Fallujah Savors Quietest Spell in a Year (Slanted to the Left)

AP/Newsday ^ | 7/17/2004 | HAMZA HENDAWI

[elfman2]

The mujahedeen, who led that fight, now wield vast influence in the city, aided by the perception that they gave Islam a rare victory over a superpower.

From an American perspective, the "Fallujah Brigade" experiment -- billed at the time as "an Iraqi solution to an Iraqi problem" -- has been a disaster. The U.S. military now says Fallujah is a den of terrorists and a refuge for foreign Muslim fighters waging global jihad against America

[saquin]

Yes, a little slanted. This reporter's stories are usually not very unsympathetic to insurgents. Also, I would assume if the reporter were to say anything other than what the insurgents running Fallujah want him to say, he would not be granted further access.

The article reads as slightly unbelievable. It makes Fallujah sound like Mayberry and ignores the fact that most of the car bombs we see exploding daily are most likely being manufactured in Fallujah.

[BillyCrockett]

I expect within 3 months that Falluja will be sealed off and only non-terrorist types will be able to get in and out. Hard on the residents but needs to happen.

[elfman2]

Unfortunately, it’s likely to become the public perception. Check out the list of papers running the story.

[monkeyman81]

I have a hard time believing a word of what this guy is saying. Zarqawi and his gang are believed to be in the area, and it does seem that a lot of the bombs are being made there, and the "martyrs" are being sent from there. Why was there a respite from car bombings in Baghdad while we had Fallujah under siege?
Also, you can't ignore the fact that the jihadis have turned Fallujah into a Taliban-type place; people get beaten up for eating with their left hand. Almost everybody has heard the story of the Shi'as who ended up in Fallujah and were killed and mutilated on orders from Wahhabi clerics there.

[saquin]

Almost everybody has heard the story of the Shi'as who ended up in Fallujah and were killed and mutilated on orders from Wahhabi clerics there.

Everyone except Hamza Hendawi, apparently.