Iraqi Military Commander Deserted U.S. Forces

[Bronco_Beerslug]

The pool report sent to Reuters from a Marine unit quoted U.S. officers as saying the desertion of the unidentified captain, a Kurdish company commander, would not change plans to retake the city.-------------------------------------------------------------

It's clear the insurgents are mostly Iraqis. Destroying Fallujah probably will fire the whole country up against us. What a mess!

----------------------------------
Iraq Rebels Hit Back as U.S. Bombs Falluja

By Fadel al-Badrani

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces hit Iraq (news - web sites)'s rebel stronghold of Falluja with the fiercest air and ground bombardment in months, as insurgents struck back on Saturday with attacks that killed up to 37 people in Samarra.

The Falluja strikes, before a threatened major assault on Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) loyalists and militants allied to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, destroyed a hospital, a medical warehouse and dozens of homes, dazed residents said after a sleepless night.
Hospital staff said ambulances had been unable to go out as the city shook to explosions. Later, they collected two dead and seven wounded civilians, among them women and children.

With a U.S.-led offensive on Falluja apparently imminent, rebels hit back with attacks in Samarra, Baghdad and Ramadi, another rebel-held city.

The deadliest assaults were in Samarra, where a suicide car bomber rammed into a police station and three car bombs exploded elsewhere. Insurgents also attacked three other police stations.

A group led by Zarqawi, called Al Qaeda Organization of Holy War in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the car bombings, according to an Internet statement whose authenticity could not immediately be verified.

Police said the Samarra onslaught killed 34 people -- 19 Iraqi police, two Iraqi National Guards, two members of an Iraqi Rapid Reaction Force and 11 civilians. They said 43 people had been wounded, 28 of them members of the security forces.

"I saw a car trying to reach the town hall," said bookshop owner Mohammed Ahmed. "When police stopped it, it exploded."
Separately, police said rebels shot dead another policeman and are suspected of firing a mortar that killed a woman and a young boy in a house near a U.S. base in the city.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...nm/iraq_dc_755

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Iraq Declares State of Emergency
By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The government declared a 60-day state of emergency throughout most of the country Sunday, as U.S. and Iraqi forces prepared for an expected all-out assault on rebels in Fallujah. Insurgents escalated a wave of violence that has killed more than 50 people the past two days, and a U.S. soldier was killed in an attack on a convoy.

Heavy explosions were heard in Baghdad as government spokesman Thair Hassan al-Naqeeb announced the state of emergency over the entire country except Kurdish areas in the north.

"It is going to be a curfew. It is going to be so many things, but tomorrow the prime minister will mention it," he said. Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi will give more details Monday, he said.
Al-Naqeeb declined to say whether the announcement signaled an imminent attack on the insurgent stronghold Fallujah, saying, "We have seen the situation is worsening in this area. Any obstacle will be removed."

The statement came as insurgents carried out a second day of assaults in central Iraq (news - web sites), attacking police stations, gunning down government officials and setting off bombs.

Two attacks on U.S. convoys in and around Baghdad killed one American soldier and wounded another Sunday, the military said. Residents reported grenades setting police cars aflame on Haifa Street in the heart of the city.

Also, 12 Iraqi National Guards were abducted and executed by militants dressed as policemen while traveling home to Najaf, an official with a leading Shiite party said Sunday. The men were kidnapped near Latifiyah, an area of frequent violence bout 20 miles south of Baghdad, said Abu Ali al-Najafi from the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known by its acronym SCIRI.

A car bomb also exploded near the Baghdad home of Iraq's finance minister, Adil Abdel-Mahdi, officials said. He was safe, but one of his guards was killed.

The wave of violence sweeping the troubled Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad, may be aimed at relieving pressure on Fallujah, where about 10,000 American troops are massing for a major assault if Allawi gives the green light.

At dawn Sunday, armed rebels launched deadly attacks against police stations in western Anbar province, killing 22 people according to police and hospital officials. At least seven of those killed were policemen, who were lined up and shot execution style.

Using bombs and small arms fire, insurgents hit three police stations in the neighboring towns of Haditha and Haqlaniyah, 137 miles northwest of Baghdad, said Capt. Nasser Abdullah of the K3 police station in Haqlaniyah.

Also Sunday, three Diyala provincial officials were gunned down south of Baghdad as they were on their way to a funeral in Karbala for a fourth colleague assassinated earlier this week. Governor's aide Jassim Mohammed was killed along with Diyala provincial council members, Shihab Ahmed and Dureid Mohammed, an Iraqi official said.

The attacks came a day after insurgents in Samarra stormed a police station, triggered at least two suicide car bombs and fired mortars at government installations. Twenty-nine people, including 17 police and 12 Iraqi civilians, were killed throughout the city, the U.S. military said. Forty others were injured.

