U.S. Forces Say Last Falluja Rebel Bastion to Fall

Yahoo ^ | Reuters

[Michael Goldsberry]

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces hope to gain control of the last rebel bastion in Iraq (news - web sites)'s western city of Falluja during the night, a U.S. Marine officer said on Friday.

Captain Robert Bodisch, a tank company commander, also told Reuters dozens of insurgents had been killed or captured in their last stronghold in southern Falluja.

"There are lots of insurgents. My tank was attacked three times. But I would say the south is the last place we are still moving to control," he said.

"Marines will try get control overnight."

Bodisch said his tanks came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades and snipers positioned on mosque minarets.

"We fired tank shells at the minarets. A lot of people were killed, dozens. Dozens were also captured at mosques," he said.

[Michael Goldsberry]

[dagoofyfoot]

A lot of people were killed, dozens.


"People?


you mean justice was brought to a lot of terrorist"


and that my friend...is a beautiful thing!

[keysguy]

These guys are today's American heroes and if you don't

read about them in your local paper something is wrong.

[Terabitten]

Imagine that. We're pushing the hadjis into the industrial (southeastern) portion of the city where there are no civilian homes. Oh and by the way, Friday night is the new moon - and we own the night.

Tomorrow's gonna be a bad day for the hadjis.

[pangaea6]

Why do we have to capture them? We'll only release them to fight again, they have no honor.

[FreeAtlanta]

I really wish we could get a real combat test for our new MOABs.

[LongViewSC]

I wonder if we can implant tracking chips in a few of the captured terrorists and then release them. Could be useful.

[paper avalanche]

It's not even necessary to do anything. Any jihadis that are caught but let go will never be trusted again, since it's possible they changed colors and started working for our side. The bad guys are already paranoid enough they have executed some of their own because they thought they were negotiating with the U.S.

[oceanview]

after seeing some video just now of what is going on in Mosul - we now know where the insurgents and terrorists who left Faluujah - went to.

this thing isn't over by a long shot. yes, our Marines are supremely brave. but I am starting to have some doubts about the military planning over there.

[broadsword]

You know, for a long time I was frustrated that we had not flattened Fallujah, but now I realize the good of waiting for the garbage to pile up in one spot before incinerating it.

Hallelujah! The seventh-century savages fell for it, and now they are getting theirs. The Mohammedans have never, in all of their long, evil, bloodthirsty history been a match for the Christian West.

Muslims are the worst fighters on earth because they are the worst men on earth.

[Southack]

Don't you *always* have doubts about our military planning? Isn't that your job?

[oceanview]

my job? no, not at all, its just my opinion. and I don't always have doubts. but its clear in this case, that a significant number of the insurgents and the terrorists bailed out of fallujah, we can't simply pretend this hasn't happened.

[Southack]

If the terrorists "bailed out" of Fallujah, why is the fighting still going on there?

[You Dirty Rats]

The Mohammedans have never, in all of their long, evil, bloodthirsty history been a match for the Christian West.

That's why Constantinople is still a Christian City.

[oceanview]

some of them didn't. let's face it, anyone who stayed behind when they had weeks to leave, must have been the hard core crazed jihadis - since facing the US military in such a manner is certain death. that's OK with me, we need to kill these SOBs too. but we should have had some secondary strikes of our own, disconnected from the fallujah offensive, in places where we retained some element of surprise.

[Chief_Joe]

Man, I'm d*mn proud of these guys! Looks like the MO is to corner them and blow'em to bits -Fantastic and about time.  I just wish they'd stop worrying about saving those Mosques or any other buildings: Mosques and buildings can be rebuilt, but we can't rebuild someone who's dead. A complete leveling will give people who identify with the Iraqi region something to do when it's time to rebuild, and it will remind them of the costs of supporting attacks against our nation -no more hiding behind unstatism, and yes we know you do have things you value that can be destroyed in far greater magnitude the then ours.

[68 grunt]

... Muslims are the worst fighters on earth because they are the worst men on earth.

They've been made the worst men on earth due to their deathcult mentality. A cult that perpetuates degradation and humiliation, only to ensure their men can continue their domanance. They are too weak to lead their women without their cowardly cult. They hate their women, they hate their humiliated mother who degraded them, and it manifests in their homosexuality. They try to say they are not homosexual if they are the pokers and not the pokees, but it is a facade. Just like mohammed himself, muslim men are perverts and homosexuals, they are cowards who hide behind their women's burkhas.

