I was thinking more like Dresden
Posted on 04/04/2004 10:01:15 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
FALLOUJA, Iraq — Thousands of Marines surrounded this anti-American stronghold early today in preparation for a complex raid to retake control of the city and apprehend those responsible for last week's slayings of four U.S. security contractors.
The highly anticipated action, dubbed Operation Valiant Resolve, was expected to be one of the biggest military offensives since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government a year ago.
All roads leading to this city of 300,000 were cut off and barricaded with tanks and concertina wire. Working through the cold and windy desert night, under a large moon, Marines set up camps for detainees and residents who might flee any fighting. Before dawn, several Marine positions were hit by mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Bursts of automatic gunfire could be heard throughout the city.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I was thinking more like Dresden
U.S. forces seal off Fallujah ahead of major operation
BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press WriterFALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. forces closed off the turbulent city of Fallujah on Monday ahead of a major operation against insurgents following the grisly slayings of four American security contractors last week.
U.S. commanders have been vowing a massive response to pacify Fallujah, one of the most violent cities in the Sunni Triangle, the heartland of the anti-U.S. insurgency north and west of Baghdad.
After the slayings of the Americans on Wednesday, residents dragged the four bodies through the streets, hanging two of their charred corpses from a bridge, in horrifying scenes that showed the depth of anti-U.S. sentiment in the city.
Early Monday, U.S. troops closed off entrances to Fallujah with earth barricades ahead of the planned operation, code named "Vigilant Resolve."
Some 1,200 U.S. Marines and two batallions of Iraqi security forces were poised to enter the city to arrest suspected insurgents, said Lt. James Vanzant, 2nd Batallion, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. He would not say when the troops would enter the city.
"The city is surrounded," Vanzant said. "It's an extended operation. We want to make a very precise approach to this. ... We are looking for the bad guys in town."
A witness reported that a U.S. helicopter struck a residential area in the city early Monday, killing five people. The bombing damaged five houses, said the witness, Mohammed Shawkat. There was no immediate U.S. comment on the report.
A Marine officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. forces had a list of targets for raids. He would not give details.
The California-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force assumed responsibility for Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division on March 24. The Marines said they intended to take a softer approach with Fallujah residents, hoping to win popular support.
But the Marines have quickly found themselves mired in violence. On March 26, Marines and insurgents fought a lengthy street battle in the city that killed one Marine and five Iraqis.
The same day as the killing of the four U.S. civilians, five Marines were killed when a bomb exploded under their vehicle in a village near Fallujah.
Thank God. I hope they don't have any media tagging along, no camera crews either. I would love to see footage of all the action, but having the PC police tagging along would only hinder the a$$ kicking those barbarians in Fallujah deserve.
Closing sentence:
The present contest between Bush and Kerry is a contest between different visions of American history, and a test of whether we still live under the specter of Vietnam or whether we have moved on.
Bremer qualifies Moqtada Sadr of outlaw and lance a warning
The American civil administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer qualified Monday the radical head Shiite Moqtada Sadr of outlaw and informed that the American army does not tolèrerait a revolt carried out by this young religious leader and his partisans.
"We are in a difficult sedentary situation. We have a group carried out by Moqtada Sadr which was placed in fact apart from the legality of the coalition and the Iraqi persons in charge ", declared Mr. Bremer at a meeting of the high Iraqi sedentary persons in charge.
"It is indeed trying to install its authority in the place of the legitimate authority. We will not tolèrerons it. We will reinstall the law and the order until the Iraqis wait ", added Mr. Bremer.
Ping me when you get to thermonuclear weapons. I'll have to chime in then.
The US tanks control entries of Sadr City which will bury its deaths
The American tanks controlled Monday morning at least two of the entries of the district Shiite of Sadr City in Baghdad, after the violent ones confrontations from the day before who made at least 22 died and 85 wounded Iraqi side and seven died among the American soldiers.
A person in charge for the office of the radical leader Shiite Moqtada Sadr in this underprivileged district, Bitter Al-Husseini, declared with the AFP which "Moqtada Sadr called with the return to a state of calm but that the partisans want to fight against the American troops".
"We want peace and not the confrontation but if the Americans enter the district, there will be engagements", warned this person in charge Shiite. Thirteen American tanks blocked two entries of this district, stronghold of Moqtada Sadr, and the soldiers excavated all the cars, noted a journalist of the AFP.
In front of the office of the Sadr movement, several thousands of people were gathered, of which some of weapons, in order to take part in funerals of the victims of the fixings without precedent with the forces of the coalition. Crowd stressed: "There is not an other god that God and America is the enemy one of God".
The American forces took again position in front of the principal police station which they had left Sunday after having dislodged the partisans of Sadr of them.
A procession of about fifty children was formed in front of the office. They held up red flags.
Land-mark Al-Husseini in addition gave a report on arrests in the rows of "Armée of Mehdi ", militia of the Sadr movement, the American forces.
"Moqtada Sadr called with the return to a state of calm but that the partisans want to fight against the American troops".
If Sadr wants a state of calm, he should not have ordered his followers to commit terrorism against Americans.
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | April 5th 2004 | Joseph Farah
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