A suicide bomber using an explosive-packed Iraqi police car rammed a U.S. convoy in Ramadi, wounding 16 American soldiers, according to the military.
Early Sunday, Marines fired a barrage of artillery at rebel positions inside Fallujah and clashed with insurgents carrying AK-47s, killing at least 16. Two U.S. soldiers were wounded at midnight at a checkpoint near Fallujah, the U.S. military said.

U.S. jets have been pounding the rebel bastion for days, launching its heaviest airstrikes in six months on Saturday — including five 500-pound bombs dropped on insurgent targets. Warplanes destroyed five weapons caches after nightfall Saturday.
In Web postings, the al-Qaida affiliate group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attacks in Samarra, Ramadi and Baghdad. The claims could not be verified, but U.S. officials believe al-Zarqawi's group uses Fallujah as a base.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...q_041107054068

[Spider]

Where in the hell is Poland ?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

It's clear the insurgents are mostly Iraqis. Destroying Fallujah probably will fire the whole country up against us. What a mess!

[watermock]

What is so sad is you seem to want to see a democratic Iraq fail.

I haven't candy coated one thing. I told everyone there would be a terrorist insurgency. What did you expect? Bush was blind. I could see that, but to kill the enemy isn't. We have an enemy that short sighted EU Idiots who have allready been infiltrated will embrace.

It's a hard road and hopefully won't end in a nuclear exchange. offering carrots to the mule isn't going to do it.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

The pool report sent to Reuters from a Marine unit quoted U.S. officers as saying the desertion of the unidentified captain, a Kurdish company commander, would not change plans to retake the city.-------------------------------------------------------------

It's clear the insurgents are mostly Iraqis. Destroying Fallujah probably will fire the whole country up against us. What a mess!

----------------------------------
Iraq Rebels Hit Back as U.S. Bombs Falluja

By Fadel al-Badrani

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) -

*Story that had nothing to do with an Iraqi Military Commander deserting US forces, deleted to conserve bandwidth*

Wasn't this thread supposed to have something to do with an Iraqi Military Commander deserting US forces? Was it such a consequential desertion that it didn't even merit an article or description of the circumstances?

Oh, well. At least we can see that Beerslug hasn't let losing the election interfere with his shilling for the Iraqi insurgency. Kerry's done, but the insurgency still provides a faint glimmer of hope for those who prefer a Bush disgrace over an American success.

[patteeu]

An email from somewhere near Fallujah:

Dear Dad -

As you have no doubt been watching, we have had our hands full around Fallujah. It would seem as if the final reckoning is coming. The city has been on a consistent down hill spiral since we were ordered out in April. It's siren call for extremists and criminals has only increased steadily and the instability and violence that radiates out of the town has expanded exponentially. If there is another city in the world that contains more terrorists, I would be surprised. From the last two years, I just don't see a way that we can succeed in Iraq without reducing this threat. The cost of continuing on without taking decisive action is too high to dwell on.

The enemy inside the town have come to fight and kill Americans. Nothing will sate their bloodlust and hatred other than to kill everyone of us or at least die trying. It is hard to fathom as a Westerner as rational thought would dictate that we will only be here for a relatively short blip in their history and while we are here, billions of dollars in investments will pour in and opportunity that is beyond comprehension will open up for anyone willing to work. This is not Kansas and this enemy does not think like that.

If we build a school or clinic, they destroy it. They would rather deny medical care or education for the children of the citizens who live nearby than to have any symbol of the West in general and America specifically among them. It is hard to comprehend. Frankly, we are done trying.

For eight months, we have been on our chain. The enemy has fooled itself misinterpreting our humanity and restraint for lack of will and courage. For eight months, we have watched Marines, Soldiers and Sailors maimed and killed by invisible cowards hiding behind some wall or in a canal as he detonates another IED. For eight months, we have been witness to suicidal sociopaths driving vehicles laden with explosives into crowds of Iraqis and into our own convoys.

Just last week, we lost another nine Marines killed and an equal number of wounded as the result of some ignorant extremists who was able to convince himself that killing himself and as many Americans as possible would send him to paradise where he could finally get his virgins.

Now, their own ignorance and arrogance will be their undoing. They believe that they can hold Fallujah. In fact, they have come from all over to be part of its glorious defense. I cannot describe the atmosphere that exists in the Regiment right now. Of course the men are nervous but I think they are more nervous that we will not be allowed to clean the rats nest out and instead will be forced to continue operating as is.

