Posted on 11/09/2004 12:50:03 PM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior leaders of the insurgency and al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi likely escaped from Falluja before U.S. Marines stormed into the city, a top U.S. general said on Tuesday.
"I think we are looking at several more days of tough urban fighting," Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, in charge of day-to-day U.S.-led military operations in Iraq (news - web sites), told reporters at the Pentagon (news - web sites), as thousands of U.S. and allied Iraqi forces pressed their assault to gain control of the rebel-held city.
Metz said there had been "a dozen" U.S. casualties in the operation, but did not specify whether he meant a dozen U.S. troops killed or a dozen killed and wounded. "Friendly casualties are light," Metz said in a video teleconference briefing from Iraq.
"Enemy casualties, I think, are significantly higher than I expected," Metz added, but declined to provide a number.
U.S. officials have said senior leaders of the insurgency that rose up after the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had used Falluja as a safe haven, but Metz indicated some had departed the scene before the ground assault began on Monday.
"I personally believe that some of the senior leaders probably have fled. I would hope not, but I've got to assume that those kind of leaders understand the combat power we can bring and the fact that we will free Falluja of the anti-Iraqi forces," Metz said.
He said there are insurgent leaders, who he did not identify, still in Falluja "orchestrating the battle to the best of their ability, which it appears not to be very good." He said the insurgents, numbering about 2,000-3,000, were fighting in groups of three to six people, and showing little coherence since the initial U.S.-led assault on Monday.
Asked specifically about Jordanian-born Zarqawi, Metz said, "It is fair to assume he has left."
Metz, the No. 2 U.S. officer in Iraq, said he believed 50 percent to 75 percent of the residents of the city of 300,000 had left the city before the assault. "We have seen very few civilian casualties," he said, without providing any numbers.
"We're a little ahead of schedule. I would say the coming days will tell us whether or not the enemy is thickening as he moves back into the city, or we are killing the enemy, or capturing the enemy or pushing the enemy back," he said.
"I think the enemy is fighting hard, but not to the death, and I think that they are continuing to fall back," he said.
Excellent point, they should have used the three C's
So 72 virgins isn't enough anymore, huh?
No base = no followers = no jihad.
If Zarqawi left (which he probably did), he'll have to start all over again in another city.
It's doubtful that he'll have the time, the leisure, or the standing to gain new followers.
And now any potential followers will know their certain fate.
Letting the leadership slip out may be just the tip of the iceberg. (Sand Dune)
We know how their leaders operate. We know how to get into their communications. We also remove motivation for others them in jihad. When Haji (muslim Joe six pack) thinks about joining the great jihad and sees he has 0% chance of victory and 100% chance of defeat. The allure of jihad suddenly becomes very tarnished.
Constant failure marginalizes Islamofacist leadership.
Muslim troops are renown for throwing down their arms and going home. (Almost to the point of being French) Impending failure is a great rationale for surrender or desertion. When the enemy no longer want to fight, we win.
After 9/11 if we offed OBL right away he would of been a martyr inspiring thousands more martyrs in his name. Now he is nothing more than a loudmouth on the sidelines of a war he started. His capabilities consist of whining and thrashing around like a two year old having a temper tantrum. Strategically it may be a good thing OBL is still alive and a very public failure.
Keep your chins up. Zarquawi and OBL will be sharing a cave soon.
Keep the faith.
It may be something called the "Principle of the Objective". Our primary objective in Fallujah is to establish an Iraqi Government presence (to include police and military) in Fallujah, so that elections can take place. Then we will move on to the next "hot spot" (Ramadi?) and repeat the process over again. The trick is to put the Iraqi Government in control of these cities, not the terrorists. Killing the "insurgents" and capturing terrorist ringleaders (who are probably being tipped off by agents within the Iraqi Government anyway) is a bonus. Ultimately, when the terrorists have been denied their safe havens, the Government of Iraq, and the Iraqi Army, will have to deal with insurgents, terrorists and other malcontents.
Excellent point.
I thought they all wanted to be martyrs.
for the same reason we didn't seal the Mexican border after 9/11....whatever the hell that is.
Ummm, well good try, but do you really think that, given a chance to kill the terrorist leadership, the general in charge wouldn't. Your points are valid about our ability to disrupt and track these people to a certain extent, but the blow to their morale would be far greater if their leaders were dead.
I do agree that we need to keep our chins up. It is a matter of time.
many of us saw this coming. it was pretty obvious really.
I am still hopeful for some operation disconnected from the fallujah offensive that gets these guys. otherwise, we are likely to come out of this fallujah operation, and still have near the same level of car bombings et al, as we did before, because these guys are operating someplace else now. the media will have a field day with that.
This quote is good though. Zarqawai booked out weeks ago. We'll get him.
Prairie
Nice fireworks display.
Because we play the Politcal Correctness game that allows OUR soldiers to get killed. Come On, GW. Let our soldiers go for it next time w/o any warning to the enemy.
"Of course the "leaders" fled early....martyrdom is for the underlings."
You win the Wicked Funny Quote of the Day award :^)
The terrorist leadership knows this - so of course the fled. The medieval, “Dark-ages”, mindless idiots left to defend – don’t have a clue. The best solution to this problem is for quick and decisive elimination of all resistance in the area. Perhaps future recruits might think joining the “jihad”, a bad idea.
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