[Peach]

We control 70% of Fallujah. Some terrorists came out waving a white flag and when a soldier started talking to them, they shot him.

[Dog]

The terrorist's are faking surrenders to kill US troops...per Fox.

[boxerblues]

Flood the tunnels

[prairiebreeze]

Good morning and thanks for the thread. I think we are taking more prisoners than was expected.

Prairie

[michigander]

Battle rages in centre of Falluja

US marines have taken the mayor's office in central Falluja and say they now control 70% of the Iraqi city with rebels hemmed into a narrow strip.

Reporting from the mayoral compound, the BBC's Paul Wood says a battle is still raging in the city centre while US-led forces control the perimeter.

According to US estimates, hundreds of rebels were killed on Wednesday alone and at least one more marine died.

Relief groups say they are deeply worried about the fate of civilians.

Our correspondent said that on Wednesday morning no civilians could be seen on the streets, shops were shuttered and black smoke was rising all around.

Fadhil Badrani, a journalist in Falluja who reports for the BBC World Service in Arabic, says the city now looks like Kabul, the Afghan capital largely reduced to rubble after years of warfare.

One marine officer, Maj Francis Piccoli, said the rebels had been squeezed into a strip of the city bordering the east-west motorway which splits Falluja.

"There's going to be a movement today in those areas," he added.

New casualties

Marines backed by tanks met little opposition when they blasted their way into the mayor's compound, which also houses a police station, at around 0400 local time (0100 GMT), Paul Wood reports.

However, they came under sustained fire around dawn from the minaret of a mosque, says our correspondent, whose reports are subject to military restrictions.

According to marines, the rebels waved a white flag at one stage but opened fire from three directions when a marine interpreter tried to begin talks. The marines then called in air strikes.

Other marines reported intense exchanges of fire in a north-western district.

One marine was killed and several seriously injured, bringing the death toll to 11 Americans and two Iraqi government soldiers.

"As for casualties on the insurgents' side, I can tell you that they are dying," marine spokesman Lt Lyle Gilbert told AFP news agency.

In other developments:

• Militants launch sustained gun and rocket attacks in Mosul as US aircraft fly low above the northern city

• Militants abduct three relatives of Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in Baghdad and reportedly threaten to kill them unless the Falluja siege is lifted

• Roadside bombs near the northern city of Kirkuk kill six Iraqi national guardsmen

• One US soldier is killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad

'Total destruction'

Lt Gen Thomas Metz, the multinational ground force commander in Iraq, warned of "several more days of tough urban fighting" ahead, adding that rebel leaders such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - America's most wanted man in Iraq - appeared to have fled before the assault began.

In Washington, President George W Bush praised the US-led forces in Falluja for their "hard work... for a free Iraq".

However, Iraq's largest Sunni-led political party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, pulled out of the interim government in protest at the Falluja assault.

The main association of Sunni clerics also voiced its disapproval, calling for a boycott of elections due in January.

Neighbouring Iran also voiced serious concern over Iraqi losses in Falluja.

Aid agencies have highlighted the plight of civilians in Falluja where up to 50,000 people remain out of a pre-war population of 300,000.

The Red Cross has urged all combatants to guarantee passage to those in need of medical care.

Paul Wood notes that despite efforts by US forces to select targets carefully, their use of heavy artillery and tanks is bound to lead to civilian casualties.

An unnamed man claiming to be a rebel fighter told the BBC's Today programme that the destruction in Falluja was "total".

"The Americans are bombing everywhere - everything is destroyed," he said, adding that water and electricity had been cut off."

The assault on Falluja, a hotbed of Sunni resistance, is officially aimed at stabilising Iraq ahead of January's poll.

---

Here's a link to a LARGE map (4 mb):

Falluja

[BulletBobCo]

A required component for this type of thread.

[daybreakcoming]

A headline from the Khaleeji Times reads "Fallujah battle: US muscle and fire-breathing Iraqi PM in front"
I could like this Allawi guy - shame about his relatives kidnapped - think you could count them "gone"

[sanchmo]

From wretchard's Belmont Club
http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/

Hell in a Very Small Place

The Bakersfield Californian reports that US forces have reached the major east-west highway that runs through Fallujah.

"
U.S. Marines said American forces had taken control Wednesday of 70 percent of Fallujah in the third day of a major offensive to retake the insurgent stronghold. Major Francis Piccoli, of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said enemy fighters were bottled up in a strip of the city flanking the major east-west highway that splits Fallujah. Army and Marine units had pushed south to the highway overnight, Piccoli said.

