Marines Encircle Fallouja (Operation Valiant Resolve commencing)

LA Times ^ | 4-4-04 | Tony Perry and Edmund Sanders

[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.

[ought-six]

"Dear God, be with all those who go into battle for US today. We know Lord, that some of our's must fall today. Grant comfort to those who must bear Liberty's painful price. Our men go, as American's always have, to fight the evil of this fallen world. Grant them courage and strength today, and all the dark days to come."

Lord, hear our prayer.

[myself6]

The thing about marines is this, 2500 seems like 20,000 to the people on the receiving end.

[mewzilla]

And look who thinks(and probably is) part of Hamas.

Not for much longer...It's just a question of who gets him first. Us or the Israelis.

[TomGuy]

The Bush 2 Administration did not finish the Iraqi war (i.e., surrender of the enemy) before trying to establish a political peace.

Until the Military finishes the war, the insurgents/terrorists will continue to be a problem. Solve that problem or we will continue to see Coalition troops picked off daily for the next decade. Finish the war; then establish a political peace.

[StarCMC]

LOL!! No doubt!!

Our MARINES Rock!

(as do ALL out troops!)

[tracer]

"No, we do this all the time because we are not barbarians like the people we fight. Trust the Marines Cinnamon, they know what they are doing."

Indeed, and that is exactly why members of the world's most powerful military force keep getting picked off by street thugs and punks.

Thank the feel-good liberals that continue to infest and exert a disproportionate in our government for that.

What we need is to make it worth the while of such "allies" as the Turks, Russians, etc. who are not burdened by our teacup mentality of war to take care of business in a manner that is "beyond our control." If the camel-raping maggots decide to bring it to our streets, I can only hope that the police, the "criminal justice" system, and the gun-grabbing Congress will just stay the hell out of the way while those who are inclined to do so proceed to take care of business in what once was the great American tradition.

Just ask King George and his minions about that, if you're into attending seances......

[WV Mountain Mama]

Prayers for your nephew and all the troops!

[proud American in Canada]

"Why is it that the Doom and Gloom crowd ALWAYS has to find something to bitch about?"

LOL. So true. I'm sure that everything has been analyzed and planned for, far better than the armchair quarterbacks would have us believe.

My prayers are with the Marines.

[hoosiermama]

Mama, left this thread really late last night.....Do we have any word on what's happened/happening this morning?....Praying incessantly.

[VMI70]

"I heard that there are 1200 Marines PLUS 2 battallions on Fox News this morning. Here's the stupid civilian question of the day: How many Marines in a battalion???"

A Marine, as well as an Army, infantry battalion numbers around 1,000-1,200.

The "PLUS 2 battalions" you refer to are Iraqi security forces, which are probably the same size. So the combined force strength is somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000-3,600.

If you assume that these are all ground pounders, then multiplying those numbers by about 6-8 (the "support multiplier") will give you the approximate number directly involved in the operation. Getting between 18,000 and 28,800 people moving in the same direction in 2 days should be pretty impressive, by anyone's standards.

Note: I draw that info from my experience from many moons ago, but I think it generally still holds true. I would welcome any updates.

[mathluv]

We also need to put a stop to that anti-American iman. Hearing on Fox this morning that part of what happened the other day was because he was upset that his newspaper had been shut down.

[Modernman]

One word: Jenin.

Yup. I can see the headlines now- "Marine attacks leads to high civilian casualties."

We'll win this one, no doubt, but the PR is likely to be negative, no matter what happens.

[glock rocks]

Thanks for the ping, B4. It's going to take me a while to read through this thread this morning. Time to flush the toilet. Prayers for our Marines.

[kinghorse]

No you don't understand. Today is Monday. Monday's are "At our feet" days. Hard to harm a docile wimpering apologist. Wednesday is the day to catch bad guys. That's "at our throats" day.

[boxerblues]

A handy guide to the breakdown of what is a Army Division

Divisions 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers divided in three to five combat regiment and number of support units.

Regiments have 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers & include several combat & support battalions

Each Battalion has three to five line companies of 100 to 500 soldiers apiece.

Companies break down into 3 to 5 platoons of 20-40 people, which in turn breaks down into squads of 8-12.

[TomGuy]

FoxNews just reported 1 Marine already KIA in Fallujah today.

[boxerblues]

Its going to be a rough couple of days, praying for the safety of our Marines & Soldiers and death to the radicals in Iraq.

[Valin]

but trying to "rehabilitate" the Arabs is wasted time, money and energy. IMO.

Why do you say that?

[txrangerette]

Not at all; he preaches violence
& declares he will rule Iraq &
his followers should terrorize
us. He also declared himself a
member of Hamas & Hizbollah, is
likely linked with Iran & the
assassinations of less radical
Iraqi clerics. He was already
our sworn enemy.

Newspaper shutdown "made him mad"?

No way.

[StarCMC]

Thank you so much for the clarification!! I was figuring the 300 number to be roughly right, but I didn't take into account the support. I also heard there are 2 apaches giving air support. Dear GOD keep them safe.