Posted on 11/05/2004 1:09:08 PM PST by STARWISE
U.S. Jets Strike Fallujah With Five Raids
Fri Nov 5,11:53 AM ET Top Stories - AP p
By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. jets struck Fallujah with five air raids in 12 hours, softening up the insurgent stronghold for an expected major assault. Guerrillas responded with a rocket attack Friday, killing a U.S. soldier and wounding seven others, the U.S. military said.
Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, warned that the "window is closing" for a peaceful settlement to avert an offensive on Fallujah, west of Baghdad. U.S. troops sealed off roads into the city overnight.
U.S. commanders said a combined U.S.-Iraqi force would carry out the attack on what is considered the insurgents' strongest bastion. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi must give the green light for the operation — part of a campaign to uproot insurgents ahead of vital elections planned for late January.
The deadly rocket attack came a day after two American Marines were killed and four others were wounded Thursday in fighting west of Baghdad.
The rocket attack occurred about 1:20 p.m. Friday against a U.S. position outside Fallujah. Also on the outskirts of Fallujah, guerrillas attacked two new checkpoints set up by U.S. forces, prompting exchanges of fire that killed at least one attacker, the military said.
In another incident, mortar shells exploded on a small U.S. base at Saqlawiyah west of Fallujah, the military said. U.S. troops returned fire, killing an undetermined number of insurgents, the military said.
Elsewhere, three British soldiers were killed Thursday south of Baghdad and eight others were wounded when a suicide driver blew up his vehicle at a checkpoint. An Iraqi translator also died in the attack.
It was the single biggest loss of life for the British since August 2003 and came only days after British troops redeployed from the relative safety of the south to the base close to Baghdad in order to free up U.S. troops for a Fallujah offensive.
Ayad Allawi suggested Friday that the offensive could come soon. "We intend to liberate the people and to bring the rule of law to Fallujah," Allawi told reporters in Brussels, where he was appealing to European nations to keep troops in Iraq and to accelerate training of Iraqi forces.
"The window really is closing for a peaceful settlement," he said.
"We have been asked by the people of Fallujah to help them liberate them from the terrorists and insurgents," he said. Allawi said most to the city's civilian population had left.
However, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) warned that the election could be undermined by a new campaign against Fallujah because of a possible backlash from the Sunni Muslim community.
In a letter dated Oct. 31, Annan told American, British and Iraqi leaders that the United Nations (news - web sites) wants to help prepare for the elections but fears a rise in violence could disrupt the process.
"I have in mind not only the risk of increased insurgent violence, but also reports of major military offensives being planned by the multinational force in key localities such as Fallujah," Annan wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press.
U.S. airstrikes early Friday hit a system of barriers rigged with bombs in the southeastern part of Fallujah, a command post, suspected fighting positions and a weapons cache, said Lt. Nathan Braden, of 1st Marine Division.
Explosions could be heard in the southern part of Fallujah Friday afternoon.
Also Friday, U.S. Marines fired on a civilian vehicle that did not stop at a checkpoint in Fallujah, killing an Iraqi woman and wounding her husband, according to the U.S. military and witnesses. The car didn't notice the checkpoint at the time, witnesses said.
"Marines fire upon vehicles only as a last resort when verbal and visual warnings to stop fail. Such was the case today," the Marines said in an e-mailed response.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi election commission said that Iraqis who live outside the country will be allowed to vote in the election, which is to be held by Jan. 31.
Commission spokesman Fareed Ayar said the government planned to establish voting centers in countries with large Iraqi populations. Details of how many centers, where they would be located and which countries would be involved have not been finalized, he said.
Iraqi authorities have put together a team of Iraqi administrators to run Fallujah after the offensive, Marine Maj. Jim West said Thursday. West said $75 million has been earmarked to repair the city.
The strategy is similar to one used when U.S. troops restored government authority in the Shiite holy city Najaf last August after weeks of fighting with militiamen.
The deteriorating security situation prompted the humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders to announce it was closing its operations in Iraq. CARE International withdrew from the country after its national director, Margaret Hassan, was kidnapped last month.
An Iraqi known for cooperating with Americans was killed near Ramadi, police said. The assailants stopped a car carrying Sheik Bezei Ftaykhan, ordered the driver to leave and pumped about 30 bullets into the sheik's body, police said.
The wave of violence in Iraq has also been marked by the kidnapping of more than 170 foreigners, more than 30 of them killed, since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime fell in April 2003.
On Friday, Nepal's Foreign Minister confirmed a Nepalese man abducted by gunmen Monday along with an American, a Filipino, and three Iraqis had been freed by his captors in Baghdad. Two Iraqi guards were released earlier in the week.
