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Posted on 04/01/2004 10:57:03 AM PST by thecabal
"It's going to be deliberate, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming," U.S. General Mark Kimmitt said, speaking to reporters in Baghdad. He warned insurgents in the town of Fallujah to be prepared for U.S. forces to strike back following Wednesday's killing of four American contractors by a frenzied mob that dragged their charred bodies through the streets.
Televised footage of the act has provoked outrage from Americans in the United States and led U.S. administrator in Baghdad Paul Bremer to issue a warning.
"Their deaths will not go unpunished," he promised.
The White House blamed the attacks on supporters of Saddam Hussein. The remains of the four were to be turned over to the U.S. military.
A day after the attack, three American soldiers were injured in another attack near Fallujah, this time when their Humvee struck a roadside bomb.
U.S., Iraqi Troops Seal Off Fallujah
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi troops in tanks, trucks and other vehicles surrounded the turbulent city of Fallujah on Monday ahead of a major operation against insurgents following the grisly slayings of four American security contractors last week.
Explosions and gunfire could be heard coming from the center of the city. Streets on the outskirts were largely deserted.
One U.S. Marine was killed in fighting in the area Monday, said Lt. Col. Gregg Olson, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
U.S. commanders have been vowing a massive response to pacify Fallujah, one of the most violent cities in the Sunni Triangle, the heartland of the anti-U.S. insurgency north and west of Baghdad.
After the slayings of the Americans on Wednesday, residents dragged the four bodies through the streets, hanging two of their charred corpses from a bridge, in horrifying scenes that showed the depth of anti-U.S. sentiment in the city.
U.S. troops closed off entrances to Fallujah with earth barricades ahead of the planned operation, code named "Vigilant Resolve." Military patrols entered the outer suburbs on reconnaissance missions and to broadcast warnings on loud speakers to residents to stay indoors until Tuesday.
Iraqi police in the city visited mosques, dropping off Arabic leaflets from the U.S. military, telling residents that there was a daily 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. It ordered them not to congregate in groups or carry weapons, even if licensed. It instructed people that if U.S. forces enter their homes, they should gather in one room and if they want to talk to the troops to have their hands up.
Some 1,200 U.S. Marines and two battalions of Iraqi security forces were poised to enter the city to arrest suspected insurgents, said Lt. James Vanzant, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. He would not say when the troops would enter the city.
"The city is surrounded," Vanzant said. "It's an extended operation. We want to make a very precise approach to this. ... We are looking for the bad guys in town."
Marine 1st Lt. Eric Knapp said the troops will target the killers of the four Americans as well as rebels who have attacked U.S. forces and Iraqi police in the past month. "Those people are specially targeted to be captured or killed," he said.
A Marine officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. forces had a list of targets for raids. He would not give details.
A witness reported that a U.S. helicopter struck a residential area in the city early Monday, killing five people. The bombing damaged five houses, said the witness, Mohammed Shawkat. There was no immediate U.S. comment on the report.
Another witness, resident Ali Jasim, said there was shooting near one of the U.S. barricades on a road out of Fallujah and some Iraqis who were trying to leave the city were hit. It was unclear whether they were killed or wounded. Roads to a hospital in Fallujah were blocked to all traffic except ambulances.
The California-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force assumed responsibility for Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division on March 24. The Marines said they intended to take a softer approach with Fallujah residents, hoping to win popular support.
But the Marines have quickly found themselves mired in violence. On March 26, Marines and insurgents fought a lengthy street battle in the city that killed one Marine and five Iraqis.
The same day as the killing of the four U.S. civilians, five Marines were killed when a bomb exploded under their vehicle in a village near Fallujah.
By Michael Georgy
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. helicopter gunships opened fire as tanks rumbled through Baghdad's sprawling Shuala district Monday, but teenage militiamen with guns and knives were firmly in control when the clashes ended.
Young boys jumped up and down on a U.S. military truck that had been attacked and set ablaze in a symbolic victory for radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militiamen are challenging U.S. forces in several cities across Iraq .
Sadr's Mehdi Army has said for months it is ready for holy war against the Americans if the order comes, and the militia displayed its zeal and organizational skills Monday in Shuala, a teeming Shi'ite area.
Officials in Sadr's local headquarters said U.S. troops backed by helicopters mounted an incursion into Shuala in the morning, firing tank-mounted machineguns from a distance.
"People came out from their homes when they saw what was happening. U.S. troops fled when a (tank) transporter in the convoy was seized and set on fire," said Sheikh Ali, carrying a pistol and wearing a "Fine Surfing Gear" sweatshirt.
"Look what they have done," he added, pointing to bullet holes in the walls of the Sadr group's office.
There was no firm word on casualties in the strike, thought to be the first of its kind inside Baghdad since the war that toppled Saddam Hussein nearly a year ago, but an anti-U.S. cleric said five people were killed and 10 wounded.
By the early afternoon, the militiamen ruled the streets, with only a few bursts of gunfire in the distance.
MILITIA WEIGHS NEXT MOVE
Inside the Sadr group headquarters, guarded by fighters behind sandbags, senior clerics from the district were consulting with the fiery cleric by telephone.
"He has handed down an order saying that we should try to calm things down but defend ourselves if we are attacked," said one man, who declined to give his name.
"When the order comes for a holy war, there will not be one American left in the street."
Outside, young teenagers with Kalashnikov rifles, long knives and clubs closed off the main road leading to where U.S. troops waited in Humvees and tanks on the edge of the district.
Older militiamen and civilians sympathetic to Sadr formed neat rows along the street, awaiting U.S. military vehicles.
Every time they showed up, the men dressed mostly in black sat in the road to block the approaching Humvees. They held up posters of their leader, yelling "Long live Moqtada."
The chain of command seems clear. Only top clerics are allowed to speak about the U.S.-led occupation or the protests and clashes that erupted in several Iraqi cities Sunday.
In a well-rehearsed line, militiamen insist they would only resort to violence to defend themselves or the Iraqi people.
In the end, a cleric walked over to the U.S. troops to negotiate. Sadr's people said the Americans had agreed to only one of a long list of demands -- that they leave Shuala.
"You see, the Americans sent someone to call for negotiations. It is a sign of weakness," said Sheikh Ali.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi judge has issued a murder arrest warrant for a radical Shiite Muslim cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, for the slaying of another Shiite leader, coalition officials said Monday.
Coalition spokesman Dan Senor announced the warrant but would not say when al-Sadr would be detained. "There'll be no advance warning," he said.
Senor said the arrest warrant had been issued several months ago. He refused to say why al-Sadr had not been arrested earlier.
Al-Sadr and his supporters were responsible Sunday for some of the worst violence since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
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