US Promises Overwhelming Response to Iraq Killings

Reuters ^ | 4/01/04 | Luke Baker and Khaled Yacoub Oweis

[kattracks]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops on Thursday vowed to use overwhelming force to enter the volatile Iraqi town of Falluja and hunt down those who killed and mutilated four American contractors.

Marines took up positions on the outskirts of the restive town west of Baghdad where insurgents ambushed the contractors on Wednesday, but the U.S. army's deputy director of operations Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said they would return.

"Coalition forces will respond," Kimmitt told a news conference. "They are coming back and they are going to hunt down the people responsible for this bestial act.

"It will be at a time and a place of our choosing. It will be methodical, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming."

Television footage of jubilant Iraqis mutilating the bodies recalled events in Mogadishu in 1993, when a crowd dragged the bodies of American soldiers through the streets, hastening the departure of U.S. forces from Somalia.

Falluja was relatively quiet on Thursday, but residents said more bloody killings should be expected.

"The Americans may think it is unusual but this is what they should expect. They show up in places and shoot civilians so why can't they be killed?" Falluja shop worker Amir said.

U.S. troops fired on demonstrators in Falluja last April, killing at least 15 people. Many residents then vowed revenge.

Guerrillas near the town detonated a roadside bomb as a U.S. convoy passed by, wounding three soldiers. One Humvee left behind by American soldiers near the site of the attack was later set ablaze and looted by a crowd of Iraqis.

A roadside bomb killed five U.S. soldiers on Wednesday in the same area, a hotspot for resistance to the occupation.

The U.S governor of Iraq (news - web sites) Paul Bremer vowed to hunt down those responsible for ambushing the contractors, and those who then torched the corpses and dragged them through the streets before hanging them from a bridge.

"The acts we have seen were despicable and inexcusable," he said. "They violate the tenets of all religions, Islam included, as well as the foundations of civilized society. Their deaths will not go unpunished."

TRADE FAIR CANCELED

As the Falluja violence sparked renewed concern among foreign organizations working in Iraq, a high-profile U.S.-sponsored trade fair for companies rebuilding Iraq was postponed.

Organizers of the Baghdad Expo, a major trade fair that had been due to start on Monday, said it was postponed -- a blow to U.S. efforts to draw investment to Iraq and project an image of a stable country conducive to doing business.

No new date was set for the event.

International companies hoping to win a slice of Iraqi reconstruction had been due to take part in the exhibition, along with U.S. companies that have won most of the contracts Washington has awarded to rebuild Iraq so far.

But many companies had expressed concern about security at the trade fair -- the site where it was due to be held was rocketed last month, and Baghdad's main hotels have also been repeatedly attacked with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

Washington hopes economic growth in Iraq will help undermine the guerrilla insurgency, but so far, the lack of stability and security in some parts of Iraq has hampered reconstruction.

On Wednesday, a car bomb attack in the town of Ramadi, close to Falluja, killed six Iraqis and wounded five, the U.S. army said. It gave no details on the circumstances or target of the blast.

In Basra on Thursday, a mainly Shi'ite city 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad, at least one Iraqi was killed in clashes between Iraqi police and around 100 protesters demanding salaries. The protesters threw stones and set tyres on fire.

The U.S. military death toll last month was the second highest of any month since President Bush (news - web sites) declared major combat over on May 1 last year.

At least 50 American troops died in Iraq in March, according to Pentagon (news - web sites) figures. The deadliest month for U.S. forces was November, when 82 U.S. troops died.

At least 407 American troops have been killed in action in Iraq since U.S.-led forces invaded on March 20 last year to topple Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

Guerrilla attacks in March also killed at least 16 foreign civilians, including the four who died in Falluja on Wednesday.

[tkathy]

Hope they offer rewards.

[Joe Hadenuf]

"Coalition forces will respond," Kimmitt told a news conference. "They are coming back and they are going to hunt down the people responsible for this bestial act.

When Kirmitt? Are we not the worlds military superpower? What are we waiting for ? And since we have video tape of at least a hundred of those responsible, we will be looking to see those people, that belong to those faces, hang. Lets not run this like the LA riots, where thousands got away with looting, burning, and killing.

"It will be at a time and a place of our choosing. It will be methodical, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming."

