travis?
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17 posted on 04/01/2004 10:37:01 PM PST by Polybius:
You don't need to mutilate dead bodies, MOAB women and children or act like Nazis. You merely have to identify your enemy, isolate your enemy and then kill your enemy. That is what war is all about.
Here is how I would handled this Sunni Triangle snake pit:
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.
You have killed your enemy, spared the innocent and taught the enemy in other cities that it is unhealthy to mess with the U.S.
Rinse and repeat as often as necessary.
17 posted on 04/01/2004 10:37:01 PM PST by Polybius
Meg Ryan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner; Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Barwaaa Streisand; Alex Baldwin; Janeane Garofalo; Al Franken; Willie Nelson; George Clooney; Sean Penn; Barbara Lee; Neil Young; Ted Kennedy; Robert Redford; Cher and Eliza Dushku;
Are you saying that because terrorists kill innocent Israelis,that we should completely level Fallujah? Seems like a bit of anon-sequitir to me.
Read the link in my prior post for Wretchard's analysis of the problems the Jihadi will have defending themselves and keeping the civilians under control at the same time over a ten mile perimeter and how the Marines will help the process along.
Oh, brother!
What next? Will you be telling us Bush lied about WMDs? Or that he declared that Iraq was an immiment threat?
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