Military Commanders’ Decisions in Fallujah Overridden by Politicians (CONFIRMED)

Fox Live Broadcast / USA Today Interview ^ | 5/3/04 | Jim Michaels

[elfman2]

Freepers have been hotly debating whether politicians or military commanders made the decision to cancel the Fallujahn offensive.

Today Fox News Live’s Jon Scott (I believe) interviewed Jim Michaels (USA Today Reporter) just back from Fallujah. I transcribed the relevant portion of the interview. In summary he said that the Marines were told to stop the attack by Administrator Bremer under pressure from the Iraqi Governing Council.

MICHAELS – “No one [in the Marines] was happy with the cease fire. The American contractors were killed.

“They got the order to go in, as we know, on a big offensive. They were in the offensive for whatever, seven or eight days and boom the politicians said no, hold back, there’s too many casualties.

“The governing council, the Iraqi governing council, was really upset. They went to Mr. Bremer. Mr. Bremer in turn sort ‘a put in the order to hold back.

“While they were in this cease fire meanwhile the insurgents were in there, the insurgents were in there rearming re-supplying you know, taking advantage of of the lull in activities, so they were in a real bind here, and they really had no choice, they say, except to come up with the idea for a Fallujah Brigade.

“Otherwise these guys would still be in there and the ceasefire would still be going on, and these talks that they were having were going nowhere. The sheiks (sp?) were just kind ‘a sipping tea with coalition officials and were nowhere, It was just getting nowhere at all. “

SCOTT –“So very quickly Jim, Do the bad folks in Fallujah think that they’ve won?”

MICHAELS – “They do indeed! They’re running around the past couple of days, celebrating and saying you know that they’ve fought things to a stand still. They’re really taking a propaganda victory out of this. “

“They’re really running around saying, you know, they fought the American forces to a standstill. You know they’re pushing it for all it’s worth.”

SCOTT –“So how does that effect their overall strategy to win the hearts and minds of the the Iraqis - the fact that they’re claiming a victory in Fallujah?

MICHAELS – Well pol… It doesn’t help. And it’s one of the biggest fears that the Marines have is that a week, 10 days down the road, this things going to continue to snowball, and and these guys are going to claim victory, and it presents a BIG propaganda problem for the American forces there. It its a big risk.

"The Marines said that they had no choice, that they were in a stand off and the ceasefire whas going nowhere."

[elfman2]

"The lead foreign reporter's source is unnamed. There is no burden to disprove what an unnamed source is saying."

Only when the source is a credible reporter speaking the obvious nationally. I don’t care if you don’t recognize the obvious. The rest of the world moves on without you.

[cajungirl]

I agree with you.

[FreeReign]

Well, gee. Can't argue with a sacred reporter, especially a USA Today one- they're as unimpeachable as NYTimes reporters!

There's a growing conservative movement -- let's call it a neoconservative movement for lack of a better term -- that thinks unnamed sources from USA Today, NY Times, AP, CBS, ABC, CNN...are credible.

My view -- I'll call it old-time conservative or paleoconservative for lack of a better term -- thinks that unnamed sources from the likes as listed above are more often wrong than right.

I've got a looong memory.

[cajungirl]

I am with you. We criticize liberals for hating the country but our very own are the keyboard generals who all think they can do better and have simplistic answers to what is a very complex situation over there and very little trust in GWB.

[elfman2]

"Speaking as a Marine going back to the Vietnam era ... that strategy rarely, if ever, works."

Agreed. It’s one thing to trust how a professional military accomplishes a complex objective, like defeating an undefeated city. It’s another to say we should not second guess how our politicians override the military commanders.

[Ranger]

I've wondered myself why Bush hasn't made addresses to the Iraqi people; explain our motives, let them know what is expected of them and so on. It seems a voice of reason could fill a void even from an infidel.

[A Jovial Cad]

*Just for you, a Readers Digest version...*

Ha, ha, okay. I enjoy reading a witty riposte, even if it's directed at me.

*elfman2 claims the Marines didn't come up with their plan to withdraw from Fallujah. He's wrong.*

I don't follow what you're specifically referring to in his posts, but I'll let elfman2 speak to that. I think his general point, and one well-taken, is that the *overall* policy is being muddled by conflicting directives from way, way above the field level--just like it was done in a certain Southeast Asian country 30+ years ago. And we all *know* what a bang-up success *that* turned out to be....

[cajungirl]

You seem to have forgotton several days of those gunships targeting and blowing away buildings with people in them. Your zeal to level the town may not be shared by some who are running this war.

[CasearianDaoist]

See post 112. You really need to work on your reading skills.

"Sighs..." How infantile.

[cajungirl]

I think you are blinded by your hatred of Bush and Rummy. You are truly infantile in your assessment of what is happening in Fallujah and use it to denigrate these two men when denigrating them is what you really want to do and Fallujah is just the horse you are riding. Remiinds me alot of democrats or just misfits.

[elfman2]

"I don't follow what you're specifically referring to in his posts, but I'll let elfman2 speak to that. "

From what you write, what he’s referring to exists only in his imagination. I refuse to read his post. Once someone behaves so dishonestly and then starts name calling, they’re not worth recognizing. Life’s too short to get sucked into that.

[cajungirl]

How soon you forget the days of those gunships in fallujah blowing up buildings reportedly filled with those terrorsits. You color your account of Fallujah with your contempt, anxiety and lack of understandiing of the political dimensions of this war.

[Tymesup]

Terrorists stamp their feet in Spain, Spaniards blink.

Terrorists stamp their feet in Fallujah, Americans blink.

[A Jovial Cad]

*Do you get the feeling we are up against the school yard bully?*

Ha, ha, more like the class clown, the know-it-all who always had a snitty, superior answer for *everything*.

[cajungirl]

So are you sharing your contempt for Rummy and Bush with your Musli friends? Everyone is all het up over the Muslims dancing and celebrating,,I say, so what if these delusional 7th century barbarians dance and celebrate. For crying out loud, long as they are dancing they aren't blowing things up.

[Rokke]

Well, at least someone's got a sense of humor. My post to him is in reference to an earlier thread in which he was adamant that the Marines did not design their current withdrawal strategy.

[TomasUSMC]

We have to trust to our leaders to figure out how to balance our military advantage with the diplomatic considerations

---

These exact words were repeated by the Governments Yes-men, a thousand times during Nam.

Well we now have history to learn from and thus are able to learn from our mistakes in Nam.

Fight with everything you have or get everything you have out.

[B4Ranch]

"And perhaps you can remind me as to what we are doing with over a 130,000 troops in Iraq?"

Guarding an oil reserve that needs TRILLIONS of dollars of new equipment to bring it up to safety and production standards.

[Rokke]

"From what you write, what he’s referring to exists only in his imagination."

Actually, I quoted you directly. Let me do it again from a different post..."As far as I can tell, that does not support your claim that the withdrawal/repositioning (letting the foreign fighters escape) "is a Marine plan through and through."" Some imagination I've got.

[A Jovial Cad]

*For crying out loud, long as they are dancing they aren't blowing things up.*

Now that's a concise piece of irrefutable logic; I feel much better now. But, ummm...what happens when they *stop* dancing?
[Sarcasm/]