[broadsword]

They only win when they vastly outnumber the west. That does not make them better. They are primitive rats and breed like rats, but they are no match for us and never were.

[broadsword]

Excellent points, my friends. Keep up the good work.

[You Dirty Rats]

They only win when they vastly outnumber the west.

Not true. The Moslems defeated Roderick in Spain early in the 8th Century even though they were outnumbered four-to-one. They wiped out the Sassanid Empire in short order. They easily cleared the Byzantines out of Egypt and Syria. It's just not historically accurate to characterize their military capability in those days as poor.

[broadsword]

Absolute nonsense. I know that period of history. Defend your Religion of Peace all you want, but the truth stands against you.

[You Dirty Rats]

OK, so you are saying Roderick defeated the Moslems and prevented the Moslems from conquering Spain; the Byzantines held Syria and Egypt; and the Sassanid Empire defeated the Moslems, which is why the national religion of Iran is not Shia Moslem but Zoroastrianism? I guess Charles Martel won the Battle of Tours in some alternate reality.

I didn't defend the Religion of Islam; I pointed out factual errors in your rendering of history.

If the Moslems were so hopelessly incompetent at war, how did they conquer so much of it from the small base of Arabia? How did they win the Battle of Mohacs? How is it that King Constantine got his butt whipped by Mustafa Kemal in 1920-22?

[ArrogantBustard]

They only win when they vastly outnumber the west. That does not make them better.

I take cold comfort in recalling that the Confederate States of America had more or less the same attitude toward the damyankees ... (I happen to have a CSA Passport ... but it's marked "For Novelty Purposes Only")

[XJarhead]

Not to mention that the Mamluks were the only ones who managed to actually whip the Mongols when the latter were at the height of their power.

Nowadays, most Arab militaries are pretty crappy. But that's not the same as saying that all moslem militaries are crappy. The Turks, for one, are pretty damn tough.

[Fester Chugabrew]

I wonder if we can implant tracking chips in a few of the captured terrorists and then release them. Could be useful.

This should be done by way of a tiny projectile, and without their knowledge.

[You Dirty Rats]

Didn't the Afghans run the Red Army out of Afghanistan? The Afghans ARE moslems, aren't they?

[broadsword]

There have, indeed, been very rare exceptions to the rule that Muslims are worthless fighters and worthless men, but generally, they only win by vastly outnumbering their enemies.

Islamic societies produce nothing more advanced than dates and parsley without hiring westerners to do it for them. They are the primitives of the modern world and a constant threat for the human civilizations they cannot produce and cannot understand.

[broadsword]

And we trashed them in two weeks. Communism made the Russians almost as worthless as your beloved Muslirats.

[WOSG]

Good News from Iraq!
Now it's time to stamp out the cockroaches in the other cities too.

[IStillBelieve]

"We fired tank shells at the minarets. A lot of people were killed, dozens. Dozens were also captured at mosques," he said.

They fired tank shells at the minarets? Outrageous!

They should be using 155mm artillery shells at a minimum!

[XJarhead]

It's hard to denigrate the achievements of early Islam. Islamic nations tended to be more advanced technologically and culturally than their Christian counterparts. Heck, they were way ahead in terms of medicine, astronomy, and math. They gave us our number system.

Militarily, they were damn tough back then. Islam started from nothing but expanded at an incredible rate due to the vigor of its adherents. They stomped the far more numerous Zoroastrian Persians pretty easily, and rumbled through the Iberian peninsula like a Taco Supreme through Michael Moore's colon.

The problem with Islam is that it never had a Reformation. Christianity in the high middle ages was a rather corrupt, stifling influence. But the Reformation fixed a lot of Christianity's problems, and opened the way to the Enlightenment and industrialization. Islam never had a Reformation, and so never adapted to a more modern world. It has left most of its adherents in the middle east locked in medievalism, and that's the fundamental problem.

The Turks broke that mold because of the secularism of Kamel, which is why that country is far more advanced and militarily capable than most other islamic nations. And I'd take a Turkish Brigade over a Belgian brigade any day of the week.

[broadsword]

Islamic nations tended to be more advanced technologically and culturally than their Christian counterparts. Heck, they were way ahead in terms of medicine, astronomy, and math.

FACT: They raided the falling Greek and Roman civilizations for their technology, but produced none of their own. Zero. Zip. Nada. Not a single invention or innovation. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

They gave us our number system.

