U.S. Authorities Release Prominent Cleric ("Thanks be to god for the victory in Fallujah")

AP ^ | Thu, Apr 29, 2004 | AP

[Eurotwit]

FALLUJAH, Iraq, - U.S. authorities on Thursday released a prominent Sunni Muslim cleric arrested last year in the tense city of Fallujah.

Sheik Jamal Shaker Nazzal, the imam of Fallujah's Grand Mosque, said his release was part of a deal between the city's residents and U.S. occupation authorities seeking to defuse the ongoing crisis around the besieged city.

"We suffered a lot in prison but with God's help and that of the people of Fallujah I gained my freedom," he said. "Thanks be to God for the victory of Fallujah."

There was no comment from U.S. authorities on the release.

Nazzal, an outspoken opponent of the U.S. occupation, was taken into custody in October. Soon after his arrest, a previously unknown group called the "Hamza Platoon" threatened to attack U.S. troops unless the cleric was freed.

[Go Gordon]

I have a feeling the US is going to be very, very sorry we backed down in Fallujah. You don't show weakness to these people.

They probably released the guy with a GPS transmitter chip embedded on his person. Lets wait and see if he shows up dead in the next week or two...

[TomasUSMC]

Could a devastating assault have been a mistake? You bet. Could a devastating assault still take place? I guess that is a possibility.

---

The enemy never doubts whether an assault against our troops will be a mistake. Today we lost 8 KIA in one suicide attack.

What is our response? Maybe we still are thinking like Condi, when she said we didn't react to the Cole bombing because we might EMBOLDEN the enemy.

We should have had to great victories under our belts 2 weeks ago - Fallujah and Najaf. The 4000 kia of the enemy would have been a sign of strength. Proof that resistance would cost our enemy more than it gained.

Failure to attack because of the fear of reprisal is worse than retreat and ensuring defeat.

[TomasUSMC]

Najaf is the Mecca of the Shiites. Wouldn't be prudent.

---

Too bad the Islamist didn't have this weakness in their thinking or they might have said:

"The WTC is the Mecca of the Capitalist. Wouldn't be prudent

[TomasUSMC]

Najaf is the Mecca of the Shiites. Wouldn't be prudent.

---

Too bad the Islamist didn't have this weakness in their thinking or they might have said:

"The WTC is the Mecca of the Capitalist. Wouldn't be prudent

[TexKat]

Lets wait and see if he shows up dead in the next week or two...

Lets see if the 4 Iraqi generals show up dead in the next week or two.

Lets see if these 4 Iraqi generals are with us or against us. If the insurgents let them (the 4 generals) live either they (the 4 generals) either can handle it or they are in with the insurgents. If the insurgents don't let them (the 4 generals) live then we will know what time it is. Hopefully no more of our guys will perish in this Fallujah mess that we did not quash from day one.

[Guillermo]

If history hasn't taught us any lessons, nothing else will.

We're going down a losing path.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.

[NJ_gent]

"My uneducated (and uninformed) opinion is that the Iraqifization track is the right one to pursue."

My opinion of the same high calibre is that we should have perhaps as many as 30,000 troops involved in Fallujah. Completely cut off the city, then have small special forces units do some initial recon and sabotage of key weaponry and storage sites. Then you bring in armored vehicles, tanks, and lots and lots of ground troops. Let the media from everywhere film the whole damn thing. You keep multiple helicopter gunships and spectre gunships in the air at all times, with jets and bombers on standby. You then very publicly take control of every inch of the city, street by street, building by building, confiscating every weapon you find and arresting anyone believed to be part of the resistance. Anyone who wants to leave who is cleared on the battlefield as a non-combatant is welcome to go wherever following a weapons search. Otherwise, nothing gets in or out without being searched. Get resistance from a building? Let the gunships/spectres/tanks/bombers level it.

Give it about two weeks and you'll have total control over the entire city with nothing but rocks and sticks threatening the guys on our side. It'd be expensive, but it'd be effective as hell, in my uneducated civilian opinion.

[ladyinred]

Let's see now, I wonder if perhaps this has anything to do with the 24/7 bashing of the war and the CIC and the drop in polls of support for the war?

The media is putting all of us in danger imho and eroding the morale of the troops, and giving comfort to the enemy. The media is becoming an arm of terrorism.

[TomasUSMC]

There numbers have been reduced, their supply is cut-off,

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Humm lets see. 8 Americans killed in a supply convoy by one suicide bomber. Marines pulling back in Fallujah. 3 weeks of siege and no victory against an enemy that we outnumber, ourgun and outtech. Reminds me of: Nam

Vietnam redux.
We should have taken Fallujah and Najaf 2 weeks ago.

Fight hard with everything you got or get everything you got out.

[Wolfhound777]

WTF? Did Hillary send the FBI files to Sadr? Kill them all, end of story!!! No insurgent moose limbs, no insurgency.

[swarthyguy]

Yeah, well, it's the same argument used for makkah, too by the Saudians. One more reason not to offend them. But most of the muslim world, even Sunnis, know the Sauds are basically johnnycomelately usurpers to the holyplaces.

Nice to see the Thais go into the mosque. Don't bring machetes to a Thai shootout. I heard a BBC report say the general who ordered the attack on the mosque has been transferred to a northern province for disobeying the pols and launching an assault when they wanted to negotiate.

[McGavin999]

Doesn't matter what they think, what matters is what actually happens. Not what is reported in AP or Reuters but what is actually happening on the ground.

I think it's fine if they think they've won, they'll come out to celebrate and find a bullet between their eyes.

Have you seen one thing that has been reported about what we're going to do that has turned out to be right? Of course not. That's the whole point.

[Ichneumon]

Iraq will start to unravel quickly now that we have been defeated in Fallujah. I'm sure some (all?) here will jump on that statement with the usual "strategery" and "misunderestimated" stuff, but that is the fact.

Bookmarking so I can say "I told you so" later.

[monkeywrench]

I think these ap/reuters articles are designed to rally their "side" in fallujah.

[jpsb]

The Romans knew how to deal with these people, it wasn't pretty but it worked.

[Ichneumon]

WTF? Did Hillary send the FBI files to Sadr? Kill them all, end of story!!!

Relax. I suspect that the US strategy is, "it wouldn't look good if we killed him in prison, but if we release him to lead his jihadists to 'victory' and *then* we blow him up, no one's going to even notice."

[RightOnline]

""Thanks be to God for the victory of Fallujah.""

Yeah, Achmed. Those words should have earned you a bullet to the brain, you sorry son of a bitch.

Now go be "victorious" in Fallujah......where we can rename you "Target".

[Stentor]

I suggest withholding judgement, and trust the people in charge.

Good on ya.

[brydic1]

Bush talks way too much and does all too little. He told us that the murderers in Fallujah would be dealt with timely and very harshly. Now a month later we have backslid to the point no one in Iraq can believe anything out of his mouth. The US forces which were all powerful just a year ago appear to be caving in to these thugs, the worst possible action in dealing with these 14th century arabs. I am very unhappy with the negligent if not criminal non defense of our borders and now we see the dishonoring of those who gave their lives for this nation in Iraq. If our nation is to be betrayed by our politicians, let the democrat politicians do the betraying.

[F.J. Mitchell]

"And what did we gain out of the deal?"

Too damn many of America's finest-dead for no good reason. When did Lyndon Johnson climb out of the grave and grab control of the war on terror?

There is not one sonovabitch on this planet, whose opinion is worth one drop of American blood. If we are too chickenshit to kill the bastards who need killing, then bring our troops home, so we can all hold hands while the Muslim bastards kill us.