Its as if a window of opportunity has opened and everyone just wants to get on with it before it closes. The Marines know the enemy has massed and has temporarily decided to stay and fight. For the first time, the men feel as though we may be allowed to do what needs to be done. If the enemy wants to sit in his citadel and try to defend it against the Marine Corps and some very hard Soldiers... then the men want to execute before the enemy sobers up and flees.

It may come off as an exceptionally bellicose perspective but where the Marines live and operate is a war zone in the starkest reality. When the Marines leave the front gate on an operation or patrol, someone within direct line of sight of that gate is trying to kill them. All have lost friends and watched as the enemy hides within his sanctuary that has been allowed out of what one must assume is political necessity. The enemy has been given every advantage by our sense of morality and restraint and by a set of operational rules that we are constrained to operate under. The Marines feel like their time has come and we will finally be ordered to do what must be done and be given the latitude to do it. Even though the price will be high, there is not a man here that would chose status quo over paying the price.

Every day, the enemy takes more hostages, assassinates developing Iraqi leaders and savagely beats suspected collaborators. I will give you just one recent example that happened last week. One of our patrols was moving down a street when they saw what looked like a fight. The Marines closed with the scene. It was a family that had come to Iraq on religious pilgrimage that was taken hostage and was being taken into Fallujah. The muj stopped for some reason and the father began fighting. The Marines interdicted and captured two of the kidnappers. Two more ran and the Marines could not get a shot without fear of killing/wounding others.

Every day, insurgents from inside Fallujah drive out and wait for Iraqis that work on our bases. Once the Iraqis leave they are stopped. The lucky ones are savagely beaten. The unfortunate ones are killed. A family that had fled Fallujah in order to get away from the fighting recently tried to return. When they got to their home, they found it taken over by terrorists (very common). When the patriarch showed the muj his deed in order to prove that the house was his, they took the old man out into the street and beat him senseless in front of his family.

Summary executions are common. Think about that. Summary executions inside Fallujah happen with sobering frequency. We have been witness to the scene on a number of occasions. Three men are taken from the trunk of a car and are made to walk to a ditch where they are shot. Bodies are found in the Euphrates without heads washed downstream from Fallujah. To date we have been allowed to do nothing.

I have no idea the numbers of beheadings that have occurred in Fallujah since I have been here. I have no idea the number of hostages that have ended up in Fallujah since we have been here. I just don't know that Americans would be able to comprehend the number anyway. Unfortunately, the situation has only gotten worse. There is no hope for any type of reasoned solution with an enemy like this.

Once again, we are being asked by citizens who have fled the city to go in and take the city back. They are willing for us to literally rubble the place in order to kill the terrorists within. Don't get me wrong, there are still many inside the town that support the terrorists and we cannot expect to be thanked publicly if we do take the city. There is a sense of de ja vu with the refugees telling us where their houses are and asking us to bomb them because the muj have taken them over. We heard the same thing in April only to end up letting the people down. Some no doubt have paid with their lives. The "good" people who may ultimately buy into a peaceful and prosperous Iraq are again asking us to do what we know must be done.

The Marines understand and are eager to get on with it. The only lingering fear in them is that we will be ordered to stop again. I don't know if this is going to happen but if it happens soon, I will write you when its over,

Love,

Dave

http://www.thegreenside.com/story.asp?ContentID=11004

Good luck Dave. Most of us have your well being in our thoughts and prayers.

[Rohirrim]

Those who like the idea of preachers running the U.S. take note: Many of the Imams are telling the Iraqi soldiers to desert - and they do. That's the kind of thing you can expect when you sublimate your individuality to fundamentalism. Of course, it has its good side; You no longer have to think for yourself.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

Those who like the idea of preachers running the U.S. take note: Many of the Imams are telling the Iraqi soldiers to desert - and they do. That's the kind of thing you can expect when you sublimate your individuality to fundamentalism. Of course, it has its good side; You no longer have to think for yourself.

I haven't really noticed a groundswell of support for the idea that preachers should run the US. Maybe I've missed something. IIRC, the last three preachers who tried to make a run at the presidency (Jesse Jackson, Pat Robertson, and Al Sharpton) all failed miserably.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Oh, well. At least we can see that Beerslug hasn't let losing the election interfere with his shilling for the Iraqi insurgency.

There's that now-familiar "if you're not with GeeDubya then you're with the terrorists" mantra again.

I guess the unthinking fascists who support the Smirk & Sneer junta still believe repeating it often enough will make it true.

[Needa Pass Rush]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

There's that now-familiar "if you're not with GeeDubya then you're with the terrorists" mantra again.

I guess the unthinking fascists who support the Smirk & Sneer junta still believe repeating it often enough will make it true.

