Posted on 11/08/2004 8:39:55 AM PST by epluribus_2
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - More than 4,000 U.S. Marines and Army troops punched their way into northeastern Fallujah on Monday, kicking off a massive assault dubbed Operation Phantom Fury that seeks to put an end to half a year of insurgent control of the Sunni Muslim city.
The prelude to the assault on the Askari neighborhood was a crushing air and artillery bombardment of the city that rose to a crescendo by Monday evening, with U.S. strike jets dropping bombs around the clock and big guns pounding the city every few minutes with high-explosive shells.
Meanwhile, insurgents in Baghdad and nearby Ramadi tried to keep up the pressure on the coalition forces with new attacks, including one on a Catholic church in the capital.
Earlier Monday U.S. troops had fought their way into the city's western outskirts, seizing two bridges over the Euphrates River and helping Iraqi soldiers take the city's main hospital in the first stage of a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Arabs have been known to do all of the above for millenia.
so, yes, probably.
Including, US troops breaking down doors and securing the F-Town main hospital, the pep talk to troops before the assault, Iraqi troops in the action, "insurgent" enemy lined up, face down and cuffed:
All 300k streaming:
http://www.bcast.co.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20041108-00000037-jnn-int-movie-001&media=wm300k
http://www.bcast.co.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20041108-00000057-nnn-int-movie-000&media=wm300k
And for ONCE, the bastards don't have black hoods, the chickens they are. Here Iraqi TV shows the faces of captured FOREIGN TERRORIST FIGHTERS:
http://www.bcast.co.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20041108-00000001-ann-int-movie-001&media=wm300k
I don't know about totally blowing them up but: An Iraqi man inspects damage to the Al-Farook mosque after it was damaged by an air strike in Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 8, 2004. American troops fought their way into the western outskirts of Fallujah on Monday, seizing a hospital and two bridges over the Euphrates River in the first stage of a major assault on the insurgent stronghold. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Monday that a U.S.-led effort to take control of the Sunni Muslim city of Fallujah was proceeding on schedule with as many as 15,000 troops participating in the siege.
As the fighting raged in Iraq, Gen. George Casey said in a conference call with reporters at the Pentagon that the vast majority of civilians in the city of 300,000 people had left. Some insurgents managed to slip away, he said, while others "have moved in."
Casey described the Iraqi rebels as "an amorphous group of terrorists and insurgents" and said not one single group appeared to be in change.
"The Iraqi people are fighting to throw off the mantle of terror and intimidation so that they can elect their own government and get on with building a better life for all Iraqis," he said. "The elimination of Fallujah as a terrorist safe haven will go a long way toward those goals."
Casey said that U.S. troops had secured a hospital used as a staging area by Sunni insurgents and two bridges across the Euphrates River. One of the bridges was where Iraqis hung the charred bodies of at least two of four American contractors last March.
Casey refused to give a specific count or breakdown of the U.S. and Iraqi forces involved in the operation, but said 10,000 to 15,000 was "in the ballpark."
WHO CARES ABOUT MCGREIVING, WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT TO SEE A POLE-SMOKING HOMO WHO BETRAYED THE TRUST OF THE PEOPLE WHEN OUR BOYS ARE PUMMELING FALLUJAH?????? MSM=STILL OUT OF TOUCH!
ss
Scott Peterson's lawyer will sue for equal time along with all the other lawyers involved in really big TV news.Who is next after Scott?
Here si some news,Algeria wants to be our buddy.Iran is cutting a deal with the U.K.,France & Germany.Syria is sealing the Iraqi border.The audi's are acting up.
Now ain't that better than Scott
I suspect that the Iraqis will be in charge of determining what is left standing and what is not. They are intimately involved in getting killed here and in the long run will have to live with the results. That being said, our guys are going to be pretty brutal in this battle, I believe.
thank you for photo link..
unrestricted rules of engagement.
If it so much as looks suspicious, it's a target and can be blown to hell.
good, and about time.
weapon looks like a carbine AK
wth?
i think they have been pretty frustrated to fight 'half a battle' in so many battles so far....when they could finish things up. Much like Viet Nam .. we shoulda done what we coulda done.
I know there will be a big push throughout Iraq before the elections to minimize the threats from the insurgents - this is our start.
I think Iraqi troops were with us.
Prayers for all. May they be victorious against this evil.
I haven't looked it up, but I guess "restive" must mean "fixing to be blown to sh*t"
Whoa! Would like to be seeing that one - from a safe distance away!
Thanks for posting the band of brothers quote, but you must tell us that it's from Henry V(?), shakespeare, but what act?
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