Come on capt'n, we are a military superpower. Doing "overwhelming" is easy. If were not going to be politically correct about this, what are we waiting for?

[MrB]

The US hasn't been harsh enough yet.

Like the Romans, we should make sure that anyone in the world would rather piss themselves than to think of harming a US Citizen or our interests.

[GraniteStateConservative]

The silence is deafening.

From the media, since they aren't asking such a great question? Kerry can keep his trap shut all he wants.

[GraniteStateConservative]

No, Kerry would say that he'd get the world to unite in a true global coalition to keep the peace in Iraq. France would send troops tomorrow, if it were President Kerry in charge, to stop this from happening again. He's got magic powers to make it so.

[Spandau]

I wonder what will happen. Maybe occupy Fallujah, arrest some people, kill a few people, bulldoze some houses, then withdraw and wait for the next incident. Sound familiar? What can they do? An artillery preparation followed by armored assault is probably not an option. We'll see. I will always admire our military. I just hope they aren't stuck in a no-win situation there.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Yep. Run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible. The whole enchilada.

[Spandau]

I wonder what will happen. Maybe occupy Fallujah, arrest some people, kill a few people, bulldoze some houses, then withdraw and wait for the next incident. Sound familiar? What can they do? An artillery preparation followed by armored assault is probably not an option. We'll see. I will always admire our military. I just hope they aren't stuck in a no-win situation there.

[GreyWolf]

"We're not coming back. Really."

April Foolja! Hell has arrived in Marine green!

[RonHolzwarth]

reply to: "The decent people saw the mobs and went inside their homes and shops and closed their doors in disgust. It is time to clean up this region."

You sure are correct!

Every single Arab I have PERSONALLY known, seemed like a very fine person. But then, I only saw Arabs here in the US, I have never traveled abroad.

It is so hard though, to see a FEW people carrying on like that, and to still realize, you are seeing only PART of the picture.

It's like cancer.

The physician photographs the tumor, examines it, discusses it, it is the major part of any examination of the patient,,,

But ONLY the bad part has to be removed, the major part of the patient is just FINE!

I believe that no one there is protesting with what we would call "peaceful means", out of fear.

But on the other hand, I have a "get even, teach them a lesson" mentality myself. But then, I would be no better than the rioters.

And you know what? There is no 72 Virgins waiting for me, I know that! What is waiting for me, is a look back at my life, and what I have done.

That's waiting for them too, they just don't know it yet.

And that's what is waiting for YOU, TOO!!!

[Radix]

Has J F Kerry made a public statement about what he would do as Commander in Chief in response to the terrorists upping the ante?

The poll results are not in yet. We should hear from him soon

Re: #18 TQ: Bingo

Re: #23 MrB: Well said

[Defiant]

All I want to hear is that it's called "Operation Level Falluja". Anything else is just a waste of time.

I thought that, too, until I read that Fallujah has 250,000 people. That's a lot of people and economic activity to completely displace. Rather, I think we need to level carefully selected neighborhoods, and empty the town methodically of the troublemakers.

[ErnBatavia]

As the Marines sweep the town, they should "clear" any and everything - from brush to buildings - within, say, 50 feet of any roads travelled by troops or contractors.

When I say "clear", I get the mental image of the Marines using their flamethrowers on the Nipponese at Iwo Jima.

[GraniteStateConservative]

No, you file everyone out of the city, carefully ID'ing them, and then you level the whole city. Make a statement. They understand statements like that.

[txhurl]

OK but when when when.

Something needs to be done TODAY. We can't drag this out another day.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Its been more than 24 hours. If you don't make the retaliation FAST the weak minds of the perpetrators won't connect it to their behavior. (I'm talking about the AP reporters here who had front row seats at the "spontaneous" mutilation of our citizens.)

Fallujhans take note; your butts are belonging to us.

[GraniteStateConservative]

If we want to give them 12 hours to hand everyone over, then maybe we'll spare the city.

[breakem]

here's a hint: they're not in Falluhjah anymore.

[bearkat]

I agree with you. They have proven that they are animals... smack 'em now before they forget. Like you would a puppy, rub his nose in it and then SMACK IT.

[Pentagram]

Yes, we'll probably use sarcasm on them. That should make them feel really awful!