Awwwwwwwww..... Did they steal a page right out of your activist handbook, Richard?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Needa Pass Rush

Awwwwwwwww..... Did they steal a page right out of your activist handbook, Richard?

No Bubba:

Characterizing criticism of one's "elected" officials as "unpatriotic" is a specifically rethug/neocon tactic.

Surely you must know enough about the party you support to recognize this.

(Or not.)

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

There's that now-familiar "if you're not with GeeDubya then you're with the terrorists" mantra again.

I guess the unthinking fascists who support the Smirk & Sneer junta still believe repeating it often enough will make it true.

Like I've said before, if repeating something often enough made people believe it, I'd believe you by now.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Like I've said before, if repeating something often enough made people believe it, I'd believe you by now.

Not quite.

The tactic only works when that which is repeated is a lie.

(Rule #1 for GOP propagandists.)

American Counterattack Seen Failing

There was something familiar in the muddy reports from Fallujah.

Just as during the invasion of Iraq last year, television pictures provided drama, but little hard information. Nobody was really sure how the American assault was going.

A city still packed with civilians has been subjected to a withering assault of United States air strikes and artillery. But outside the Arab world, international criticism of the US attack on the city was unexpectedly muted. There was a sense among many observers that this latest ratcheting of Iraq's agony had become inevitable.

The Americans painted themselves into a corner. The mistakes that led to yesterday's fighting were made long ago, in the invasion of Iraq and the woeful failure to administer the country that followed. The US could not stand by and do nothing as the country descended ever further into anarchy.

The insurgents are able to operate at will, striking where and when they please. The wave of beheadings of Westerners and Iraqis who work for the West has wrecked any vestigial hope of rebuilding the country. The last aid agencies are fleeing.

Unless the Americans were to admit defeat and leave - which they won't, yet - they had to try to strike back at the insurgents.

Fallujah's defiance has come to symbolise the insurgency, and it appears to have become a major base for foreign militants such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian al Qaeda ally who is accused of being behind many of the beheadings.

But every indication is that the odds are heavily against this US counter-attack succeeding. There is no doubt the Americans have the military strength to take Fallujah, or raze it. But that is not their aim. They need to stem the insurgency, and the omens are not good.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...bsection=world

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Wasn't this thread supposed to have something to do with an Iraqi Military Commander deserting US forces? Was it such a consequential desertion that it didn't even merit an article or description of the circumstances?

Oh, well. At least we can see that Beerslug hasn't let losing the election interfere with his shilling for the Iraqi insurgency. Kerry's done, but the insurgency still provides a faint glimmer of hope for those who prefer a Bush disgrace over an American success.

Since you still appear to be in the your *Bush is God fog" I'll spell it out for you again. We don't have enough troops to police this country. We are not discouraging the insurgency by destroying their cities. I think it's a waste of lives and 100s of billions of our tax dollars to continue this course. Either get enough troops over their or get out.

-----------------------------------------------
Police Lose Control of Mosul Amid Uprising
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government rushed reinforcements Friday to the country's third-largest city, Mosul, seeking to quell a deadly militant uprising that U.S. officials suspected may be in support of the resistance in Fallujah — now said to be under 80 percent U.S. control

Police in Mosul largely disappeared from the streets, residents reported, and gangs of armed men brandishing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers roamed the city, 225 miles north of Baghdad. Responding to the crisis, Iraqi authorities dismissed Mosul's police chief after local officials reported that officers were abandoning their stations to militants without firing a shot.

Elsewhere, insurgents shot down a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter near Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad, wounding three crew members, the military said. It was the third downed helicopter this week after two Marine Super Cobras succumbed to ground fire in the Fallujah operation.

In Fallujah, U.S. troops pushed insurgents into a narrow corner in the southern end of the city after a four-day assault that has claimed 22 American lives and wounded about 170 others. An estimated 600 insurgents have died, according to the military.

Despite the apparent success in Fallujah, 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 of the capital. Clashes also broke out from Hawija and Tal Afar in the north to Samarra — where the police chief was also fired — and Ramadi in central Iraq (news - web sites).

The most serious incidents took place in Mosul, a city of about 1 million people, where fighting raged for a second day. Gunmen attacked the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party in an hourlong battle that a party official said left six assailants dead.
Militants also assassinated the head of the city's anti-crime task force, Brig. Gen. Mowaffaq Mohammed Dahham, and set fire to his home.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._re_mi_ea/iraq

Twenty-Two U.S. Troops Killed in Falluja -U.S. General
By Terry Friel

NEAR FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Twenty-two American troops have been killed and 170 wounded in the four-day assault on Falluja that has seen U.S. forces take about 80 percent of the rebel city so far, a U.S. Marine general said on Friday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...asualties_dc_1