Patrols to Begin in Fallujah; Weapon Stockpiles Endanger Najaf

DoD-AFPS ^ | April 25, 2004 | Jim Garamone

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Patrols to Begin in Fallujah; Weapon Stockpiles Endanger Najaf

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2004 – City representatives in Fallujah have agreed to allow joint patrols by Iraqi and U.S. forces to begin in the city April 28, senior coalition officials said during a news conference in Baghdad today.

The coalition also is concerned about a "dangerous" situation in Najaf, as illegal militias are stockpiling weapons and ammunition in mosques, holy sites and schools, officials said.

Coalition senior spokesman Dan Senor said Coalition administrator Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III asked Iraqi journalists to spread the word of the dangerous situation in Najaf and the neighboring city of Kufa. Both areas are sacred to the majority Shiia. Supporters of Shiia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are stockpiling weapons and ammunition in these holy places. "It puts all law-abiding citizens of (Najaf) at risk," Senor said. "All individuals that are seeking a peaceful resolution of the situation there must not tolerate the stockpiling of weapons in mosques and in shrines and in schools."

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the deputy operations director for Combined Joint Task Force 7, said negotiations with representatives inside Fallujah have yielded some fruit. The Fallujans have extended the deadline for illegal heavy weapons turn-in to April 27. To date, few weapons have been turned in to Marines and Iraqi security forces ringing the city.

The representatives also agreed to joint patrols of Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, Iraqi Police Service and coalition forces beginning April 28. The Fallujan representatives agreed to broadcast the information via secular means and in local mosques.

The representatives also will broadcast "the information that anyone carrying a weapon in Fallujah except legitimate security forces … will be considered hostile," Kimmitt said.

The coalition agreed to allow 67 extended families back in to the city today.

The Fallujan representatives' track record has not been particularly good, officials said. The enemy forces in Fallujah, which consist of former regime supporters and foreign fighters, continued to violate the cease-fire. Kimmitt said Marines experienced eight small-arms attacks and five indirect-fire incidents in the past 24 hours. No heavy weapons turned in to the coalition in the past 24 hours, he added.

Kimmitt said the coalition hopes to solve the problems in Fallujah peacefully, but that there is more than enough military power in the area if that is called for. He said it is time for the Fallujan leaders to start delivering results. "The way we can trust and have confidence in those representatives is, quite simply, let's start seeing delivery," he said.

In the south, anti-coalition forces launched attacks against the oil terminal in the northern Persian Gulf. Navy small-boat patrols stopped the attacks before any damage was done to Iraq's critical oil infrastructure, but two sailors were killed and four were wounded. The sailors died when they intercepted a dhow trying to get close to the oil terminal. The crew of the dhow set off explosives that flipped the small inflatable boat.

Patrols and offensive operations occur in the rest of Iraq, Kimmitt said.

Biography:
Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III

Related Sites:
Coalition Provisional Authority
Combined Joint Task Force 7

Related Article:
Coalition Following Fallujah Agreement, Enemy Not Complying

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

City representatives in Fallujah have agreed to allow joint patrols by Iraqi and U.S. forces to begin in the city April 28, senior coalition officials said during a news conference in Baghdad today.

The coalition also is concerned about a "dangerous" situation in Najaf, as illegal militias are stockpiling weapons and ammunition in mosques, holy sites and schools, officials said.

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DoD, patience is not easy, ping!

[M Kehoe]

...patience is not easy, ping

No it isn't, bump.

5.56mm

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[blackie]

Death to all terrorists and their supporters ~ Bump!

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[RightWhale]

If we shell a mosque-fort we better be sure beforehand there will be secondary explosions. There are innocent-bystander mosques in the area that would become tragic situations if accidently blown to atoms.

[river rat]

In my opinion...The DOD is being taken for suckers. Again.

The jihadists honor NO AGREEMENT that is not in their best interests...

The jihadists will become peace loving Muslims -- only after they have been killed..

It's really as simple as that....

Semper Fi

[JeeperFreeper]

It's sad, but this decision along with virtually every other one coming out of the White House, is made with Nov. 4th in mind. And, now, the grunts will have to figure out a way to survive while the politicians take polls and have focus groups.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

It's sad, but this decision along with virtually every other one coming out of the White House, is made with Nov. 4th in mind.

Well I think that I don't want John F** Kerry to replace George Bush!

The soldiers would be much worse off!

[EternalHope]

In my opinion...The DOD is being taken for suckers. Again.

I don't think so. In fact, it looks to me like a truly brilliant piece of "strategery." Here's why:

The jihadists honor NO AGREEMENT that is not in their best interests...

Yep. Pretty much everybody with a brain knows this is true. So whatever we are doing is done with full knowledge of this FACT.

The jihadists will become peace loving Muslims -- only after they have been killed..

Yep. Again, pretty much everybody with a brain knows this is true. Again, whatever we are doing is done with full knowledge of this FACT.

