Troops blast music in siege of fallujah

yahoo news ^ | 4/16/04 | drew

[drew]

Troops Blast Music in Siege of Fallujah 12 minutes ago

By JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer

FALLUJAH, Iraq - In Fallujah's darkened, empty streets, U.S. troops blast AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" and other rock music full volume from a huge speaker, hoping to grate on the nerves of this Sunni Muslim city's gunmen and give a laugh to Marines along the front line.

Unable to advance farther into the city, an Army psychological operations team hopes a mix of heavy metal and insults shouted in Arabic — including, "You shoot like a goat herder" — will draw gunmen to step forward and attack. But no luck Thursday night.

The loud music recalls the Army's use of rap and rock to help flush out Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega after the December 1989 invasion on his country, and the FBI (news - web sites)'s blaring progressively more irritating tunes in an attempt to end a standoff with armed members of the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas in 1993.

The Marines' psychological operations came as U.S. negotiators were pressing Fallujah representatives to get gunmen in the city to abide by a cease-fire.

Six days after negotiations halted a U.S. offensive against insurgents in the city, the Marines continue carving out front line positions and hope for orders to push forward. Many are questioning the value of truce talks with an enemy who continues to launch attacks.

"These guys don't have a centralized leader; they're just here to fight. I don't see what negotiations are going to do," said Capt. Shannon Johnson, a company commander for the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. Word of truce talks last week forced his battalion to halt its plunge into the northeast section of the city just hours after arriving to back up other Marines.

In the meantime, perhaps the fiercest enemy — everyone here seems to agree — is the boredom, and worst of all the flies that pepper this dusty Euphrates River city west of Baghdad. Marines burn them, using matches to turn cans of flammable bug spray into mini blow torches. They also try to kill them by sprinkling diesel fuel over fly colonies. They joke about calling in airstrikes.

Fallujah's front lines remain dangerous.

On Friday, insurgents fired several mortars at U.S. forces. One of the shells blasted a chunk out of a house where Marines are positioned, filling the building with dust and smoke. No one was injured.

A short time later, an F-16 jet dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the city, sending up a massive spray of dirt and smoke and destroying a building where Marines had spotted gunmen.

"The longer we wait to push into the city, the more dangerous it's going to be," said Cpl. Miles Hill, 21, from Oklahoma, playing a game of chess with a fellow Marine in a house they control.

"They (the insurgents) have time to set stuff up." He guesses the insurgents are likely rigging doors with explosives, knowing Marines will kick them in during searches if they sweep the city.

Up on the roof, Pfc. James Cathcart, 18, kept watch from a sandbagged machine-gunner's nest Friday. His platoon commander passed along word that troops found a weapons cache that included a Soviet-made sniper rifle with a night-sight.

"A night-sight, sir?" he said, surprised that insurgents had the technology. His commander told him to keep his head down. "Everyone here wants to push forward. Here, you're just a target," Cathcart said.

The young Marine looked out over grim city blocks around a dusty soccer pitch and a trash-strewn lot, as a rain shower passed over. He said during the long hours of duty, he wonders what the insurgents are doing, how many there are and if they're watching him.

Adding to the eery feeling up, he said, are the music and speeches in Arabic that come over mosque loudspeakers.

Unable to advance farther, Marines holed up in front-line houses have linked the buildings by blasting or hammering holes through walls between them and laying planks across gaps between rooftops, a series of passageways they call the "rat line."

Lying on his stomach on a rooftop and wearing goggles and earplugs, a Marine sniper keeps an eye to his rifle sight. His main task in recent days has been trying to hit the black-garbed gunmen who occasionally dash across the long street in front of him. To dodge his shots, one of the gunmen recently launched into a rolling dive across the street, a move that had the sniper and his buddies laughing.

"I think I got him later. The same guy came back and tried to do a low crawl," said Lance Cpl. Khristopher Williams, 20, from Fort Myers, Fla.

Others have run across the street, hiding behind children on bicycles, said the sniper. In his position — reachable only by scaling the outside ledge of a building — he sits for hours with his finger poised on the trigger of a rifle that fires 50-caliber armor-piercing bullets with such force that the muzzle flash and exiting gasses from the weapon have blackened the bricks around the gun.

On the street in front of his position sits a car riddled with bullets, where the bloated, fly-infested bodies of three armed men have been left. The vehicle was shot up by Marine gunmen before the sniper set up his position.

Along the front line, Marines have been firing warning shots to scare away dogs chewing on corpses. In some cases, the troops have wrapped bodies in blankets and buried them in shallow graves.

At night, the psychological operations unit attached to the Marine battalion here sends out messages from a loudspeaker mounted on an armored Humvee. On Thursday night, the crew and its Arabic-language interpreter taunted fighters, saying, "May all the ambulances in Fallujah have enough fuel to pick up the bodies of the mujahadeen."

The message was specially timed for an attack moments later by an AC-130 gunship that pounded targets in the city.

Later, the team blasted Jimi Hendrix and other rock music, and afterward some sound effects like babies crying, men screaming, a symphony of cats and barking dogs and piercing screeches. They were unable to draw any gunmen to fight, and seemed disappointed.