... As the American forces crossed the highway that split Fallujah, armored Army units stayed behind to guard the thoroughfare.
"

To realize the significance of this, refer to this map from Global Security, which shows the start lines of the participating American units: USMC 3/1, USMC 3/5, Army 2/7 Cavalry, USMC 1/8, USMC 1/3 and Army 2/2 Infantry. These units were attacking north to south, down towards the highway. The east-west highway referred to in the paragraph above is the bright green line running horizontally across the map. US Army armor is now on that highway, after advancing south and probably swinging west. US forces are probably waiting across the highway. We are fairly sure of this because the London Telegraph recounted how a US Army Cavalry Unit was moving through the industrial area which is located in the southeast corner of the city, below the green line which represents the highway which US armor is now patrolling going north to south; that is up towards the highway. We know it is cavalry because they call their companies "troops".

"
The flimsy metal door was ripped off its hinges as a hefty boot from a Legion platoon soldier made decisive contact. Inside the small room lay an AK-47 rifle, alarm clock parts and a handwritten notebook in Farsi. Moments earlier, the gunman, thought to be Iranian, had fled as Legion, Hunter and Outlaw platoons of the US army's Task Force 2-2 undertook one of the more dangerous tasks of the battle for Fallujah. Clearing buildings door to door in a guerrilla stronghold is risky at any time. Into the bargain this time, the platoons from Phantom troop had been ordered to sweep Fallujah's industrial zone, a haven for foreign fighters.
"

Simply reading the map shows that the enemy is pinned in a strip north of the highway, which is now a barrier to further escape south. As Major Piccoli put it, the "enemy fighters were bottled up in a strip of the city flanking the major east-west highway that splits Fallujah". Pressing them against the highway are four US battalions from the north and two from the east. Two days ago, the Telegraph carried an interview with Captain Natalie Friel, which eerily anticipated this very outcome.

"
"They're probably thinking that we'll come in from the east," said Capt Natalie Friel, an intelligence officer with task force, before the battle. But the actual plan involves penetrating the city from the north and sweeping south. "I don't think they know what's coming. They have no idea of the magnitude," she said. "But their defences are pretty circular. They're prepared for any kind of direction. They've got strong points on all four corners of the city." The aim was to push the insurgents south, killing as many as possible, before swinging west. They would then be driven into the Euphrates.
"

The reader is invited to draw his own conclusions about the enemy's prospects in this position. They are pinned against the highway, with no exit north, east or south.

[sanchmo]

PS - Happy Birthday, Marines!
I see your already lit your own birthday candles. Now make a wish & blow them out.

[astounded]

Tunnel solution - pour fugas (in other words, napalm) into it, light fuse, stand back. Roasted terrorist...

[KoRn]

I find it funny how the terrorist leader flees the city before the invasion.

That should be a good example for his supporters who blow themselves up in car bombs for allah.

[OXENinFLA]

Wed Nov 10, 7:42 AM ET
U.S. Marines prepare a hand-launched Dragon Eye aerial reconnaissance drone along the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Falluja November 8, 2004. U.S. Marines backed by air strikes battled through a rebel stronghold in Falluja on Wednesday and officials said kidnappers had seized three relatives of Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim prime minister in Baghdad. Picture taken November 8, 2004. EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Lance Cpl. James J. Vooris-USMC
Wed Nov 10, 7:39 AM ET
U.S. Marines with Weapons Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, seize apartments at the edge of the Iraqi city of Falluja, November 8, 2004. U.S. Marines backed by air strikes battled through a rebel stronghold in Falluja on Wednesday and officials said kidnappers had seized three relatives of Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim prime minister in Baghdad. Picture taken November 8, 2004. EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Lance Cpl. James J. Vooris-USMC
Wed Nov 10, 7:41 AM ET
An air strike is called in on a suspected insurgent hideout at the edge of the Iraqi city of Falluja November 8, 2004. U.S. Marines backed by air strikes battled through a rebel stronghold in Falluja on Wednesday and officials said kidnappers had seized three relatives of Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim prime minister in Baghdad. (USMC/Reuters)
Wed Nov 10, 5:11 AM ET
U.S. Marine from Charlie Company, second tank battalion stand atop his tank during offensive in Sunni Muslim city of Falluja, November 10, 2004. U.S. Marines backed by air strikes battled through a rebel stronghold in Falluja on Wednesday, as officials said kidnappers had seized three relatives of Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. REUTERS/Eliana Aponte
Wed Nov 10, 3:30 AM ET
Iraqi troops with U.S. Marines prepare to move into the Sunni Muslim city of Falluja, November 9, 2004. Fighting eased in Falluja on Tuesday after U.S. forces reached its center and consolidated positions there, less than a day after starting an offensive to tame Iraq (news - web sites)'s most rebellious city. (Eliana Aponte/Reuters)
Tue Nov 9, 8:17 PM ET
A tank fires a round into a building in this TV image as U.S. troops, along with Iraqi forces, powered their way into the center of the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, Iraq (news - web sites), on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004, overwhelming small bands of guerrillas with massive force, searching homes along the city's deserted, narrow passageways and using loudspeakers to try to goad militants onto the streets. (AP Photo / APTN / Pool)
Tue Nov 9, 6:50 PM ET
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) greets U.S. Army Sgt. Carla Best of Virginia Beach, Va., and her mother Vickie Ebeling during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., November 9, 2004. Sgt. Best sustained injuries while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bush paid a visit to soldiers recently wounded in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites). REUTERS/Handout/White House/Eric Draper
Wed Nov 10, 2:40 AM ET
Photo released by the White House shows US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) talking with US Army Spc. Kenneth Lukes of Fort Atkinson, Iowa, during his visit to soldiers injured in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC(AFP/White House/Eric Draper)
Tue Nov 9, 8:17 PM ET
A soldier fires a RPG (rocket propelled grenade) in this TV image as U.S. troops, along with Iraqi forces, powered their way into the center of the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, Iraq (news - web sites), on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004, overwhelming small bands of guerrillas with massive force, searching homes along the city's deserted, narrow passageways and using loudspeakers to try to goad militants onto the streets. (AP Photo / APTN / Pool)