The American, whose identity has not been released, and Filipino accountant Robert Tarongoy, 31, are still missing. Both worked for the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co., based in Riyadh.
A Lebanese American contractor was also seized in Baghdad earlier this week. His captors have also not identified themselves.
However, two Lebanese hostages held for more than a month were freed after a ransom was paid, one of the former hostages said Friday. Marwan Ibrahim Kassar and Mohammed Jawdat Hussein were released unharmed Wednesday and returned to Lebanon.
In other developments Friday:
_ Four buses carrying Shiite pilgrims to Karbala plunged into a river near Latifiyah in central Iraq, killing 18 people on board, when the drivers apparently failed to see that a bridge had been destroyed two days earlier by insurgents, said Dr. Dawoud al-Taie of nearby Mahmoudiya Hospital.
_ A private security company, Global Risk Strategies, said a British contractor was killed in a suicide car bombing at Baghdad airport Wednesday that also injured several Iraqi civilians.
_ In Muqdadiyah, north of Baghdad, a mortar shell targeting a police station fell short, killing two children in a nearby home, police said.
BOOM! It's on!
About time, to lance the boil!!!
Can't wait for the video.. Clean that damned city out already.
How about a week of heavy carpet bombing before the soldiers march in?
Come to Falujah, plenty of parking. Ah, actually, nothing but parking.
11/5/2004 - FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFPN) -- U.S. Air Force aircraft launched precision munitions to destroy preplanned targets here Nov. 4.
As part of Multinational Force-Iraq, the Airmen joined coalition partners and U.S. Marines in the offensive.
Shortly after midnight, an Air Force aircraft supported a Marine element and struck a preplanned target with precision weapons. The strike was against known anti-Iraqi fighting barricaded positions in the northeastern part of the city, officials said.
About 30 minutes later, Air Force aircraft also supported a Marine element and destroyed several known barricaded fighting positions. This preplanned mission occurred in the southeast, officials said.
Later in the afternoon, an Air Force aircraft destroyed two fortified buildings in the southeastern part of the city being occupied by armed insurgents. This strike on the preplanned target also supported a Marine element.
That evening, an Air Force aircraft destroyed barricaded fighting positions in the northern part of the city. The strike on the preplanned target supported a Marine element.
Since Nov. 1, multinational forces recovered and destroyed 129 mortars, 42 artillery shells, 38 rocket-propelled grenades, 12 rockets, seven mines, 126 detonators, 350 electronic timers, 16 blasting caps, 14 grenades, three sticks of dynamite, eight AK-47 semi-automatic rifles and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition. (Courtesy of U.S. Central Command)
Praying for our troops and the troops of our allies!!
Them Aholes gonna find out what it is like to face the US Marines in a real battle
No more car bomb fire fight type warfare
Good plan, drop Kerry too.
Or Moore, now THAT'S a MOAB!
However, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) warned that the election could be undermined by a new campaign against Fallujah because of a possible backlash from the Sunni Muslim community.
did he say this before or after counting his booty from the oil for food program?
Doogle
Hopefully, Allawi gets on board with crushing the islamofascist whackjobs gathere in Fallujah so our guys don't have to keep on taking the same ground. This is long past due as is Ramallah. Crush the bastards.
I say level the city for 10 straight days. With an intermittent 2 hr window. Then proceed for another ten. No coalition troops including Iraqui solders should die for these deadenders. Once the bombing is done, then the troops move in.
Syrians would be familiar with this strategy but the difference is that the city is all but empty unlike the following campaign in Syria: For 27 days starting from February 2nd 1982, the Syrian forces put Hama under a siege, shelled the town with all kinds of artillery, then Hama was ravaged by military and special forces, and its civilians were severely punished. The estimated victims range between 30000 and 40000 civilians including ladies, children and elderlies. 15000 civilians were considered lost since then and had never traced back. Thousands of civilians were obliged to desert the town, as one third of Hama had been completely destroyed. Many mosques, churches and historical buildings were left in rubbles as a consequence to the government’s artillery bombardment.
Any questions???
Prayers up for our gallant men, and for the Brit regiment!
May God hold them all in the palm of His hand during the Battle of Fallujah!
This is why air power is so important.
1) They take weeks to build a barricaded position.
2) we see it.
3) we blow it away.
Blow 'em away.
They got nothing to say.
"Also Friday, U.S. Marines fired on a civilian vehicle that did not stop at a checkpoint in Fallujah, killing an Iraqi woman and wounding her husband, according to the U.S. military and witnesses. The car didn't notice the checkpoint at the time, witnesses said.
"Marines fire upon vehicles only as a last resort when verbal and visual warnings to stop fail. Such was the case today," the Marines said in an e-mailed response."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.