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Insurgents Assert Control Over Town Near Syrian Border
Washington Post ^ | 9/6/2005 | Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Finer

Posted on 09/05/2005 8:11:07 PM PDT by playball0

BAGHDAD, Sept. 5 -- Fighters loyal to militant leader Abu Musab Zarqawi asserted control over the key Iraqi border town of Qaim on Monday, killing U.S. collaborators and enforcing strict Islamic law, according to tribal members, officials, residents and others in the town and nearby villages.

Residents said the foreign-led fighters controlled by Zarqawi, a Jordanian, apparently had been exerting authority in the town, within two miles of the Syrian border, since at least the start of the weekend. A sign posted at an entrance to the town declared, "Welcome to the Islamic Republic of Qaim."

The report from Qaim, about 200 miles west of Baghdad, marked one of insurgents' boldest moves in their cat-and-mouse duels with U.S. Marines along the Euphrates River. U.S. forces have described border towns in the area as a funnel for foreign fighters, arms and money into Iraq from Syria.

-snip-

Marines conducted heavy airstrikes in the past week on suspected insurgent safe houses in area. Ground fighting has also been reported between Zarqawi's group and Sunni Arab tribes more open to the Iraqi government and U.S. military.

-snip-

Witnesses in Qaim said Zarqawi's fighters were killing officials and civilians who they consider to be allied with the Iraqi and U.S. governments or anti-Islamic. On Sunday, the bullet-riddled body of a young woman dressed in her nightclothes lay in a street of Qaim. A sign left on her corpse declared, "A prostitute who was punished."

-snip-

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iraq; qaim; zarqawi
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Last licks for terrorists in Iraq. Are troops really going to go home or are we going to help Iraq and attack Syria? Assad has a bulls eye painted on him.
1 posted on 09/05/2005 8:11:08 PM PDT by playball0
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To: playball0

It creeps closer and closer to the source.


2 posted on 09/05/2005 8:13:09 PM PDT by thoughtomator (Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. - Patrick Henry)
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To: playball0
A sign posted at an entrance to the town declared, "Welcome to the Islamic Republic of Qaim."

Why would they put up a sign like that?

It's some kind of diversion, meant to draw us there and away from other activity...

3 posted on 09/05/2005 8:16:37 PM PDT by SteveMcKing ("I was born a Democrat. I expect I'll be a Democrat the day I leave this earth." -Zell Miller '04)
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To: playball0

Sounds target rich - Jdam time!


4 posted on 09/05/2005 8:17:26 PM PDT by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: ncountylee

MOAB.


5 posted on 09/05/2005 8:19:54 PM PDT by GSlob
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To: thoughtomator

Ain't THAT the truth!


6 posted on 09/05/2005 8:21:17 PM PDT by NordP (Keeping America Great - Karl Rove / Jack Bauer in 2008 !)
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To: playball0

Pfft... in order for the WP to say the American Military asserts athority it would require total peace, enforcement of all laws, and no deaths/injuries or bombs going off.

In order for little ZarQuief there to 'assert athority' all he has to do is murder a bunch of civilians and then hide while his thugs walk around the streets for a day or two talking a big game (that is until the US Military shows up and the go hide again)


7 posted on 09/05/2005 8:21:23 PM PDT by FreedomNeocon (I'm in no Al-Samood for this Sheiite.)
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To: Destro

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1400031/posts

"Now it is no longer a safe haven, and it will never be a safe haven again," said Chase. He was quoted as saying insurgents have had a network of illegal "rat lines" of men and materials moving from Syria into Iraq that had to be stopped, and said the offensive would continue for several days.


8 posted on 09/05/2005 8:21:59 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: playball0

How many Daisy Cutters would it take to level the town?


9 posted on 09/05/2005 8:22:25 PM PDT by jackbill
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To: SteveMcKing

You might be on to something....


10 posted on 09/05/2005 8:22:51 PM PDT by NordP (Keeping America Great - Karl Rove / Jack Bauer in 2008 !)
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To: playball0

The WaPo shouldn't get its hopes up. This is only temporary. Their "freedom fighter" pals are about to get their asses kicked.


11 posted on 09/05/2005 8:23:27 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (We did not lose in Vietnam. We left.)
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To: Becki; Dog; Deetes; Gucho; iso; ravingnutter; Straight Vermonter; TexKat

ping


12 posted on 09/05/2005 8:27:08 PM PDT by Wiz
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To: FreedomNeocon

My thoughts exactly. "Asserting Control" is in the eye of the left-wing beholder.


13 posted on 09/05/2005 8:33:25 PM PDT by vpintheak (Liberal = The antithesis of Freedom and Patriotism)
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To: jackbill

Probably one. It would also take out the suburbs as well. What I think is so silly is that these terrorist are so cowardly that they hide rather than try to stand their ground.


14 posted on 09/05/2005 8:36:59 PM PDT by playball0
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To: playball0

Land between them and Syria. They are likely counting on time to scurry back across the border and have the US attack an unoccupied town for PR.


15 posted on 09/05/2005 8:42:51 PM PDT by Ingtar (Understanding is a three-edged sword : your side, my side, and the truth in between ." -- Kosh)
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To: playball0

Grrrrr.......
Go get 'em boys!


16 posted on 09/05/2005 8:44:28 PM PDT by MountainDad
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To: playball0

PR of Qaim, meet JDAM the eliminator of muslimes.


17 posted on 09/05/2005 8:45:55 PM PDT by Ursus arctos horribilis ("It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!" Emiliano Zapata 1879-1919)
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To: SteveMcKing
Maybe they're assuming we won't follow them in hot pursuit as they duck into Syria.

In any case it's not a very smart move on their part.

18 posted on 09/05/2005 8:50:28 PM PDT by AmericanVictory (Should we be more like them, or they like us?)
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To: Wiz
Iraqi Special Operations Forces - A good time to test their mettle.
19 posted on 09/05/2005 8:59:16 PM PDT by Gucho
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To: playball0
The U.S. attacks are credited with helping disrupt insurgent networks and reducing the number of car bombings and suicide attacks in the rest of Iraq.

U.S. and Iraqi officials in recent weeks have welcomed reports of local Sunni Arabs challenging the presence of foreign fighters. But the accounts from Qaim indicated a setback. -Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Finer Washington Post Foreign Service

I've excerpted from the middle of the story - this view of it rightly frames the lead story. By leading this Iraq-news-roundup with the stuff about Zarqawi's thugs killing some people and terrorizing a town magnifies its importance into a PR victory for the bad guys. The Washington Post does a disservice here.

20 posted on 09/05/2005 10:26:49 PM PDT by NutCrackerBoy
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