[TexKat]

U.S. Takes 'Half Falluja,' Allawi Cousin Kidnapped

By Michael Georgy and Fadel al-Badrani

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S.-led troops battled through "half of Falluja" on Wednesday, but Muslim militant kidnappers threatened to behead three relatives of Iraq's interim prime minister if he did not call off the offensive.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's 75-year-old cousin Ghazi Allawi, his wife and their son's wife were seized near their home in Baghdad on Tuesday, an Allawi spokesman said.

The previously unknown Ansar al-Jihad group said the hostages would die unless Allawi, "head of the Iraqi agents," halted the Falluja offensive and freed prisoners.

"If the agent government does not meet our demands within 48 hours we will behead them," it said in a statement dated Wednesday and posted on an Islamist Web site.

"This is yet another criminal act by terrorists and will not thwart the determination of the government to combat terrorism," a brief statement from Allawi's office said.

The three were seized a day after Allawi ordered a full-blooded assault by U.S. and Iraqi forces aimed at ridding Falluja of rebels and suspected foreign Islamist fighters to pave the way for nationwide elections planned for January.

Air strikes, artillery shelling and mortar fire shook the Sunni Muslim city during intense clashes interspersed with periods of relative calm, a Reuters reporter in Falluja said.

The military said U.S. and Iraqi forces had "fought their way through half of the city, including the Jolan District, suspected of being the epicenter of insurgent activity."

It said those forces had met light resistance from "small pockets of fighters" on their way through the city.

"We've reached the heart of Jolan," Major Clark Watson told Reuters. "It's too early to say we are controlling it ... because there will always be pockets of resistance."

Helicopters later fired missiles at targets in Jolan before Marine infantry and Iraqi troops moved back in.

"There are still many snipers in buildings in Jolan," Alaa Abboud, an Iraqi soldier just back from the area, told Reuters.

AMERICANS SUFFER 11 DEAD

The U.S. military said 11 American troops and two Iraqis had been killed since 10,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines and 2,000 Iraqi troops launched the offensive on Monday night.

It said the mayor's office had been captured at about 4 a.m. (0100 GMT). Key bridges, civic buildings, mosques and weapons caches had also been seized in the offensive.

The firepower raining down on Falluja is sure to have caused civilian casualties, but no clear figures have emerged since the all-out assault began late on Monday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "very worried" about the plight of the wounded in Falluja.

An ICRC spokesman said thousands of civilian fugitives from Falluja needed water, food, medical care and shelter. Local people say children have been among those killed.

As the battle for Falluja raged, gunfire and explosions echoed across the northern city of Mosul, but it was not clear who was fighting. The U.S. military, which has said rebel leaders have probably fled Falluja, had no immediate comment.

Gunmen also took to the streets in Baghdad's western district of Ghazaliya, stopping traffic and blocking a bridge. Residents said fierce clashes broke out later.

A U.S. Humvee crashed in Baghdad after a sniper shot at the driver, a Reuters cameraman said. The vehicle rolled on its side. A U.S. military spokesman said he would check the report.

North of Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier and wounded another, the military said. A policeman was killed and two wounded in a similar attack near Samarra, police said.

Rebels with grenade launchers stormed a U.S.-built town hall in Muatasim south of Samarra and then dynamited it, police said.

Allawi and his U.S. backers say disgruntled supporters of Saddam's once all-powerful Baath party and militants led by Jordanian al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have turned Falluja into the center of Iraq's bloody insurgency.

