[Ragtime Cowgirl]

The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is putting together the first battalion of a new Iraqi brigade being formed to restore and maintain order in the western city of Fallujah...

 

The general said the new brigade will not replace the Marines in and around Fallujah. "I think it's very important to understand a number of things," he said. "Number one, the Marines are not withdrawing from Fallujah. These forces will be working alongside the Marines. These forces, when they come to fruition, will be answering to the Marines as well as the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.

"...this is just an Iraqi component of the coalition forces surrounding Fallujah.."

"... I think it would also be inopportune if anybody was to somehow misread, again, what's going on in Fallujah.."

"This is not a withdrawal. It's not a retreat.."

 "The Marines remain more than capable of continuing the operation to complete the military return of Fallujah to coalition control. But as long as we continue to see progress...we will continue to pursue the peaceful track."

.....MR. BAYLEY: I'd like to add to that....the political objectives that we have in Fallujah are really absolutely the same. Talk of a peace deal that we've seen in some of the media yesterday and this morning is completely out of the question. What we have here at the moment is a tactical change, but what we still have are objectives which are to restore law and order to the city as quickly as possible, to rebuild the judicial system there, and to ensure that those who have committed crimes in the past weeks of instability will face justice as soon as possible and as effectively as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

 

 

 

Iraq-ization, ping!

[RightWingMama]

Bttt

[DJtex]

It's a dicey situation over in Fallujah right now. Our real problem is that the Iraqi police and security turned tail and ran almost immediately at the first sign of real trouble. (Same thing happened with the LA police in the Rodney King riots--they were told to pull back).

If they'd stood up just a little bit and called for a hell of a lot of USMC help, we wouldn't be in the siege situation we're in now. This new former-Saddam military guy may just be what we need, and it will be a lot better and easier now that the rebels are softened up, if Iraqis start these patrols, with us providing support from the air.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[blackie]

Iraq-ization ~ Bump!

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

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Bio on the Iraqi General

______________________________________________________________________

Today: April 30, 2004 at 13:01:42 PDT

Saleh to Lead Security Force in Fallujah

By ABDUL-QADER SAADI
ASSOCIATED PRESS

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -

The general chosen to lead a security force for Fallujah is a former Iraqi Republican Guard who headed Saddam Hussein's infantry and has strong family ties to the besieged city, according to relatives and former colleagues.

Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh, 49, led up to 1,100 Iraqis as they began taking up positions Friday from U.S. Marines in southeastern Fallujah. He shook hands with Marine commanders at a post on the southeastern entry to the city, 35 miles west of Baghdad.

The Marines have conducted a monthlong siege of the city of 200,000 to pressure anti-American fighters to give up their heavy weapons.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a U.S. military spokesman, offered no details about Saleh's background but said the Marines had screened the former general and had full confidence in him. Officials of the U.S.-led coalition also said they had not information on Salah's history.

However, a former Iraqi general, Mohammed al-Askari, said Saleh served in Iraq's elite Republican Guards in the 1980s and later commanded the 38th Infantry Division of the Iraqi army.

He was then promoted to head all of the Iraqi army's infantry forces, al-Askari said. His last posting was as a division commander in the al-Quds (Jerusalem) army, which was initially founded to liberate Jerusalem but grew into a vast paramilitary force.

In that capacity, he spent the war last year assigned to a military base in Ramadi, just west of Fallujah, according to Haroun Mohammed, an Iraqi journalist based in London.

Saleh also has deep roots in Fallujah. Another London-based Iraqi journalist, Osama al-Fahaly, said Saleh is a Fallujah native and belongs to the Mohammadi tribe, the town's largest, and is a close relative of the tribe's leader. Fallujah natives reached in neighboring Jordan confirmed Saleh is a well-known figure in the clan.

One relative of Saleh's, who spoke in Jordan on condition of anonymity, said Saleh attended the Iraqi military academy in Baghdad and distinguished himself as a quiet and stable personality. He graduated in 1989 from a special academy for high-ranking officers, the man said.

The man said Saleh was a member of Saddam's Baath Party - as was every member of the Iraqi army - but was never seen as a political figure and never rose in the party ranks.

He said Saleh was well-liked by the soldiers and officers who worked with him.

----

AP correspondent Shafika Mattar in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

--

[windchime]

Bump!

[AFPhys]

Thanks for posting the FACTS, RCGirl

FReepers RULE!!!

I am certain this will help some of the more fact-challenged persons here and in the conservative media reconsider their kneejerk abhorrence of this development.

The OldMedia mediots and BushBashers will never get it, but that's just their own stupidity acting on what little mind they have...