As the U.S. military abandons Fallujah, Iraqis proclaim victory

Knight Ridder Newspapers ^ | Sat, May. 01, 2004 | Hannah Allam

[Anti-Bubba182]

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Masked men carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers and waving Iraqi flags rode through the deserted streets of Fallujah on Saturday, claiming victory in the withdrawal this week of U.S. Marines after a month-long siege of the city.

A day after the U.S.-led coalition announced it was handing over most security matters to a popular general from the former Iraqi regime, Fallujah residents tentatively stepped out of shuttered homes to find demolished buildings, uprooted palm trees, rows of shelled villas and car windows riddled with bullet holes.

They took comfort in what they did not see: Americans.

"The Americans have been pushed out by true soldiers, heroic men," said Shaker Adnan, 35, who wore the burgundy beret and dark camouflage of the Fallujah Brigade, the new proxy security force assembled by the coalition. "If the Americans were men, they would have never retreated. This triumph came from God."

Despite the coalition's insistence the move was not a retreat, local religious leaders called a victory prayer at a battle-scared mosque. Other Fallujah residents wept at a soccer stadium where dozens of anti-American fighters were buried in graves marked with crude tombstones and wilted flowers. So many bodies had arrived at the makeshift cemetery that a backhoe dug long trenches in the dirt, where the dead were buried single file.

Men with AK-47 assault rifles slung over their shoulders sobbed at one row of graves, where 26 members of the same family were buried. Several gravestones simply bore the inscription "unknown martyr," along with details of the remains. "Black beard, green trousers," read one marker. "Pieces of flesh, brown shirt," read another. An estimated 600 Iraqis died in the siege, according to hospital and news accounts.

"We're left with nothing but a few simple weapons, but we will continue to use them if the Americans return," said Hassan Ahmed, 35, who recited verses from the Quran over a plot. "Did you see the grave of the newborn? He never even got to see the light, rest his soul."

After threatening a major offensive, the coalition this week announced the pullback, and recruited Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohamed Saleh, a former Republican Guard two-star general, to oversee security inside the city. He'll command the Fallujah Brigade, the emerging force that eventually will have more than 1,000 troops stationed at checkpoints and conducting patrols throughout town....."

[crz]

Have we all forgotten how to wage war? Napoleon said in effect that a war is won not by gaining vast areas, but by destroying ones enemy totally.

[Flightdeck]

"What do you think the goal in Iraq is?"

1. Overthrow Saddam's terrorist regime..done

2. Set up a base of operations in the middle of the hornets nest for intelligence, strategic, and tactical purposes.

[Joe Hadenuf]

What do you think the goal in Iraq is?

To build 7-11s and Wal-Marts? I don't know anymore. This whole thing is beyond belief.

[JoeSchem]

They should never have left while these vermin still draw breath.

I guess the Marines got tired of being sniped at.

Call me a DUer if you must, but didn't we use the same guerilla tactics to drive the Redcoats out of America?

[omniscient]

the Marine in charge of U.S. operations in western Iraq bristled at characterizations that the Marines had "retreated" or "withdrawn" from the city

"Bristling" is often the result of a nerve being hit. I think these Marines know deep down that they have been sold out. Despite the source of this article and probable bias in it, there is no escaping the fact that the Coalition has suffered a huge setback here. In future, Fallujah may indeed be remembered as the turning point and the time when the wheels began to fall off. Nothing good can come of handing back control to the Baathist generals and their Islamo-nut supporters. Score one for Ted Koppel.

[Taquito]

Agreed, this is a sign of weakness, and strength and weakness is what it is all about with these people. If we would have just crushed the insurgents they would have toed the line for the forseeable future in Fallujah, but we ran and we will pay the price in the future.

[Gunslingr3]

Some retreat. Some defeat.

But GWB isn't Churchill, and his PR effort to the Arab world is instead being percieved as a defeat for the Marines.

This is my worst fear realized. A president taking us to war, but not wanting to practice warfare.

[Blue Highway]

"The Americans have been pushed out by true soldiers, heroic men," said Shaker Adnan, 35, who wore the burgundy beret and dark camouflage of the Fallujah Brigade, the new proxy security force assembled by the coalition. "If the Americans were men, they would have never retreated. This triumph came from God."

Was this a misquote by the media? These are the Iraqi's we are training and they are still anti-American???? Baffled....

[Teplukin]

they are deluded. Eventually reality will slap them in the face.

As far as I am concerned, this town was not worth any American life to liberate. Just populated with too many kooks to make it salvageable.

[lowbridge]

"The Americans have been pushed out by true soldiers, heroic men," said Shaker Adnan, 35, who wore the burgundy beret and dark camouflage of the Fallujah Brigade, the new proxy security force assembled by the coalition.

The coalition appointed this guy?

What next? We're gonna appoint Osama Bin Laden as head of the Iraqi air force?

[livius]

Yes, we still control the situation. However, we controlled the publicity very badly. If we had bragged about how we had won (which we actually have, otherwise this "Republican Guard" contingent would never have been allowed in) and then publicized our call to this former general to come in and clean up the leavings, it would have been fine and both Americans and Iraqis would have understood it.

This is not a military loss, but a PR loss. That, unfortunately, has been GWB's problem all along. Great actions, lousy PR.

[zarf]

Our goal is to leave Iraq a self governing nation that is democratic and pro American at best or a stable and free Iraq that is neutral to our interests at worst.

That will not be accomplished by flattening the country or indiscriminately slaughtering Iraqi citizens.

By putting a former Baathist incharge of Fallujah we are trying to neutralize the Sunni rebels and isolate the Shia in Najaf and greater Iraq by putting them on notice that their former terrorizers will step to the fore if they don't put the brakes on Sadr.

[RightWhale]

"If the Americans were men, they would have never retreated.

Yeah, well that is the language of a playground bully. Do they want to fight to the last bully? They will eventually get a chance if they keep this up.

[livius]

Are you spamming? Are you perhaps a Dem? I've seen this same post of yours on several threads.

Nobody was betrayed. We control that town, and that's the only reason these Iraqi troops are being allowed back in (to only a part of the town, btw). If they don't work out and crack heads, we'll be back. This is all about letting Iraqis crack Iraqi heads.

[silverleaf]

Just what we need- our very own Iraqi version of the Gaza Strip, controlled by madmen with a crazy perception they "won".

Leadership abdicated by us to a strongarm thug Baathist General now on the payroll of the US treasury (Saddam redux?)

All in the heart of Iraq.

My bet is this is the work of the State Dept and Paul Bremer, trying to "make nice" with the sunnis as June 30th draws near.

I would presume this will come back to bite us. God Bless those brave uS marines and contractors who died in vain trying to do what needed to be done- pacify Fallujah and improve the quality of life for Iraqi civilians..

[Teplukin]

This is not a military loss, but a PR loss. That, unfortunately, has been GWB's problem all along. Great actions, lousy PR.

Yup. People just need to calm down. This is all part of a long term strategy that Bush has. He wants to win Iraqi hearts & minds, and you can't do that with a full frontal assault on a city of 250,000 people.

Nation Building is much more nuanced than that. Sometimes a sledgehammer is not the right tool to get the job done.