Aren't we now developing "mini-nukes"?
Posted on 05/25/2004 1:43:08 PM PDT by Eurotwit
FALLUJAH, Iraq - With U.S. Marines gone and central government authority virtually nonexistent, Fallujah resembles an Islamic mini-state — anyone caught selling alcohol is flogged and paraded in the city. Men are encouraged to grow beards and barbers are warned against giving "Western" hair cuts.
"After all the blood that was shed, and the lives that were lost, we shall only accept God's law in Fallujah," said cleric Abdul-Qader al-Aloussi, offering a glimpse of what a future Iraq (news - web sites) may look like as the U.S.-led occupation draws to a close. "We must capitalize on our victory over the Americans and implement Islamic sharia laws."
The departure of the Marines under an agreement that ended the three-week siege last month has enabled hard-line Islamic leaders to assert their power in this once-restive city 30 miles west of Baghdad.
Some were active in defending the city against the Marines and have profited by a perception — both here and elsewhere in Iraq — that the mujahedeen, or Islamic holy warriors, defeated a superpower.
Under the agreement, the Marines handed security in the city to a new Fallujah Brigade made up largely of local residents and commanded by officers of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s former army.
With the departure of the Marines, the position of the U.S.-appointed civil administration has been weakened in favor of the clerics and the mujahedeen who resisted the U.S. occupation. That is a pattern that could be repeated elsewhere in Iraq after the occupation ends June 30, unless other legitimate leaders come forward to replace those tainted by association with the occupation.
Fallujah, which calls itself the "City of Mosques," provides the religious fundamentalists with fertile ground for wielding power. The city's estimated 300,000 residents are known for their religious piety.
Women rarely appear in public and when they do, they are covered from head to toe in accordance with Islam's strict dress code for women. The lives of men revolve around Islam's tradition of praying five times a day.
Unlike other Iraqi cities, Fallujah has never allowed liquor stores. Its famous kebab restaurants have prayer rooms, an unusual feature in most Muslim nations. Many of its adult male population wear beards, a hallmark of religious piety.
However, steps taken by the mujahedeen over the past month have gone beyond simply encouraging piety.
On Sunday, for example, scores of masked mujahedeen, shouting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Great," paraded four men stripped down to their underpants atop the back of a pickup truck that drove through the city. Their bare backs were bleeding from 80 lashes they had received as punishment for selling alcohol. They were taken to a hospital where they were treated and released.
Residents said a man found intoxicated last week was flogged, held overnight and released the next day.
Fallujah's women hair stylists shut down their shops several months ago after repeated attacks blamed on Muslim militants.
On Tuesday, the mujahedeen expanded their "clean up" campaign. About 80 masked, armed men, accompanied by local police, forced hundreds of street hawkers at gun point to clear out from the streets and confine their businesses to designated areas.
The masked men later moved to the city's used car market and "persuaded" dealers to move away from the city center because they were blocking traffic. In both cases, the police stood by without intervening.
According to residents, barbers have been instructed not to give "Western" haircuts — short on the back and sides and full on top — or to remove facial hair. Four youths with long hair were stopped at a market by mujahedeen on Sunday and marched to a public market where they were shorn.
"Are we Muslims, or not?" asked Abdul-Rahman Mahmoud, a 40-year-old father of three. "We are. So, we must apply God's laws. The mujahedeen's word is heard and respected, and the same goes for our clerics."
There is little sign of opposition to the mujahedeen, though it could be that some people are simply afraid of confronting armed men.
Sheik Omar Said of the Fallujah branch of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Baghdad-based organization created last year to defend the rights of the Sunni Arab minority, insists that nearly everyone in Fallujah really wants Islamic law.
However, he hinted that perhaps in some cases, the mujahedeen have gone too far.
"This will only come after educating society in religious matters first and then moving on to applying Islamic punishments," he said.
However, the mujahedeen are clearly profiting from the hero status they acquired during the April battles against the Marines.
There is even talk of building a museum dedicated to the "struggle" against the American occupation. Money has been collected in recent weeks to help the families of those who died in the fighting, said by the locals to number 1,000 "martyrs."
The positive impact was the killing of over 1,000 of these scumbags and the destruction of tons of their ammunition. There are many errors within this story including the completely false allegation that we will be leaving Iraq soon.
You are under the impression I believed we had turned them all into Presbyterians?
Do you believe EVERYTHING the RATmedia publishes without ANY reflection upon its truth or why it lies?
I suspect we are just pacifying Falluga until after the election. Once W is re-elected it will be time get the can opener out and unleash that whoop-a$$ that they have coming.
This is what Iranian regime wants.
We need to stop it fast.
Talibanic/Sharia rule in Fallujah will not be tolerated indefinitely. For right now, we must contain it. At some point, Iraqi central government will crack down on it.
HAHAH! More of that moronic kill the messenger and no points to make, so you make fun of the article.
How do you feel about the US being the midwife of a little Taliban in Iraq. Peachy, isn't it?
Aren't we now developing "mini-nukes"?
Frankly, I don't like the current situation. Yet, there were really no good alternatives. A full on assault might have destroyed the prospects for the June 30th handover and beyond. Then again, it might not have. These are hard decisions.
I still think though, as I have said previously, that a succesfull transition to a democratic Iraq, trumps a localised set back like Fallujah as far as the Jihadists are conserned.
Wet or dry? Dry, sounds like, but who knows how the polling will go.
As another poster informed you we have been the midwife of nothing new there. Fallujah has always been that way and we did not slaughter the militias to change it. Apparently you don't understand what was occuring there or why.
It is revolting to watch you clowns flounder around trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and have to resort to the AP to do it. What's next something from CNN or Chris Mathews?
When you kill all the enemies who will fight and destroy lots of their toys you HAVE WON and no amount of RATmedia distortion can change that. If they want more the Marines will be happy to provide it.
Iran wants a Sunni Islamic mini-state? Not likely.
ANd if, after the handover, we decide to take Falluja, and the Irakis veto it, then what. Anyway, whatever might have happened with an assault are now moot. Ain't gonna happen.
And how do you see the prospects of democracy in Falluja. Think women candidates or those running on a Beer ticket will live more than a few days.
Can't do democracy when huge swathes of the country are not under US control. Let's stop fooling ourselves.
The only thing we care about now is stability. Elections will be upto whatever happens after the handover.
Which absolutely no one can tell you who or what is taking over.
They think that they've "won" because of aid and comfort by AgitProp, Michael Moore, and more...
I have a bad feeling that many mini-Islamic city-states will emerge in Iraq after the US hands control over.
Yes.
It would be blasted on the front pages and across every network news program--if it would help the Dems. Since it won't help them, it won't get shown, except for some mention on FoxNews, maybe.
Ya think?
I think we are close to the point where a hard line Islamic state is no longer acceptable in the world. Most of these people seem to want an "Islamic bomb," and 9/11 showed us that they'll use it when they get it.
It's not a bad feeling, it's reality. Bush is severely and fatally misunderestimating Iraqis, Arabs, Muslims, and Middle-Easterenrs in general. They hate us. Their religion is twisted and evil. And they want us dead. They're poorly educated, fascist, misogynist, and not open to reason. Iraq will still be a sewer when "our work is done". Bush blinked and turned tail in Fallujah and they know it.
>>Bush blinked and turned tail in Fallujah and they know it.
No no no we showed 'em. We blasted their innocent psyches with ACDC and Van Halen.
Send in Janet Reno and a handful of tanks.
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