This is a myth. Even the famed Arabic zero came from India, not Islam.

Militarily, they were damn tough back then. Islam started from nothing but expanded at an incredible rate due to the vigor of its adherents.

They rammed their way through the most primitive and backward cultures on earth by sword point conversion. Then, by sheer numbers, overwhelmed some of their betters in the civilized world.

The problem with Islam is that it never had a Reformation.

Islam cannot have a reformation, because of the "holy" Koran. All the violence, misogyny, backward thinking, hatred, oppression, bloodlust, terror and slavery we see in the Islamic world today and throughout its ugly history is right there in the Koran. And, if you were a Muslim, and called for any kind of reformation of Islam, the Koran clearly calls for your murder. No, sir, there will be no reformation of Islam. It will be a primitive force of terror and opression until the end of time, as it has been since its inception.

The Turks broke that mold because of the secularism of Kamel, which is why that country is far more advanced and militarily capable than most other islamic nations.

Yep. The further a nation strays from the Mohammedan mold, the further it will extricate itself from the primitive morass of Mohammedan turd-world incompetence.

Islam is a terrible curse, first to its adherents, and then to everyone unfortunate enough to be around them.

[You Dirty Rats]

And we trashed them in two weeks. Communism made the Russians almost as worthless as your beloved Muslirats.

Again you are historically wrong. "We" did not trash Afghanistan in two weeks; in cooperation with Afghans, notably the Northern Alliance, the Taliban was defeated.

There are good and bad Muslims; not all of them deserved to be called rats. You need to be more careful making blanket statements that asperse an entire religion based on the actions of some of its adherants. I admire Prime Minister Allawi, for example; a very brave man who is an ally of ours.

As to those Muslim who commit acts of terror and atrocities against the innocent, they deserve nothing but the worst.

[houeto]

mosques = forts

[alrea]

the industrial (southeastern) portion of the city where there are no civilian homes

remember that white flag means wearing a bomb

[alrea]

medievalism

= corrupt bureaucrats

[You Dirty Rats]

FACT: They raided the falling Greek and Roman civilizations for their technology, but produced none of their own. Zero. Zip. Nada. Not a single invention or innovation. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

They rammed their way through the most primitive and backward cultures on earth by sword point conversion. Then, by sheer numbers, overwhelmed some of their betters in the civilized world.

Actually, the Arabs used scimitars, which were an example of the remarkably advanced metallurgical capabilities of their culture. Damascus, in particular, was known for its fine craftsmen. When fighting with a scimitar, you don't attack with the point of the blade, any more than you would use the point of the blade to attack with, say, a broadsword.

Perhaps you need to call Danny Boy for some transport.

[broadsword]

Again you are historically wrong. "We" did not trash Afghanistan in two weeks; in cooperation with Afghans, notably the Northern Alliance, the Taliban was defeated.

The northern alliance was nearly useless and often a nuisance if not a serious problem.

There are good and bad Muslims; not all of them deserved to be called rats.

True. Just as there are bad Hindus, Jews, Buddhists and Christians DESPITE Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism and Christianity, there are good Muslims DESPITE the bloodthirsty, misogynistic, opressive, backward tenets of Islam as clearly outlined in the Koran, Shariah and Hadith. I have read the Koran. You should do the same, and wake up before it's too late.

You need to be more careful making blanket statements that asperse an entire religion based on the actions of some of its adherants. As to those Muslim who commit acts of terror and atrocities against the innocent, they deserve nothing but the worst.

The terrorists are the REAL Muslims and are following the Koran in true faith. The "moderate" Muslims (who quietly nod and smile while funding the terrorists to kill us) are NOT following their religion unless they are acting as trojan horses to put folks like you to sleep for an easier throat-slitting.

Don't forget that the Koran says it is a virtue to lie to the infidel in order to advance the march of Islam ntil it covers the whole world in its seventh-century oppression. But what do they need to lie for when they have you doing your good "work" on their behalf?

[xone]

'but we should have had some secondary strikes of our own, disconnected from the fallujah offensive, in places where we retained some element of surprise.'

So we know where there are groups of jihadis, but we aren't attacking them because of Fallujah? Get real.

[broadsword]

Actually, the Arabs used scimitars, which were an example of the remarkably advanced metallurgical capabilities of their culture.

