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American Forces Press Service


Fallujah Standoff Can't Continue, CPA Official Says

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2004 – The standoff between U.S. and coalition forces and insurgents at the Iraqi city of Fallujah can't continue much longer, the Coalition Provisional Authority's chief spokesman said today in Baghdad.

In Fallujah, about 35 miles west of Baghdad, "our Marines have been on the receiving end of shots and violence over the past week" since an April 9 cease- fire went into effect, Dan Senor told reporters at a news conference.

Baathist-regime supporters, foreign terrorists and other malcontents in and around Fallujah have been attacking since U.S. and coalition forces moved toward the city to subdue those responsible for the March 31 killing and debasement of four American contractors and the deaths of five soldiers killed by an improvised explosive device.

Insurgents in Fallujah appear "to be strengthening their defensive position," Senor pointed out, adding, "There's only so long that this situation can continue."

Senor said if the insurgents continue not to observe the cease-fire, the Marines may need to resume offensive operations. "We want to minimize bloodshed, He emphasized. "We want a peaceful resolution, but we can't do that at the expense of our Marines."

Elsewhere in Iraq, U.S. soldiers are deployed about 100 miles south of Baghdad around the city of Najaf to subdue militant Shiia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, wanted by the Iraqi government for the alleged murder of a fellow cleric last year.

Sadr, who repeatedly has called for U.S. and coalition forces to leave Iraq, controls a 3,000-to-6,000-member militia called the Mahdi army, which last week had forcibly taken over several Iraqi cities. Such militias are outlawed in Iraq, and several senior U.S. military officials have called for the destruction of the Mahda army.

Subsequent discussions to peacefully resolve the situations in Fallujah and Najaf, Senor noted, have yet to prove successful.

If discussions to peacefully resolve the Fallujah situation "don't bear fruit," Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt noted, then U.S. Marines are prepared to resume combat operations to defeat the insurgents. Kimmitt, who accompanied the briefing with Senor, is deputy operations director for Combined Joint Task Force 7.

The military situation across Iraq remains relatively quiet, Kimmitt noted. However, he pointed out that enemy forces continue to attack U.S. supply convoys along roads leading to and from Baghdad.

There appears "to be a concerted effort on the part of the enemy to try to interfere with our lines of communication (and) main supply routes," the general explained, noting the U.S. military has "alternative methods to get those supplies to our forces."

However, Kimmitt conceded that such enemy practices -– if sustained over an extended period -– could have an adverse effect on the Iraqi economy.

"Fewer supplies are going to be able to get to the people of Baghdad and the surrounding region," he noted, with the effect of raising prices. Kimmitt added that reconstruction projects critical to Iraqi economic development could be stalled.

Efforts to disrupt military supply lines "are clearly" aimed at the U.S. and coalition forces, Kimmitt observed. However, he said, such practices would actually "most harm the people of Iraq."

 


1 posted on 04/16/2004 10:23:41 AM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: MJY1288; xzins; Calpernia; TEXOKIE; Alamo-Girl; windchime; Grampa Dave; anniegetyourgun; ...
Military Force May Be Next Option In Fallujah, Myers Says
 
The general... assured reporters there is "sufficient military force" to deal with both the situation in Fallujah and resistance in the south around Najaf: "we will deal with it.."

"This was not a Shiia uprising," Myers said. "Sadr is a marginalized figure, and he's being marginalized more and more every day by his own actions..."

Myers also spoke on the issue of troop rotation in Iraq, after news that some 20,000 troops will be held over in the theater for as much as three months.

"The duration for that additional capability to be here in Iraq is to be determined," he said. "It will depend on events here on the ground. But I think what it shows is our resolve to see this situation through."


Fallujah Standoff Can't Continue, CPA Official Says

 
The standoff between U.S. and coalition forces and insurgents at the Iraqi city of Fallujah can't continue much longer, the Coalition Provisional Authority's chief spokesman said today in Baghdad.

.."our Marines have been on the receiving end of shots and violence over the past week".. Dan Senor told reporters.

If discussions to peacefully resolve the Fallujah situation "don't bear fruit," Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt noted, then U.S. Marines are prepared to resume combat operations to defeat the insurgents.

The military situation across Iraq remains relatively quiet, Kimmitt noted. However...enemy forces continue to attack U.S. supply convoys along roads leading to and from Baghdad.... (an apparent concerted effort) "..to interfere with our lines of communication (and) main supply routes.."

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Godspeed, TROOPS!
~  ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer warriors on duty. Welcome!

2 posted on 04/16/2004 10:25:29 AM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl ("He spares nothing to get to his Marines..They love him." re the command Chaplain in Fallujah,Ramadi)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Military Force May Be Next Option In Fallujah.

I doubt that there ever was any other option.

3 posted on 04/16/2004 10:30:00 AM PDT by Mogollon
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Just do it already. The longer we wait, the worse it'll be.
4 posted on 04/16/2004 10:30:20 AM PDT by Argus (And furthermore, I am of the opinion that Fallujah ought to be destroyed.)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
"At some point, somebody has to make a decision on what we're going to do, and we certainly can't rule out the use of force there, again, depending on how the negotiations go."

That tells me more than I really wanted to know, quite frankly.

7 posted on 04/16/2004 10:32:12 AM PDT by Who dat?
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Did ya notice yesterday at Rummy's news conference he never answered the question on exactly what they were discussing.
9 posted on 04/16/2004 10:34:33 AM PDT by Getsmart64 (LANTIRN - Designed to kill, maim, and destroy ....America's enemies...)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
There never was any other way with these murdering subhumans. We should exterminate them as the vermin they are, give their remains pig excremednt enemas, and bury them with the soles of their feet pointing toward Mecca.
10 posted on 04/16/2004 10:35:06 AM PDT by libstripper
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Welcome to the Fallujah glass mining fields.
12 posted on 04/16/2004 10:35:58 AM PDT by armymarinemom (Bring Them Home Now.org--The Few, The Loud, The Latrine)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
You can't negotiate with these people; anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. The only option is to destroy them. Waiting only emboldens them.
13 posted on 04/16/2004 10:36:46 AM PDT by mgstarr
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl

Oh, Crap!

14 posted on 04/16/2004 10:37:05 AM PDT by OXENinFLA
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Ahh, it's Springtime!

Time to plant some Daisy-cutters!
19 posted on 04/16/2004 10:44:19 AM PDT by aShepard
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Further military action may be necessary in the city of Fallujah,>/i>

Ya THINK?!

31 posted on 04/16/2004 11:26:41 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn't be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
What are we waiting for? Clean Fallujah out. These Islamofascists always will break their own promises wrt ceasefires and truces when it's in their interest to do so, so any such 'agreement' with them is worthless.
40 posted on 04/16/2004 12:05:14 PM PDT by Post Toasties
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Thanks for posting this. Great article with great thread comments.
51 posted on 04/17/2004 6:51:03 AM PDT by Minuteman23
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