Old Iraqi army reborn in Fallujah

MSNBC ^ | May 07, 2004 | Rajiv Chandrasekaran

[Anti-Bubba182]

FALLUJAH, Iraq, May 6 - The crackle of gunfire, omnipresent here just a week ago, has been replaced with the din of car horns. Shops that had been shuttered during a month-long siege by U.S. Marines, giving this city on the Euphrates River the feel of a ghost town, have begun to reopen. Attacks on the few remaining American troops in the surrounding desert have nearly ceased.

But the seeming normalcy has come with a cost. Fallujah is now caught in a time warp. Iraqi soldiers wearing their crisp, olive-green army uniforms -- a sight unseen since former president Saddam Hussein's government was toppled more than a year ago -- now man checkpoints on roads leading into the city. Stout generals, their lapels adorned with stars and crossed swords, stroll around the mayor's office with the same imperious air they projected when Hussein was president....." < snip>

"...Thus far, the generals appear to be opting for a strategy of cooptation instead of confrontation. They have recruited scores of young men who fought against the Marines last month, according to U.S. officials familiar with the new force, called the Fallujah Brigade. The officials said they believed that most members of the brigade participated in the fighting.

"Many of the guys who were shooting at the Marines have simply put on their old army uniforms and joined the Fallujah Brigade," said a U.S. official familiar with the new force......."

[Anti-Bubba182]

See also:

Kurds flee Fallujah in fear

[Howlin]

The crackle of gunfire, omnipresent here just a week ago, has been replaced with the din of car horns. Shops that had been shuttered during a month-long siege by U.S. Marines, giving this city on the Euphrates River the feel of a ghost town, have begun to reopen. Attacks on the few remaining American troops in the surrounding desert have nearly ceased.

Ce qui?

But......but.........but...

[DustyMoment]

I've got a bad feeling about this.

[Lion Den Dan]

Bad feeling???

Look on the bright side. With the feisty Rag Heads in crisp uniforms, we know who to shoot. Ain't life grand.

[Young Rhino]

Look on the bright side. With the feisty Rag Heads in crisp uniforms, we know who to shoot. Ain't life grand.

Unfortunately, it is also a way for the Rag Heads to assert their "rights" under the Geneva Convention. Out of uniform, the Convention clearly does not apply. To me, there is no distinction. However, the State Department hacks and whacko journalists would disagree.

[Lion Den Dan]

Unfortunately, it is also a way for the Rag Heads to assert their "rights" under the Geneva Convention.

You are correct, however, after hearing some left wing wacko US Rep (name escapes me) carry on about destroying "that prison" and tearing it down, I am inclined to agree in principle which renders my comment about uniform moot.

If "That prison" should be destroyed because evil things were done there and the building's destruction would prevent repeat offense, I offer this observation. Fallujah was the scene of absolute horror when those sorry bastards killed, burned and mutilated American civilians. Let us destroy Falllujah.

Let us use spray planes to lay down a rich mist of rendered pig fat that coats all below. Let us follow the spraying with a bombardment that reduces the city to as fine of rubble as was our WTC. When all is done and still, salt the soil that nothing grows on that ground for several lifetimes. We would take no prisoners so there would be no torture, but the cost of trifling with America would be legend for centuries.

[RichardW]

I'm beginning to think we ought to just get out. Let the Iraqis sort out their own affairs. Saddam and his sons are gone. No WMD found in Iraq. Mission accomplished.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I been thinking the same for a while.

LINK

[Anti-Bubba182]

"....we know who to shoot..."

That may actually be an advantage. I think the US will be satisfied if the Fallujah area is peaceful. However infuriating it may be that the foreign and insurgent fighters have escaped or blended in, Lots of them are still in the Fallujah area with their heavy weapons.

If they should be stupid enough to start a lot of trouble in the area the seige could begin again. That is, if our will has not been sapped by the prisoner scandal.

If these the insurgencies are not stopped the probable fate for Iraq is Civil War. The Iraqi resentments against each other run as deep and are of far longer standing than those against the United States.

[Plutarch]

Attacks on the few remaining American troops in the surrounding desert have nearly ceased.

Well, if they aren't fighting us, and the Sunni's are happy to be ruled by their own, crisp green uniforms or no, it appears to the best that could be hoped.

[PISANO]

Putting the best FACE (SPIN) on this new development can be summed up thusly: Let every city in Iraq follow this pattern IF they desire. Stopping all hostility. Turn over the nation on 6/30. Let peace reign. Then when the elections are held and a new government is put into place. Get the hell out and then IT IS UP TO THEM. We gave them a CHANCE at FREEDOM by spilling the BLOOD of nation's finest. It is THEIRS, if they can handle it!!

So I hope this trend continues in every city in all of IRAQ. I want IRAQ to be FREE and a prosperous nation BUT I want our TROOPS SAFELY at home as soon as possible and if this scenario works to that end SO BE IT!!

[Anti-Bubba182]

Only if they behave and Fallujah does not become a base for operations against the coalition and that is if Fallujah itself does not explode.

It may be that the Iraqis are smart enough not to let Fallujah get too violent and content themselves with swaggering around in Saddam era uniforms proclaiming their victory.

In the long run this is smart because they must ready themselves for the day when the Shiites and Kurds tear them to pieces.