Posted on 04/30/2004 9:40:37 PM PDT by Destro
Some marines angry over deal to pull out of Fallujah
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) Apr 30, 2004
A decision to let former members of Saddam's army handle security in Fallujah has infuriated some of the US Marines who pulled back from the powderkeg city after weeks of violent battles. "Now it's going to get worse," said Lance Corporal Julius Wright, 20, one of the marines who withdrew from positions on the frontlines of the embattled Iraqi city that had been under a US siege since April 5.
The marines started a gradual withdrawal to a wider perimeter Friday as the first 200 members of the new Fallujah Brigade moved into parts of the city.
US commanders hope the Iraqi force, made up mainly of former members of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's disbanded army, will be able to restore some form of law and order to Fallujah, a city partly controlled by anti-coalition forces.
Senior US officers acknowledge they are not fully convinced the deal will work out, and that Marines are prepared to retake their frontline positions if it doesn't.
Many of the grunts, on the other hand firmly believe the idea is doomed.
"Honestly, I don't think they're going to be able to do it," said Corporal Elias Chavez, 28.
"We had the insurgents cordoned off, they couldn't go anywhere, we had a chance to get them."
"Now they can flee wherever they want, and we're still going to have to deal with them," said Chavez, expressing doubts the new force, largely made up of Fallujah residents, would apprehend anti-coalition fighters.
"A lot of them have ties to anti-coalition forces," he said in reference to the Fallujah Brigade.
Colonel John Coleman, chief of staff of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said it is not necessarily a bad thing having some of the more moderate insurgents switch sides. "We'd actively reach out to those people," he told reporters at Camp Fallujah, the main marine base just outside the city.
Some of the grunts who camped out for weeks in abandoned factories and warehouses on the outskirts of the powderkeg city, coming under fire daily, feel they spilt blood in vain.
Scores of Americans died in fighting in Fallujah, which also killed hundreds of Iraqis.
Now that the marines are pulling out without having defeated the insurgents, the deployment "was a waste of time, of resources and of lives," said Chavez.
"Everyone feels the same way, especially those who know someone who was killed," he said.
Wright agreed.
"We pulled out when we should of went in."
Scores of Americans died in fighting in Fallujah, which also killed hundreds of Iraqis.
Now that the marines are pulling out without having defeated the insurgents, the deployment "was a waste of time, of resources and of lives," said Chavez.
"Everyone feels the same way, especially those who know someone who was killed," he said.
Wright agreed.
"We pulled out when we should of went in..."
There will be hell to pay if this move doesn't work out.
The strategy to isolate the city from the nation and then carve it up and narrow the "kill box" and to protect the rest of the peaceable citizens there can be good to stabilize the the overall war plan in Iraq. Let the rest of Iraq prosper (minus the several other rebel cities) and kick them to a back burner, let them fade and become disenfranchised. Don't give them opportunities to incite world opinions.
Now that the marines are pulling out without having defeated the insurgents, the deployment "was a waste of time, of resources and of lives," said Chavez.
"Hundreds of Confederates died in fighting around Chancellorsville, which also killed hundreds of Yankees."
"Now that General Stonewall Jackson's Second Corps is pulling out without having defeated the Yankees, the deployment "was a waste of time, of resources and of lives," said Corporal Wilkes. "
The Generals usually don't invite Corporals to their Councils of War.
Let's wait until the battle ends before deciding if the Corporal is correct.
I'm disgusted that our hands are tied by political correctness and fear of Big Liberal Media and Democrat politician. Instead of flattening the entire city with the force of 1000 daisycutters, killing every man woman, child, dog, cat, rat, camel, donkey and roach in that Godforsaken hellhole, we are risking the lives of our soldiers, needlessly putting them in harm's way.
Now we are pulling out, which makes us look weak and indecisive--just what the iraqi people do not need to see. Especially after the first Gulf War is still fresh in their minds.
Why did our fighting men die in Fallujah if we are going to pull out? It's as if we said, "Oooh oooh! Geez! They were soooo tough! Too tough for us! We can't beat these guys! Let's get out of here! Oooh oooh!"
Our own troops don't like this BS. Despite the fact that before they were given the orders to pull out, they had to fight the war under New Jersey State Trooper rules--Shoot only when shot at, which is complete garbage in and of itself. Bush is a moron. Ultimately, this falls on him. I am so tired of this idiocy.
Instead of George Patton, we get George Mc Fly. I guarantee China has gone orgasmic over our apparent ineptitude.
My personal opinion is this SUCKS ! Either let the troops kick some ass or let em come home and get some....
Stay safe !
The fact is that Fallujah has become a magnet for insurgents, the more of them that come to fight, the more we will kill. The battle of Fallujah that the media id calling a quagmire and a retreat is much like the Sand storm they claimed had us bogged down in a quagmire one week into the "Road to Baghdad"
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