Posted on 07/03/2005 6:11:16 PM PDT by saquin
American troops on the Syrian border are enjoying a battle they have long waited to see - a clash between foreign al-Qa'eda fighters and Iraqi insurgents.
Tribal leaders in Husaybah are attacking followers of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist who established the town as an entry point for al-Qa'eda jihadists being smuggled into the country.
The reason, the US military believes, is frustration at the heavy-handed approach of the foreigners, who have kidnapped and assassinated local leaders and imposed a strict Islamic code.
Fighting, which could be clearly heard at night over the weekend, first broke out in May when as many as 50 mortar rounds were fired across the city. But, to the surprise of the American garrison, this time it was not the target.
If a shell landed near the US base, "they'd adjust their fire and not shoot at us", Lt Col Tim Mundy said. "They shot at each other."
The trigger was the assassination of a tribal sheikh, from the Sulaiman tribe, ordered by Zarqawi for inviting senior US marines for lunch. American troops gained an insight into the measures the jihadists had imposed during recent house-to-house searches in nearby towns and villages.
Shops selling music and satellite dishes had been closed. Women were ordered to wear all-enveloping clothing and men forbidden from wearing western clothes.
Anyone considered to be aiding coalition forces was being killed or kidnapped. That included those with links to the government - seen as a US puppet - such as water or electricity officials. As a result local services had collapsed.
Captain Thomas Sibley, intelligence officer of 3rd battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, based in Qaim, said: "People here were committed supporters of the insurgency but you cannot now even get a marriage licence.
"The tribes are the only system or organisation left and they appear to have stepped in.
"In the last week our camp in the town was attacked and the attackers got ambushed on the way back by two machineguns and mortar fire. That is good news for us."
Baghdad recently warned that Iraqi insurgents, many of them nationalists rather than Islamists, and al-Qa'eda cells were working more closely together than in the past. That was brought into doubt when the bodies of three foreigners, believed to be insurgents, were discovered in Ramadi, apparently killed by Iraqis.
But the extent of the jihadist presence in Hasaybah - and therefore the subsequent tension - is unique.
Foreign fighters first started to arrive two years ago after Zarqawi bought properties to use as safe houses for arrivals before they could be funnelled east towards Baghdad and other major cities.
The police fled in November. In mid-June, al-Qa'eda units took over key buildings, including mosques and government offices. "Al-Qa'eda in Iraq" flags were raised.
The city, 240 miles north-west of Baghdad and adjacent to the insurgent centre of Qaim, is so dangerous that soldiers in the US base sleep in bunkers because of mortar and rocket attacks.
Following al-Qa'eda's seizure of the main buildings a number of residents fled. Arkan Salim, 56, who left with his wife and four children, said: "We thought they were patriotic. Now we discovered that they are sick and crazy.
"They interfered in everything, even how we raise our children. They turned the city into hell, and we cannot live in it anymore."
Perhaps one should look into fighting the dems the same way as one does the terrorists.....(nice thought, eh!)
The same to you, PKM. I will be celebrating my "baby" boy's 20th birthday tomorrow....(They sure do grow up fast......)
They KNOW the truth. They know it as well as you and I. They choose to ignore it because it does not fit their current agenda.
Hmmmmm .... funny, I don't see this running on the Amerucan MSM. How can that be? Oh, that's right, it's not an anti US development.
Now, if the insurgents AND al-Qa'eda were firing on US troops, that would be a headline.
Happy Birthday to your son! That's neat a 4th of July baby. I bet he is counting the days until July 4, 2006 when he turns 21. My daughter turned 21 in April -- when she turned 20 it was I cannot wait until I am 21!
I've thought, for quite a while, that the longer Iraqis live in a free society the more difficult (if not impossible) it becomes to move them to any sort of total control. I also think that in years ahead, as the neighbors visit Iraq, the more they will start demanding like freedoms.
Nam Vet
Will do! :)
My Mom is getting ready to sell her house and my brother and I went back to help her clean it out after 57 years. We found all kinds of things from my Grandfather who was in WWI -- he was gassed so I never learned to know him as he died when Dad was five but he kept a diary of his travels in Europe -- it was really interesting to read and he had postcards of everywhere he was at in Europe with comments. I had never seen any of it before.
You will be happy to know that I share something with you -- my Dad's family came from Virginia and fought in the Revolutionary War -- they lived in the Shenandoah Valley! :) Told my brother we can now truthfully claim to be Southerners! We found where the family had been traced back to Switzerland through Great Britain to Virginia and eventually to Ohio.
How do you say "quagmire" in arabic? hehehehehe
Thank you for posting that map.
It would be nice to see a story like THIS on the FRONT PAGE once in a while, sigh.
Good news ping
This one deserved double posting!
How do you say "quagmire" in arabic? hehehehehe
----CHAPPAQUIDDICK,hick-hick----
"They interfered in everything, even how we raise our children. They turned the city into hell, and we cannot live in it anymore."
Sounds just like Blue-state conservatives who move to Red states might say...
...for that matter, sounds like the reason I'll never move back to NY!
"Nice that the word is getting out. "
You betcha partner. I had viewed this post earlier, decided not to make any comments. Truth is slowly leaking out. Only
say if one looks at the time stamp on original source, it is April 7,2005. Seems like they intergrated about a month and half worth of info. What the heck, at least folks are seeing it. Have a safe 4th.
BTTT
Excellent map! That's a keeper for sure.
"I've thought, for quite a while, that the longer Iraqis live in a free society the more difficult (if not impossible) it becomes to move them to any sort of total control."
Unless they end up with a judiciary like ours.
We have black-robed terrorists, too.
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