Marines Prepare for Fallujah Pull Back (Fox Reports NO PEACE DEAL in Fallujah)

AP ^ | Thu, Apr 29, 2004 | Jayson Keyser

[Eurotwit]

Well, I don't belive that the AP report is bogus, and I think you are being slightly condesending.

If anything, the headline is slightly misleading, but it seems very clear that there is a deal being worked out. If it will hold is another matter. Remember there are also reports that the Marines around Fallujah are being reinforced with additional armour.

That said, I trust the President and the decision makers on the ground no matter what.

This is from the mouth of freerepublic hero Lt. Colonel Brennan Byrne:

"The arrangement was negotiated between U.S. forces and Fallujah representatives, including four Iraqi generals.


The deal provides for a new force, known as the Fallujah Protective Army, to enter the city and provide security. It will consist of up to 1,100 Iraqi soldiers led by a former general from the military of Saddam Hussein, Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne said.


"The plan is that the whole of Fallujah will be under the control of the FPA," Byrne said.


He identified the commander of the FPA only as Gen. Salah, a former division commander under Saddam. Many of the guerrillas in Fallujah are thought to be former members of Saddam's regime or military. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040429/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=1473

If this works out, I think it is a good solution to a very hairy situation.

[TheBattman]

There's a reason you have a bad feeling - this is the sign of weakness many of us have been warning about for some time now.

We lost....at least in Fallujah. We didn't loose because we don't have the military means, we lost because we don't have the guts to do what it would take to fix that stinkhole problem.

With major netwoks reporting that GW's approval rating is at it's lowest thus far in his term, and his "handling of Iraq" also at a low approval level, I hope he's not pulling a Clinton and waffling in the public opinion breeze.

[Eurotwit]

That said, I think there are a lot of if's and but's about this whole thing.

[Husker24]

Ive got a feeling that the new Iraqi military will just collude with the terrorists in Falluja, this makes us look really weak, its kind of embarrasing.

[carton253]

Not only that... but how many Freepers firmly believe they know what the reality on the ground is just because they read a headline.

[Arkie2]

This smacks of running for political cover. The Iraqi troops are all Sunni and the Generals undoubtedly are since no Shiites or Kurds got that high in Saddam's army. These guys are more likely to make common cause with the insurgents than punish them. Looks like we're admitting defeat and putting up this fig leaf to cover ourselves.

[Dane]

Well, I don't belive that the AP report is bogus, and I think you are being slightly condesending.

Actually it is the US mainstream press who will twist news to any anti-war point of view to instill dissention among the American people who are the condescending ones.

Have seen their "work" for close to 30 years and I have a healthy skepticism of the press and increasingly people who pick up their lickspittle as something akin to the word of God.

[Miss Marple]

PLEASE READ MY REPLY #58! THE PENTAGON HAS SAID WE ARE NOT PULLING OUT!!! THE REPORT IS A BOGUS STORY FROM THE LA TIMES REPORTER!!!

Sorry to shout, but people are not reading the entire thread and are assuming this story is true! After I and others have repeatedly pointed this out, it is frustrating to see that there are people on this thread that only read the headline and make a judgement based on a bogus story.

Thank you for your attention.

[Arkie2]

Hmm. The Washington Post is now carrying the story. If it's bogus it sure seems to have legs.

[Husker24]

Thank God, I was beginning to feel like a Frenchman.

[stig]

Political indeed. GWB needs to tell the American voters he stuck by his self imposed deadline to return sovergnty to Iraq.

This move is all about the politics of getting re-elected and has nothing to do with hunting down insurgents / terrorists. A blind man could see through this charade.

If the left in this country had been crying out for the Marines to get the terrorists responsible for the deaths of the four Americans, Fallujah would have been leveled a long time ago.

Politics is going to play a role when Bush needs to win the election to continue the war on terror and the democrats accompanied by the press refuse to support our troops and their mission.

[ASA Vet]

can we just use one tiny tactical nuke, huh, please??

We should have done it 9/12/01, but not with tacts.
Now it's to late, the national anger is gone.

[CGVet58]

it is not a withdrawal.

Marines do not "withdraw"... they advance in a different direction.

Remember, freeper-brethren, this is the AP talking... and remember most of all that we are winning this war, despite the bleatings from the left in search of a repeat of their victory in Vietnam (against their sworn enemy, the US of A).

CGVet58

[Miss Marple]

The WP is pulling the story from the AP wire.

[Eurotwit]

Well, I don't disagree with the latter part of your argument.

But, in my opinion the hysteria runs both ways.

First you have a lot of people saying the president has lost it, then based on a snippet from Fox News others are saying that all reports of a deal are totally bogus, when they plainly are not.

As for this particular report, those that bothered to read past the headline read that it is talk of a tentative deal, and that negotiations are under way. If I am not mistaken, today is the day, when a whole host of Sheiks have descended on Fallujah to conduct negotiations. Also in the article, Tony Perry states that it is not clear that the pullback of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine regiment represents a withdrawal:

"It was not immediately known if the move represented a withdrawal of Marines from their siege of the city or if other Marine forces were being rotated in to replace the withdrawing 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment."

But, again I agree with you about the media, and your point is further proven by an updated headline on the AP report:

U.S. Marines to End Siege of Fallujah

Cheers.

[Robe]

This twit in the CPA says....

"We call on the American troops that are bombing Fallujah to stop immediately and withdraw outside of the city," Abdul-Hamid told al-Jazeera television. "Otherwise, we'll be forced ... to consider the subject of withdrawal."

we need to tell him...
Then we'll have to consider releasing Saddam, cause he's the only one that kept your a$$ in line

[Major_Risktaker]

10 more troops were murdered by mines or road side bombs in the past 12 hours.

Bush is losing the war against Iranian and Syrian terrorist using GUERRILLA WARFARE.

This second war reminds me of the movie Dune and how the Fremen dessert dwellers picked off Harkonin Troops using GUERRILLA WARFARE while mining the spice Melange or in this case OIL!

I guess mercy is the order of the day because of the 9-11 show with Bush & Cheney answering a few questions today.

This war is getting strange. In short, who is pulling W's strings behind the seen?

[Eurotwit]

My point, Miss Marple, is that some people are not reading the original story either, past the headline.

Cheers.

[SBprone]

See wretchard's writeup this morning.

http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/

[Jim Noble]

What could be going on is a pullback/consolidation of the line, but I'm just not sure

Well, my first thought was that we don't want Marines being caught up in the fireball...