Posted on 11/19/2006 11:33:58 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
Operation Phantom Fury, the U.S. assault on Falluja in Iraq's Al Anbar Province in November 2004, is widely perceived as the greatest coalition victory against Iraq's insurgent and terrorist forces. It did indeed end enemy control over the city. But civilian casualties were high because of the massive use of firepower.
About a fourth of the city's homes were destroyed and another fourth damaged. And while many of the enemy died, the advance notice of the attack plus the ability to escape across the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in small boats meant that most of the fighters killed were probably seeking martyrdom. The rest simply scattered like rats. Most of those rebuilt their nests 30 miles west of Falluja and 30 miles closer to Syria, in Anbar's capital, Ramadi.
Ramadi actually has many advantages over Falluja for the enemy. With about 400,000 residents, it provides almost twice the population to hide among.
Falluja has a significant Shiite population; Ramadi is almost purely Sunni. And Ramadi has shorter supply lines to foreign terrorists, equipment, and cash from Syria and Jordan to the west. Once the foreign terrorists reach Ramadi, they can use it as a way station to other Sunni areas throughout the country or simply stop there and take up residence.
Last spring I visited Falluja and the surrounding area for the second time and Ramadi for the first time, writing articles on each in these pages.
I noted that Falluja had clearly become more violent, but that this wasn't particularly alarming considering that about half of the population had returned and with it some of the enemy who could hide among them.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
FYI
Should also cross-reference with this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1741403/posts
No, civilian casualties were high because the terrorists were trying to use women, children, and old men as shields against the Marines. It didn't work.
Good report on what's really going on in Iraq. Compare this with the drivel coming out of the Green Zone press with their Al Qaida stringers who haven't a clue how the war is being fought.
Good article - thanks for posting.
General comment: I always wonder why the bad guys are able to slip out the back door during offensive operations.
sorry to burst ur "republican" bubble, but it had nothing to do with that...pure collateral damage and being part of warfare. It had nothign to do with it as that was hyped up, propoganda on our part. though there was nothing wrong with promoting it that way.
Ramadi should have been leveled a long time ago and its inhabitants sent to live in military camps in the desert.
Just curious where you're getting that information?
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