Posted on 09/28/2005 10:49:47 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Camp al Qaim, Iraq -- A senior U.S. Marine commander said Monday that insurgents loyal to militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had taken over at least five key western Iraqi towns on the border with Syria and were forcing local residents to flee.
In an interview with The Chronicle, Lt. Col. Julian Alford, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines Regiment stationed outside the western Iraqi town of al Qaim, said insurgents in the area had been distributing flyers they called "death letters," in which they ordered residents of this western corner of volatile Anbar province to leave -- or face death.
"Basically, the insurgents say if they don't leave they will ... behead them," said Alford, who took command this month of about 1,000 Marines stationed in the dusty desert area populated by roughly 100,000 Sunni Arabs.
"It appears that al Qaeda in Iraq is kicking out local people from a lot of these towns out there," he said. Alford said he did not know why the insurgents were forcing townspeople to leave, but he estimated that as many as 100 families per day were passing through a Marine checkpoint just east of the troubled area, their cars packed with their belongings as they flee east alongside the Euphrates River on the ancient Silk Road.
Two weeks ago, Marine spokesmen denied initial reports that insurgents had taken control of the area and were enforcing strict Islamic law, whipping men accused of drinking alcohol, burning a beauty parlor and shops that sold CDs and executing government workers for collaboration with the Iraqi government.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
"there is some part of this story that is missing."
Perhaps not. LTC Alford of the 3rd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment at the Qaem FOB is the one that made the statements.
I think since the last major raids, two months back when the Marines pulled raids on all these towns (remember when our Marines where reporting the tribes where fighting Z-man's goons), that afterward, goons running from raids in Col Davis's Marine RCT2 AO (Haditha, Hit etc.) probably made their way northward to the Qaem area towns. Regrouped and some new ones from Syria slipping in set up the current situation. Of course this is probably the last time the goons will get away with this type thing, if the Iraqis are now going to occupy all these towns with battle hardened troops. Plus the actual border crossing now to have permenant better trained Iraqi Border police with army backup nearby should shut that crossing down. If what I say is true, Z-man's goons just are going to find it quite hard to move about let alone find cozy safehouses. All the towns and cities along the river are slowly getting cleaned out and now have permenant Iraqi forces occupying them, doing 24/7 HUMIT and cardon and search SASO. At least that is what I am lead to believe. So where do the goons go? We have to remember once one leaves that area on the western side of the river into the Al Anbar desert geography, it is remote, hardly any towns at all for thousands of square miles of desert. They can't operate that way. They are lossing the Euphrates River valley for some 250 miles down to Baggy Dad.
Things don't look good for Abu and Izzat and the rest of those scum bags.
Exactly! Then napalm whatever's left.
And of course it would be a horrible tragedy (cough cough) if some of that napalm accidentally (cough cough) fell into nearby Syria.
Perhaps not. LTC Alford of the 3rd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment at the Qaem FOB is the one that made the statements.
I hope you are right, Uncle. My first impression of this story was that it sounded too good to be true. A set piece battle of isolated AQ chumps against Marines with close air support. It sounds like the enemy is reduced to a last stand quickly followed by a trip to hell.
My second impression is that I will take it at that happy face value until I learn otherwise from a reliable source.
Kerry in 2008: "Ah yes. I remember a secret mission up the Euphrates river where we secretly slipped into Syria over Christmas 2005..."
Syria's sending them a welcome basket.
"I hope you are right, Uncle. My first impression of this story was that it sounded too good to be true. A set piece battle of isolated AQ chumps against Marines with close air support. It sounds like the enemy is reduced to a last stand quickly followed by a trip to hell."
The second part of your statement can be made any clearer to the point. Each time we find em, they die, if they cannot find some little tunnel to run to etc.. Abu Mussab al-Zarqari knows this as well as Izzat Ibrihim el-Douri and every other local and foreign goon. I like to put them all in one class at this point (goons). Makes for less adjectives. When Marines report things I believe it. But like you said, it is hard to actually know when any L/MSM or other media for that matter, hell have of them don't know enough to capitalize Marine or deferentiate between our great Army soldiers and Marines. So that is why it is nice to have the Forth Rail, Winds of Change, and other sites to see how they integrate the info on this operations. I seldom take the words of any of these L/MSM goons ha ha, seriously. Michael Yonn is the only one I will read and believe. He earned our respect. Hell the guy is the only embedded reporter that grabed a M16 in an alleyway asked for a clip and was willing to stake his life against saving a colonel being shot up in the alleyway. One reporter in whole Iran I trust with balanced reporting.
Wait for the residents to flee, then bomb them back to the Stone Age. (Oh, wait, they're already there...)Bomb them back to the Pleistocene!!!
Actually, I was thinking of something bigger to send as a present to Damascus. Say, about cruise missile size......
That would work also.
Send in the Kurds. Let them keep what they capture.
Also this may be a boom for us. We can test the new high tech sound wave weapons there. First we have to bomb the perimeter to crush the tunnels and prevent their escape. I'd love to see what would happen if we could have some vomit gas dropped, but they won't allow that. They would either come out to surrender or end up shooting themselves to stop the heaving. Great stuff.
So what do you consider a reliable source these days?
billroggio.com that you introduced me to in this thread is a good one. Is Bill Roggio a former military type now doing on-the-ground reporting? Generally, I like sources that do not get all giddy at real or imagined U.S. setbacks.
What I meant by my post was that after further evaluation of the information presented, my original skepticism appears unfounded.
I suspect he has a Military background. I don't think he is over there , but I agree that he has me convinced that he is giving the straight scoop.
I have another source I rely on to keep up with events in Baghdad. I have friends from church whose son is an Army brigade commander there (4th Bde, 3rd ID). He sends out a newsletter every week or so, which he goes out to an ever-expanding mailing list. I've been posting them here since about #19. I've added you to the ping list. Look for #27 momentarily.
But wait! Cindy Sheehan says that these are freedom fighters, who the residents of Iraq love!
Seriously, I say we help get all the civilians out of there. Then, begin "Rolling Thunder v2.0" Bring the B52s and B2s, and bomb anything that moves, then bomb anything that doesn't move! Then bomb it some more.
Make an exhibition of it. Leave nothing and no one alive.
Mark
Pay no attention to the massive progress in Iraq, MSM, keep reporting the BS ...
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050928.html
Thanks very much!
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