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Gotta throw a flag! Muslim fundamentalists can not bash good guys with a label like "fundamentalist!" This guy gets kicked from the game . . . |
Posted on 11/13/2004 6:25:48 AM PST by Kaslin
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Backed by tanks and artillery fire, U.S. troops launched a major attack Saturday against insurgent holdouts in southern Fallujah, hoping to finish off resistance in what had been the major guerrilla bastion of central Iraq (news - web sites).
In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploded as a convoy of Iraqi National Guards passed by in the eastern part of the city, witnesses said. In recent days, an armed uprising in sympathy with Fallujah's insurgents has killed 10 Iraqi National Guards and one American soldier since Thursday, the U.S. military said.
The region's governor blamed the uprising on "the betrayal of some police members" and said National Guard units had arrived to help quell the violence. Also, a U.S. infantry battalion was diverted from Fallujah and sent back to Mosul because of insurgent attacks in that northern city.
Insurgents appeared to be taking advantage of the thinning out of American troop strength around Fallujah as U.S. commanders report an increase in small-scale rebel attacks.
All of Fallujah appeared engulfed in thick, black smoke as the latest U.S. attack began at midday Saturday amid the crackle of machine guns and the flashes of fire from muzzles of American tanks arrayed around the city's southern rim. A single minaret stood out against the blackened southern skyline.
About 1,000 insurgents had been killed and another 200 captured during the Fallujah operation, Iraq's national security adviser Qassem Dawoud said on national television.
"We are just pushing them against the anvil," said Col. Michael Formica, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade. "It's a broad attack against the entire southern front."
Overnight, two city mosques were hit by airstrikes after troops reported sniper fire from inside. On Saturday, two Marines were killed by a homemade bomb southeast of Fallujah.
As the U.S. Army and Marines attacked inside Fallujah from the north, the Marines' 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion blocked insurgents from fleeing. U.S. officials estimate there are about 1,000-2,000 insurgents in the towns and villages around Fallujah who were not trapped inside the city during the U.S.-Iraqi siege, which began Monday.
A U.S. warplane dropped a 500-pound bomb to destroy an insurgent tunnel network in the city Saturday, according to CNN embedded correspondent Jane Arraf.
U.S. officials said they hoped the attack would be the final assault on Fallujah, followed by a house-to-house clearing operation to search for boobytraps, weapons and guerrillas hiding in the rubble.
The fierce fighting has taken its toll on the Americans: at least 24 troops have died in the assault, and 73 more U.S. soldiers from Iraq were flown Saturday to a military hospital in Germany, most of them wounded in the battle for Fallujah, officials said.
The number of arrivals this week is up to 412, hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said.
A four-vehicle convoy of the Iraqi Red Crescent carrying humanitarian assistance arrived at the heart of Fallujah on Saturday after the Iraqi and American troops allowed them to pass.
U.S. and Iraqi forces launched their mass ground assault against Fallujah late Monday after the city's hardline clerical leadership refused to hand over extremists, including Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has a $25 million bounty on his head from the Americans.
The clerics insisted al-Zarqawi was not there, and U.S. officials confirmed the arrest of about 14 suspected foreign fighters. U.S. and Iraqi officials wanted to restore control of Fallujah and other Sunni militant strongholds before national elections due by Jan. 31.
Dawoud said Saturday that al-Zarqawi and Fallujah leader Abdullah al-Janabi "have escaped."
With resistance in Fallujah waning, U.S. and Iraqi forces began moving against insurgent sympathizers among the country's hardline Sunni religious leadership, arresting at least four clerics and raiding offices of groups that spoke out against the assault.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said four American helicopters had been hit by insurgent ground fire in two separate attacks near Fallujah. Their uninjured crews were able to return to base safely.
Earlier this week, three helicopters were downed by ground fire during the Fallujah operation.
Before Saturday's offensive, U.S. forces reported that mortar fire from inside Fallujah had nearly ceased but insurgent mortar attacks against U.S. positions and bases outside the city had stepped up.
Violence flared elsewhere in the volatile Sunni Muslim areas, including Mosul, where attacks Thursday killed a U.S. soldier. Another soldier was killed in Baghdad as clashes erupted Friday in at least four neighborhoods. Clashes also broke out from Hawija and Tal Afar in the north to Samarra — where the police chief also was fired — and Ramadi in central Iraq.
The most serious uprising occurred in Mosul, a city of about 1 million people 220 miles north of Baghdad, where insurgents targeted bridges, police stations and government buildings starting Thursday.
The 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the 25th Infantry Division, was ordered out of Fallujah and back to Mosul late Thursday. The battalion, which is now part of the Stryker Brigade of Task Force Olympia, already was back in the Mosul area.
On Saturday, a car bomb detonated as a seven-vehicle convoy of Iraqi National Guards passed by the main road in the eastern Nour district, witnesses said. One vehicle was damaged but it was not immediately known if there were any casualties.
Iraqi authorities requested reinforcements into the city after police abandoned their posts. On Saturday, Iraqi National Guardsmen, many of them ethnic Kurds, were seen patrolling parts of the city, while insurgents were seen elsewhere.