But the assault has fueled insecurity among Sunni Arabs, who make up some 20 percent of Iraq's 25 million people, but who wielded disproportionate power under Saddam.

The influential Muslim Clerics' Association urged Iraqis to boycott any elections held "on the remains of the dead and the blood of the wounded from Iraqi cities like Falluja and others." (With reporting by Luke Baker, Lin Noueihed, Aladdin Sa'ad and Waleed Ibrahim in Baghdad, Sabah al-Bazee in Samarra and Maher al-Thanoon in Mosul)

[ChadGore]

kick ass bump

[ChadGore]

bttt

[sanchmo]

From A savage dance of death in the alleys of Fallujah
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1276456/posts

...'I think there are committed fighters out there who want to die in Fallujah. We are in the process of allowing them to self-actualise,' said Lieutenant-Colonel Rainey...

....They emerged from gates, alleyways and rooftops, alone or in small groups. They had threatened to throw hundreds of suicide bombers at the Americans, but in the darkness they were stumbling while the American gunners could see clearly...

...Wherever they faced an armoured vehicle, they died where they stood...

...Then, in a surreal turn, the US Army's psychological warfare team drove in from the desert, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries blaring from loudspeakers: war imitating the movies, imitating war...

From U.S. forces hold 70 percent of Fallujah
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1276074/posts

...A psychological operations unit broadcast announcements in Arabic meant to draw out gunmen. An Iraqi translator from the group said through a loudspeaker: "Brave terrorists, I am waiting here for the brave terrorists. Come and kill us. Plant small bombs on roadsides. Attention, attention, terrorists of Fallujah..."

[finnman69]

AP video footage here:

http://news.yahoo.com//p/v?u=/ap_av/20041110/av_ap_wl/e0ebc083f7918bc867448202795df746&cid=452&f=53746348",650,450)

[mojito]

The planning of this operation has been brilliant: our forces have herded the scum into a smaller and smaller pen. Only know are they realizing that they're trapped in a killing box as we drive them towards the Euphrates, like frightened goats to the slaughter.

[nicollo]

Dog, I've been away for a week and rarely able to check in on the real news... Thank you for these threads! I wanted to affirm Hershey's post on yesterday's Fallujah thread about mass brainwashing in arab countries and how this is playing out in Iraq:

WRKO radio in Boston had an interesting Arab analyst on this am. (They have his link on their website, which should be WRKO.com) He was saying that mullahs preach Jihad against the west and the US and that most Arabs have no access to news other than Al Jazeera or street gossip, so they're brainwashed that dying for Allah is great. They don't think there's another option, which is why a democratic Iraq is so important. Iraqi opinion and that of the Iraqi army are changing.

They're fighting not for Paul Bremer and the US now, but for their own country and coming elections...so maybe they won't run away. But tribalism is still rampant(Sunnis, Shiites), and the last thing they need is Baathist(Saddam's thugs)(sp.?), back in power. What we're doing is dragging them into modern life, but we have no other choice. Once al Qaeda gets hold of nukes, they'll use them.

Freedom is built upon the free pursuit of truth in a free market of ideas, right and wrong. Our long term success in resolving the Islamijad assault is free expression in Iraq. This will empower much we don't want to hear but it will also become a sanctuary for the truth, which can only spill over into Iran, Syria and the surrounding countries. Self-government and democracy are not ends; these are tools for a better world, the way to it. And that path must be paved with liberty of thought and its expression.

Hershey also points to the wisdom of holding off in April. The distinction between then and now is the present use of Iraqi troops and police, in Fallujah and elsewhere. These forces didn't wash in April. They were not ready, and, as Hershey wrote, they were not ready to pledge themselves to the Bremer regime. Now they are fighting for themselves with experience, prestige, and pride, applying the training and tools we have given them.

The impatient and the nuke-em-now crowd are once again proved wrong. And remember: the cries for Now! started in Afghanistan, not Iraq.

[OXENinFLA]

Wed Nov 10, 1:56 PM ET
Marines of the 1st Division use a bolt cutter to take of the handcuffs of an Iraqi, at a makeshift military hospital in Fallujah, Iraq (news - web sites), Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004. The Iraqi whose name was not released, was found handcuffed in an insurgent hiding place in Fallujah, after being kidnapped 10 days ago in Baghdad's suburb of Abu Ghraib. The Marines believe he was used as a human shield. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) OH BOY, MAIL!
Wed Nov 10,12:50 PM ET
Marines of the First Division sort out mail at a camp outside Fallujah, Iraq (news - web sites), Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004. The mail was loaded on a truck for Marines inside Fallujah. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)