Is there a myth into which you will not buy? "Damascus steel" was very advanced because it was pounded from a material called wootz, which the Muslims bought from India and could not produce on their own. It was the best steel in the world at that time, unless you consider that both China and Japan were producing it, albeit from a diferent method then that if the Indians, for many centuries.

So don't bother to say, "the remarkably advanced metallurgical capabilities of their culture" because it just makes you look lke more of an idiot as well as an Islamonazi defender.

[You Dirty Rats]

I don't appreciate the personal attacks. You want to use a term like idiot, go find a mirror.

[konaice]

The deathtoll for the terrorists in Falluja will probably top 2000, because the Army and Marines only count bodies they can see.
Many more are burried in buildings.
They lost a Quarter to Half their force.
So the fact that some got out was realized ahead of time.

Next place they rear their head they will lose half again, or far more, because they will never again be allowed to did in and prepare so well.

US airforce is bombing terrorist hideouts in the northern cities. They are being attritted everywhere.

All is going according to plan.

[broadsword]

LOL!

I didn't say that you ARE an idiot, just that saying things like you did make you LOOK like an idiot. If you WERE an idiot, you would not be able to type. And, yes, I have a mirror. An, yes, sometimes I look like an idiot too.

Nice to meet ya.

[ubu]

It's not so much that they suck, it's that we are just freaking awesome. The same MOUT training we did to fight battles in Europe against the Soviet Army could be easily adapted to anti-terrorist work--not to mention the lessons learned thirty years ago. We also took more recent lessons from the Israelis, who have been doing this for four years worth of intifada.

You always hear about the "screw-ups" in the military, the "not invented here" syndrome and resistance to change. Any bureaucracy has some of that, but no army in the world-- check that -- no military in the world has a review, development, and improvement cycle as strong as ours.

Not to mention, comparing a the performance of a professional military to a bunch of draftees just isn't fair. :-)

[broadsword]

All is going according to my plan.

[JimRed]

No prisoners, please. Kill them where you find them, or turn them over to the Iraqi forces for disposal. They'll beg for the comfort of Gitmo!

[broadsword]

AMEN to that, my friend!

[watchin]

The problem with Islam is that it never had a Reformation. Christianity in the high middle ages was a rather corrupt, stifling influence. But the Reformation fixed a lot of Christianity's problems

Your history only goes back halfway, making your point only half-right ... or all wrong.

The early years of the Church were not corrupt, were not violent, and were not political. There were no wars, no conquests, but there was much persecution. Against the Christians, that is, not perpetrated by them. The middle ages saw the Church depart from Christ's teachings.

The Christian reformation was not a re-inventing of Christianity. It was a renewal; the Church went back to its roots - the teachings of Jesus.

Islam is a totally different story. It was war and conquest from the outset. This was predictable, as it is in accord with the teachings of mohammed.

The "dark ages" of islam paralleled those of the Church only in one respect - a drifting away from the teachings of the founder.

In the past fifty years, islam has been having it's "reformation", as they return to the teachings of mohammed: murder, mayhem, terrorism, revolution, beheadings, oppression, slavery, genocide, anti-semitism, massacre, etc.

[veryconernedamerican]

there is more to this also, we are fighting with the help of air strikes, tank support, and genally superior training and equipment. it is over before it begins, we just need to find them and the battle is won. it doesnt matter how strong or what brave warriors they could be, they have no chance. like indians with bow and arrows against gattling guns. and we also have the numbers.

[Uncle Jaque]

Re:

"That's why Constantinople is still a Christian City."

Where is Constantinople anyway ... - somewhere around Istanbul, isn't it?

There is an old "Swing" song by Bing Crosby or someone like that from the '40s that's kinda catchy;

"Why did Constantinople get the works?;
That's nobody's business but the Turks!"

I wouldn't be too quick too belittle the Mooslim's tactical capability broadly; they've had their moments to be sure.

IIRC, they were one of the first militaries (under Saladin, wasn't it?) to effectively use artillery in the reduction of a City's defensive walls.
And they made some really monstorous howitzers that lobbed massive stone balls over, into, and eventually through the thick stone ramparts.

The Ottoman Empire wasn't established by a bunch of idiots, I don't think. And they held on to it for quite a while, didn't they?

So perhaps we'd best not misunderestimate 'em with all that much abandon just yet.

Although from what I can observe of history, Arab Muslims seem to have been generally REgressing technically, morally, socially and intellectually for about the past 1300 years.

Gee; I wonder why?