In a radio statement, Mosul Gov. Duriad Kashmoula blamed the uprising on "the betrayal of some police members." Kashmoula said more National Guard units had arrived to help restore order, and 40 insurgents had been killed in fighting.
Some witnesses reported seeing armed men wearing traditional Kurdish attire standing guard in at least three areas of the city. The Kurds are the most pro-American of Iraq's various ethnic and cultural groups.
In Fallujah, Saif al-Deen al-Baghdadi, an official of the insurgents' political office, urged militants to fight U.S. forces outside Fallujah.
"I call upon the scores or hundreds of the brothers from the mujahedeen ... to press the American forces outside" Fallujah, al-Baghdadi said in a telephone interview late Friday with Al-Jazeera television.
"We chose the path of armed jihad and say clearly that ridding Iraq of the occupation will not be done by ballots. Ayad Allawi's government ... represents the fundamentalist right-wing of the White House and not the Iraqi people," he said — a reference to Iraq's prime minister, who gave to the go-ahead for the Fallujah invasion. ___
Associated Press reporters Edward Harris in Fallujah and Tini Tran, Sameer N. Yacoub, Mariam Fam, Sabah Jerges, Katarina Kratovac and Maggie Michael in Baghdad contributed to this report
Most likely from their hotel rooms
With a 24 hour shoot-on-sight curfew, that would probably be wise.
>>Some witnesses reported seeing armed men wearing traditional Kurdish attire standing guard in at least three areas of the city.<<<
thank God for the Kurds.. they are brave warriors.. and great Allies.
It is a good thing that we continue to be on the offensive in Fallujah. Onward! Let's finish this thing off and get some of these soldiers home for Christmas.
How about those 4 terrorists the Kurds captured alive yesterday? I'm sure the Kurds will follow the Geneva Convention to the tee,, right? NOT!! What's a Geneva Convention? Those 4 guys are in for a pretty grizzly interogation IMO.
I am sickened by the thought that a single U.S. solider could be killed or maimed because we held back in the name of Politcal Correctness.
Brave American servicemen -- husbands, fathers, sons, brothers -- are being mutilated in a futile attempt to make the Arab world love us by showing mercy.
Youre right. Rough goin in close quarters with suicidal idiots. But have you seen the video clips of our guys? There are as cool as blue steel. I have to admit I am truly stunned with the level of proffesionalism the marines and army guys appear to have. I hate to see any American boys go through tough combat. You are watching the making of heroes here. Now matter how hard the MSM tries to make this a Vietnam, it is not Vietnam. These kids saw the twin towers. They know the stakes. Its the talking heads and the politicians who are making this difficult.
Jihadi scum had better watch out. When we get the politicians out of the way, we are the most deadly and resolved enemy you could ever dream of. My favorite is the picture of our boys taking a smoke break in boots n all in the mosque. Thats right Akhmed...no quarter this time.
There was a lot of anxiety over Mosul. But the figures released here seem pretty minimal. Also, if there was treachery in the police department--an earlier report said that the chief was arrested--then it's good to know about it and weed it out.
They tried to pull off a Tet, to give the MSM some propaganda to work with, but they failed.
"Overnight, two city mosques were hit by airstrikes after troops reported sniper fire from inside."
Good! The mosques are the true terrorist safe houses. Hit the mosques, kill the terrorists.
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Gotta throw a flag! Muslim fundamentalists can not bash good guys with a label like "fundamentalist!" This guy gets kicked from the game . . . |
>> Those 4 guys are in for a pretty grizzly interogation IMO.<<
oh no,, you don't mean.... are you saying they might..... not the .... panties on the head???
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
LOL..
There is something obscene about a lukewarm war, from a ROE viewpoint. In the real universe, means of communications are among the first targets to deny the enemy means of cimmunications, planning and propaganda.
In a childish culture where the most outrageous statements are accepted as easily as facts, not doing so effectively ties one of the opposition's hands behind their backs.
i wrote a blubbering e-mail to a friend in the USMC the day before yesterday over the casualties in Fallujah. he is a 2 tour battle hardened Marine still in Iraq. here is his response in part:
"Don't worry about the one's that we have
lost. We know where they're going. God is with them. It is sad, but this is what they signed up for. The
heat of battle. I try not to dwell on the one's lost but the guys that are still fighting. I pray for there
strength and courage. For their bullets to fly true. I know that Gods army is with them, just like they were
with us. God, I wish that I was there."
he knows what he'a talking about... Marines are just plain AWESOME. and his letter helped me a lot..
so did yours. i pray for the families greiving.. and i will never forget the sacrifice.. never. and this unprecedented victory is to their credit.. they are true heroes who gave all for God and Country.
Last night the MSM was full of doom and worry over the "increased violence". One network showed a clip of what they said were 2,000 new Bagdad Sunni volunteers motivated by shame preached from mosques.
One thing is certain. The Fallujah reduction has gotten the attention of the bad guys and the MSM doesn't have clue as to why.
Is this a lie? If it isn't, name the unit. I don't believe a word of it.
Try your calculator again, (412+24) / 10000 is nearly 5%
'bout time! BLAST 'EM!
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