Posted on 06/23/2004 3:56:51 PM PDT by demlosers
Much of the city is under control of mujahideen loyal to Zarqawi, who enforce tough versions of syariah
BAGHDAD - The killing of a South Korean translator by Islamic militants reportedly loyal to Jordanian terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has brought the flashpoint central Iraqi city of Fallujah back into the spotlight.
The beheaded body of 33-year-old Kim Sun Il was discovered on a highway between Baghdad and the dusty agricultural hub of 300,000, now ostensibly under the control of the Fallujah Brigade, a United States-backed all-Iraqi military unit.
But witnesses from Fallujah say much of the city is under the control of mujahideen loyal to Zarqawi who have turned it into a haven for Islamic radicals, some of them reportedly from abroad.
Inside the city, they have imposed occasionally bizarre versions of the Islamic law.
On Saturday and again on Wednesday, US forces launched 'precision' air strikes against alleged Zarqawi network safe houses in Fallujah.
'We have strong indications that Zarqawi has been operating out of Fallujah and in a number of other places,' US Army Brigadier-General Mark Kimmitt told reporters following the Saturday attack, which killed at least 20 people.
'Significant number of persons associated with the Zarqawi network were inside the house,' he added.
US military officials suspect that both Mr Kim and American hostage Nicholas Berg, whose grisly execution was aired last month, were held by Zarqawi loyalists in the Sunni city before their deaths.
Mr Adnan Abdi, a Baghdad businessman who frequently visits Fallujah, said the mujahideen, some of them foreign fighters from Yemen, Syria and even Pakistan, have set up checkpoints all over the city.
They grill passersby about their identities and destinations and search vehicles.
In the days leading up to the recent air strikes, US troops have reportedly surrounded Fallujah and shopkeepers have begun shuttering their stores. Whole neighbourhoods have emptied in anticipation of a possible huge American assault on the city.
Journalists are forbidden from entering Fallujah. Clerics who once used to grant permission to journalists now urge Western and even Iraqi journalists to stay away.
But the mujahideen, who run the city, have cracked down on social vices as well as fought the Americans. They flog those caught drinking and have banned the use of celebratory gunfire at weddings, say Fallujah residents and visitors.
They deal harshly with criminals and those allegedly collaborating with American forces.
Special mujahideen courts have been set up to dispense quick justice, said Mr Saad Najam Abdullah, a Fallujah resident who visits Baghdad to drink alcohol without fear of being arrested.
He added, 'The mujahideen are applying Islamic laws very precisely against the criminals.'
The residents tolerate the mujahideen, even allowing their own sons to join them, because of their rage against the American forces, he said.
During the months leading up to an uprising in April, US forces raided houses and made mass arrests in the city, which was a fiercely independent and conservative stronghold even under Saddam Hussein's rule.
It was one big bad mistake by Bush and his poltical team to have stopped the initial assault on Fajullah back in April.
"It was one big bad mistake by Bush and his poltical team to have stopped the initial assault on Fajullah back in April."
This is political season. The President is running to be President again. He's not Ronal Reagan you know.
I agree. Fallujah is a sewer that needs to be cleansed. It seems to have been taken over by Wahabists (some Shi'a got lost there and were ordered executed by some Wahabi clerics) and it does seem that Zarqawi may well be in the area.
Here's Robert Kaplan (one of the Atlantic Monthly's token conservatives) on Fallujah. He agrees with what you're saying because he was embedded there with the Marines.
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2004-06-15.htm
I actually think the vast majority of Iraqis will not shed a tear if Fallujah is flattened down to the last brick. After all, the most vicious of Saddam's secret police came from this town, and most Iraqis think of this city akin an almost lawless town even now.
Yes, that's true. Iraq is not Lebonnon.
Maybe these criminals figured out it is better to throw rice than shoot at U.S. aircraft.
Engage - negotiate - pull out...
Engage - negotiate - pull out...
Engage - negotiate - pull out...
Engage - negotiate - pull out...
and REPEAT
In the long run, it will be far better if the new Iraqi government requests that we assault the city.
Dream steps to resolve Falluja:
1. Move UN headquarters from New York to Falluja
2. Fly many B-52s full of pig's guts over Falluja and apply liberally.
3. Take 1 Mothballed 747 from Marana Arizona, outfit as a remotely piloted vehicle. Load with 5 Megaton nuclear bomb.
Time on Target at Falluja 30 minutes after pig drop.
4. Release tape to Al Jazeera.
5. Repeat application from Morocco to Pakistan as required.
That IS a fact, however a fact that many don't want to realize.
This war is a covert war and our brave soldiers cannot wait to see the shine of their foe's "dog tags" to identify them as such.
It reminds me of the history of the French and Indian War when the French learned to use the landscape to hide while fighting and this strategy was found to be very effective against their foe who stood in lines which were many lines deep just to see their comrades in arms in front of them fall by the dozens just because it was common knowledge that this was how the civilized fought wars.
We must learn new tactics and not depend on our present way to fight wars, for we are not fighting a country, we are fighting religious, hate filled, fanatical, uncivilized dogs now.
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