[T'wit]

Thank you. War is fun. I have great respect for the destructive power of "It's a small world," and Barry Manilow, and "Kumbaya," and especially Barney. Maybe we can dream up something even more war-like.

I would bomb the city female mating hormones, followed closely by video footage of Janet Reno, Donna Shalala, Helen Thomas, Betty Friedan, Rosie O'Donnell, Jamie Gorelick, and just for the effect, Al Sharpton. Next I'd order 1,000 straight plays of "Dancing Queen" by ABBA -- no, 2,500 relentless, nonstop plays of "Dancing Queen" by ABBA. Then I'd bomb the whole place with fire ants. Then when they are too busy slapping and scratching to resist, I'd hit them with an air strike of pig dung and lard, accompanied by a full 10,000 plays of "Japanese Banana" by Alvin and the Chipmunks.

[T'wit]

Then again, maybe the Marines would like to play this Betty Johnson classic a few thousand times:

The Little Blue Man

One morning when I was out shopping
Though you'll find it hard to believe
A little blue man came out of the crowd
And timidly tugged at my sleeve.

"I wuv you! I wuv you!" said the little blue man
"I wuv you! I wuv you to bits."
"I wuv you!" He loved me said the little blue man
And scared me right out of my wits.

I hurried back to my apartment
I rushed in and I closed the door
But there on the desk stood the little blue man
Who started to tell me once more

"I wuv you! I wuv you!" said the little blue man
"I wuv you! I wuv you to bits."
"I wuv you!" He loved me said the little blue man
And scared me right out of my wits.

For weeks after that I was haunted
Though no one could see him but me
Right by my side was the little blue man
Wherever I happened to be.

One evening in wild desperation
I rushed to a rooftop in town
And over the side pushed the little blue man
Who sang to me all the way down

"I wuv you! I wuv you!" said the little blue man
"I wuv you! I wuv you to bits."
"I wuv you!" He loved me said the little blue man
And scared me right out of my wits.

I whispered, "Thank goodness that's over!"
I smiled as I hurried outside
But there on the street stood the little blue man
Who said with a tear in his eye

"I don't wuv you anymore!"

[T'wit]

>> bomb the city WITH female mating hormones,

[Spacemonkey1023]

Hmmm....nice reference to Camus. Didn't know these rockers were that literate. Oh, well, live and learn

[archy]

Anything sung by Porky Pig should get them moving.

This REALLY ought to get 'em going...

[archy]

"Or Slim Whitman's "When I'm Calling You?" After all, it got rid of the martians in that UFO movie...."

The movie was Mars Attacks. That was going to be my suggestion.

The movie's theme song is not too bad, itself, either....

[MeekOneGOP]

I love it ! ...

FALLUJAH, Iraq - In Fallujah's darkened, empty streets, U.S. troops blast AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" and other rock music full volume from a huge speaker, hoping to grate on the nerves of this Sunni Muslim city's gunmen and give a laugh to Marines along the front line.

Unable to advance farther into the city, an Army psychological operations team hopes a mix of heavy metal and insults shouted in Arabic — including, "You shoot like a goat herder" — will draw gunmen to step forward and attack. But no luck Thursday night.

< snip >

In the meantime, perhaps the fiercest enemy — everyone here seems to agree — is the boredom, and worst of all the flies that pepper this dusty Euphrates River city west of Baghdad. Marines burn them, using matches to turn cans of flammable bug spray into mini blow torches. They also try to kill them by sprinkling diesel fuel over fly colonies. They joke about calling in airstrikes.

[raynearhood]

The movie's theme song is not too bad, itself, either....

That would drive the troops insane before the enemy. Good thing earplugs are issued.

[SevenDaysInMay]

Re: #20 - Woody Allen voiced Jewish cantors in Arabic around the clock, softened with shrieking babies and shrill high voiced women scolds (the koran says Mo'ham' hated those) amid the smell burning hair.

Our guys likely face 100,000s of RPGs across Camp Pendleton East which only cost $30-$40 each, designed to penetrate most best armor.

Bless our 130 gunships FLIR fire.

Because of this R&R "truce" treachery in Fallujagrad and elsewhere, we need to lead with Daisy Cutters' overpressure followed by up-armored D-9s or have Cat design and build "D~19"s - to doze everything so we can find the small caches of WMD and large arms depots, in every home and under "mosques".

Misplaced muslim logic over the heat of summer will likely drive 3,000,000+ hostiles out against Iraq's Western liberators because we fail to provide them reliable AC, refridgeration, and cool water - as these same jihady "civilians" murder those trying to keep refixing sabotage.

It is a dar al-islam thing.

Shade is their ally. We must begin depriving these jihadies shade and water.

In islam's holy scripture warfare commands, muslims have no and recognize no civilians. Look to Mo'ham's own practiced mass murders and treacheries throughout his invasions. They only claim "civilians" when it is to muslims' advantage for propaganda. Only Civilization calls muslims' warfare war crimes committed by war criminals. To islam, we are infedels to be killed or conquored, then killed if we do not obey; just look to muslims' 1,300 track record.