It's really as simple as that....

Ah, but here's where it gets interesting...

Patrols start on Tuesday. Patrols with both Iraqis and Americans. Patrols enforcing an absolute ban on weapons. Carry a weapon, you die.

These patrols will be extremely well backed up, and will be searching places we ALREADY KNOW are bad guy locations. The bad guys are certain to fight.

So what do we get? LOTS of political cover, and the same military result as if we simply went on the offensive.

[river rat]

EternalHope -- well named, but unfortunately "Hope" is not a defense against mines, booby traps, ambush and fly tactics, etc.....

We should ALL know by now, that these Jihadists have learned they are impotent in a stand up fight with our forces.....IMPOTENT followed by dead...

Therefore, they will not attend a stand up fight like "Gunfight at the OK Corral"....

With our guys patrolling in the Jihadist stronghold -- a place they have had weeks to "wire" and plant devices --- we are asking our guys to be the turkeys in a turkey shoot..

Each day we patrol that zoo, Marines will die.
Each day --- the "elders", "Tribal Leaders" and "clerics" will blow smoke up our ass about how the "evil ones" are operating without their approval.....
THAT will make the mothers of our dead Marines a lot happier...

Sorry -- we have been taken for suckers again -- UNLESS after the very first ambush, we withdraw to the perimeter, inform each and every "mediator" that their word isn't worth spit - and level that freaking city until there is nothing bouncing on the ruble except jihadist bones...

Semper Fi

[JeeperFreeper]

Dear E: I know. That's a large part of why it's so sad. Politics can be a nasty profession.

[EternalHope]

"Hope" is not a defense against mines, booby traps, ambush and fly tactics, etc.....

If we are stupid enough to pull a "Grozny", then what you describe will happen. As you may recall, the Muslims won a big battle against the Russians in the city of Grozny when the Russians did just what you describe. I can't imagine our guys not knowing all about Grozny, and how to defeat this particular kind of trap.

However, if we are smart enough to start with targets right next to our lines, disarm them or take them out, and then move on, then we will be taking the city in essentially the same way we would have if we had gone in on our own. The big difference, of course, is that dead people, blown up Mosques, etc., on the other side will now be much more politically acceptable in Iraq.

As for your comment about "Hope", yeah, you're right. I hope the scenario I described is what is really going on. It makes sense, and leads to the desired end result.

I do not have any inside info, and could be completely wrong. If I'm wrong, then the commanders on the scene must have concluded that the political situation in Iraq is so volatile that we can't risk anything more conclusive. If the situation is really that bad, then we are in a world of hurt.

Unlike a lot of folks on FR, I do NOT think the decision in Fallujah is based on domestic politics in the U.S. The election is simply too far away for that to be the reason. The objective is to "win the peace" in Iraq, and that is what is driving our delays at Fallujah.

[whadizit]

This is so repulsive that I am going to throw up!! Our young, brave guys burned and mutilated, dragged through the streets, and WE HAVE A F---ING ONE-WAY CEASE FIRE!!!!! My greatest fears are coming true....that we are losing more soldiers OUT OF FEAR OF WHAT THE DAMN IRAQI'S THINK!!

This is so absurd. I cannot believe what I am hearing. Seeing that duo of Senor and Kimmett sitting there like the Muppets! Telling us that the Fallujans might "ALLOW" Marines to patrol. This whole war thing has been turned upside down!

[whadizit]

And another thing....is our military now under the direction of the U.N.'s Brahimi? I just heard him bash the thoughts of "invading" Fallujah! Oh, my, is anybody at home in Washington, D.C? I am sick to my stomach!

[whadizit]

"..we have been taken for suckers again--UNLESS after the first ambush, we withdraw to the perimeter....and level that freaking city..."

I am glad that I am not alone in my disgust of the way the worm has turned!

[astounded]

Exactly. When will we stop referring to mosques as "holy sites"? There is nothing "holy" about islam and nothing "holy" about mosques or imams or whatever else these murderous cultists refer to in their "religion". The decision by President Bush to postpone the USMC offensive to finally clean out falluja is a bad one, in my opinion. In the arab or muslim "mind" this shows weakness and timidity, which is a big time mistake on our part. These muslims understand and respect one thing - brute force. Negotiation to the arab muslim means lying enough to get the other side to see things their way, not your way. It's long past time that we demonstrate to them a scorched earth approach to falluja that will impress them. Why do we fear the "rage" of the "arab street"? They already hate us, or purport to hate us, so what more do we have to lose?

[river rat]

I believe you see the PRESENTED SCENARIO clearly..

We can only hope that the Marine Corps has not gone insane - and are mearly passing out the rope for the jihadists to hang themselves...

Rope a Dope? or Being Dopes?...

This coming week will determine that point..

Semper Fi

[windchime]

Bump!