Marines: Deal with Iraqis in Fallujah may be failing

News-Leader | 6/14/2004 | Gregg Zoroya

[elfman2]

Fallujah, Iraq — A top Marine officer here says the compromise that gave control of Fallujah to an Iraqi brigade in exchange for the withdrawal of Marines may be a failure.

"This was a noble experiment that may not work out," Col. Larry Brown, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's operations officer, said this weekend. "The brigade has not performed as well as we had hoped."

His comments were the strongest indication from the U.S. military that the effort to contain the insurgency by depending on the Fallujah Brigade was failing. It also was a sign that the model — turning to former Iraqi military including those who served Saddam Hussein — would not solve security problems after the U.S.-led coalition hands sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government on June 30.

The Fallujah Brigade was established to end three weeks of combat in April that killed 600 to 700 insurgents and 10 Marines. The Marines withdrew to the outskirts of Fallujah after Sunni members of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing Council objected to the bloodshed.

Led by former members of Saddam's military and made up largely of insurgents, the brigade was supposed to bring peace to the city and meet several demands.

Speaking at a U.S. base near Fallujah, Brown said attacks on Marines have dropped off since they pulled out of the city. But, he added, most of the key demands have not been met.

• None of the insurgents responsible for killing and mutilating four U.S. contractors on March 31 has been apprehended, even though last month the commander of the 1st Marine Regiment gave Fallujah police a list of 25 people sought in the killings.

• Few heavy weapons used in the fight against the Marines in April have been surrendered.

• The brigade has not been able to produce foreign terrorists the Marines are seeking.

"Our patience only extends so far. It's been over a month now and to be frank, the progress hasn't been what we wanted it to be," Brown said.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the U.S.-led coalition's deputy operations chief, acknowledged Saturday that the U.S. military had not met its goals in the city.

Brown said despite the apparent failure of the Fallujah Brigade to end the insurgency, a new U.S. offensive in the city was unlikely. The fighting in April was believed to have contributed to Iraqi disaffection with the U.S.-led occupation.

Brown agrees that the city is dominated by competing forces, all anxious to kill Americans or drive them out of Iraq.

[george wythe]

Fallujah pullout weights on GIs

"When the new orders came down, it was a little weird to see guys you knew were insurgents coming in and out of the cities, people who we'd not allowed to pass before," said Cpl. Maurice Knight, of Williamsport. "You'd see guys, much darker than Iraqis, from the Sudan, and it was obvious they had come here to fight. I know we were just trying to create peace, but this wasn't the right way to do it, because we are going to have to go back in there, sooner than later."

Many feel strongly that if soldiers do have to go back in large numbers, more lives will be lost than necessary because the cordon already in place in May will have to be re-established.

[elfman2]

Guess you’re right, you only claimed that everything that followed it was a Marine decision. Nice post. First one in awhile that didn’t strip the context from what you quoted. [smile]