No uniform, no life.

Islam has reignited its holy scriptures' commanded world conquest and America stands in its way.

[normy]

I think David Bowie had a song called "I'm afraid of Americans".

[HonorInPa]

I think we should play this for our brave boys just as they get the order to go...

For those about to rock... we salute you!

We roll tonight [We're on tonight]
To the guitar bite
Yeah, yeah, oh

Stand up and be counted
For what you are about to receive
We are the dealers
We'll give you everything you need
Hail hail to the good times
'Cause rock has got the right of way
We ain't no legend, ain't no cause
We're just livin' for today

For those about to rock, we salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you

We rock at dawn on the front line
Like a bolt right out of the blue
The sky's alight with the guitar bite
Heads will roll and rock tonight

For those about to rock, we salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you
Yes we do
For those about to rock, we salute you

Oooh, salute!
Oooh, ooooh yeah

We're just a battery for hire with a guitar fire
Ready and aimed at you
Pick up your balls and load up your cannon
For a twenty-one gun salute

For those about to rock - fire
We salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you
Those about to rock - fire
We salute you
Fire
We salute you
We salute you
Come on, whooa
For those about to rock, we salute you (x4)

Shoot, shoot

For those of you, for those who take
Yeah
(Ain't gonna get tired, won't take a break, we salute you.)

We salute you (x3)

Fire

[normy]

Thats great! There is another AC/DC song called "jailbreak" I don't know all the words but I love the line

he made it out..

with a bullet in his back!

Jaaaaiiil Break!

[HonorInPa]

Here's Jailbreak for ya...

There was a friend of mine on murder
And the judge's gavel fell
Jury found him guilty
Gave him sixteen years in hell
He said "I ain't spending my life here
I ain't living alone
Ain't breaking no rocks on the chain gang
I'm breakin' out and headin' home

Gonna make a jailbreak
And I'm lookin' towards the sky
I'm gonna make a jailbreak
Oh, how I wish that I could fly

All in the name of liberty
All in the name of liberty
Got to be free

Jailbreak, let me out of here
Jailbreak, sixteen years
Jailbreak, had more than I can take
Jailbreak, yeah"

He said he'd seen his lady being fooled with
By another man
She was down and he was up
He had a gun in his hand
Bullets started flying everywhere
And people started to scream
Big man lying on the ground
With a hole in his body
Where his life had been
But it was -

All in the name of liberty
All in the name of liberty
I got to be free

Jailbreak, jailbreak
I got to break out
Out of here

Heartbeats they were racin'
Freedom he was chasin'
Spotlights, sirens, rifles firing
But he made it out
With a bullet in his back

[normy]

Man you are on top of it! Ok heres another one but its not AC/DC, its Tesla "Modern Day Cowboy". That I dont believe was much of a hit but I liked it. I think it even talks about "foreign lands with their terrorist demands"

[TET1968]

"Anything sung by Porky Pig should get them moving."

"This REALLY ought to get 'em going..."

Forward to Col. Brennan..ASAP
Mark Urgent:
Message: "Send in the Pig."

[Momaw Nadon]

Rock the Casbah - The Clash

Now the king told the boogie men
You have to let that raga drop
The oil down the desert way
Has been shakin' to the top
The sheik he drove his Cadillac
He went a-cruisin' down the ville
The muezzin was a' standing
On the radiator grille

The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah
The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out
The electric camel drum
The local guitar picker
Got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the shareef
Had cleared the square
They began to wail

The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah
The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah

Now over at the temple
Oh! They really pack 'em in
The in crowd say it's cool
To dig this chanting thing
But as the wind changed direction
The temple band took five
The crowd caught a whiff
Of that crazy Casbah jive

The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah
The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah

The king called up his jet fighters
He said you better earn your pay
Drop your bombs between the minarets
Down the Casbah way

As soon as the shareef was
Chauffeured outta there
The jet pilots tuned to
The cockpit radio blare

As soon as the shareef was
Outta their hair
The jet pilots wailed

The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah
The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah

He thinks it's not kosher
Fundamentally he can't take it
You know he really hates it

[zeaal]

Maybe it has been suggested ... but the faithful stand-by to send any adult into running in circles crying is the BARNEY song ... I love you, you love me ....

[VideoDoctor]

I wonder if the RIAA will look into WHO OWES them royalties for playing music on the military front lines.

[redhead]

"Your mother eats bacon & ham. Your sister did Uday....after he was dead. Your suicide belt is on backwards. When was the last time you took a shower? I've flushed better looking things down the toilet. Hey, Sheik Yourbooty, who knew you were a eunuch? Wanna be Saddam's roommate?"

How about "We grease all our guns with pig fat, and dip all our bullets in the blood of swine?"

[archy]

The movie's theme song is not too bad, itself, either....

That would drive the troops insane before the enemy. Good thing earplugs are issued.

Ack! ACK! BIRD!