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U.S. patrols to begin in Fallujah
Full version of the extracted item below...
U.S. troops will likely enter parts of Najaf soon in a move to clamp down on the rebel militia of a radical Shiite cleric but will stay away from sensitive holy sites in the center of the city to avoid rousing the anger of Shiites, a U.S general said Sunday. Shiite leaders have warned of a possible explosion of anger among the countryâs Shiite majority
Yawn.
if U.S. troops enter Najaf, and until now U.S. commanders have been saying troops would not go in. With the new move, the military seeks to impose a degree of control in Najaf, while hoping that a foray limited to the modern parts of the ancient holy city would not inflame Shiites. Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling did not say when troops would move in, or how many.
American officials were attempting a similar limited step in the war-torn city of Fallujah, the other main front of fighting in Iraq this month. U.S. troops will begin patrols alongside Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, a top Iraqi negotiator, Hachim al-Hassani, said Sunday an apparent attempt to restore control over the insurgent stronghold without a full-scale Marine assault, which would spark new bloodshed. But like a previous agreement aimed at reducing the violence in the city, the new step hinged greatly on the response of Sunni guerrillas, who are called on to turn in their heavy weapons and not carry any weapons in public. ââWe hope the U.S. soldiers will not be attacked when they enter the city. If they are attacked, they will respond and this will lead to problems,ââ al-Hassani told The Associated Press.
No shit Sherlock
He said Fallujah residents have promised no attacks will take place. But U.S. officials have questioned whether Fallujah civic leaders who have been negotiating with the Americans have enough influence with the cityâs guerrillas. Guerrillas have not been abiding by a previous call from the civil leaders to surrender their heavy weapons, U.S. commanders say.
Tap-Tap, Nope nothing
Violence across the country flared Saturday, killing 33 Iraqis in various attacks and four U.S. soldiers whose base was hit by two rockets north of Baghdad. On Sunday, a rocket hit near a hospital in the northern city of Mosul, killing three people including two women working at the hospital doctors said. Elsewhere the city, a mortar hit a residential area, killing one Iraqi. In Baghdad, a roadside bomb hit a U.S. military convoy in an eastern neighborhood, setting a Humvee on fire. Witnesses reported U.S. casualties, but there was no immediate confirmation from the military. Meanwhile, U.S. military officials in the Gulf were trying to determine the launching point of an unprecedented suicide boat attack on two offshore oil terminals that are the sole outlet of Iraqi crude from the south. The attacks, using explosive-packed dhows, killed two U.S. Navy sailors and forced the shutdown of the two terminals for several hours.
| A third sailor, a Coast Guardsman, died today... |
Asked if the attackers came from inside Iraq or neighboring Iran or Kuwait, Navy Commander James Graybeal, of the U.S. Navyâs Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said, ââThatâs what were trying to determine.ââ Insurgents often attack oil pipelines in Iraq and have repeatedly shut down exports from northern oil fields to Turkey. Saturdayâs bombings were the first such maritime attack on the industry and appeared to be a new tactic in the Iraqi conflict resembling al-Qaida-linked attacks in 2000 and 2002 against the USS Cole and a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen that killed 17 American sailors and a tanker crewman. The blasts Saturday caused little damage to the facilities, and Sunday morning tankers resumed loading crude at the two terminals, al-Basra and Khawr al-Amara, about 100 miles in Gulf waters off the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, said Shamkhi Faraj, head of the State Oil Marketing Organization.
| I'm leaning toward the Iran interpretation, myself, but I could be wrong. I doubt it, though. |
The new steps in Najaf and Fallujah came after President Bush held a conference call Saturday with his top commander in the Middle East, Gen. John Abizaid, over the situation in Iraq. U.S. commanders have been threatening a full-scale offensive to take Fallujah and uproot insurgents unless guerrillas hand over their heavy weapons within days. But a new assault would revive bloody fighting that killed hundreds of Iraqis this month, helped set off a surge of guerrilla attacks across the country that killed at least 109 U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the beginning of April the deadliest period ever in Iraq for the Americans. The Fallujah siege also fueled anti-U.S. sentiment, rallying the Sunni minority and angering even U.S. allies among the Iraqi leadership. Al-Hassani told The Associated Press that joint U.S.-Iraqi patrols would begin in the city on Tuesday, when orders will be issued forbidding Fallujah residents from carrying weapons in the streets. He said 75 families who fled Fallujah during the fighting will be allowed to return on Sunday. ââIf things go well, all families will be allowed to return,ââ he said. Nearly a third of the cityâs 200,000 residents fled the city since the siege began on April 5. The attempt to have guerrillas hand over their heavy weapons will continue, he said. So far, insurgents have only turned in a small number of weapons, most of them rusted, broken or otherwise unusable, U.S. commanders have said.
As was Expected
| I don't think the commanders' surprise meters are pegged, either... |
The new U.S. intention to move into parts of Najaf also carried heavy risks. ââWe probably will go into the central part of the city. Will we interfere in the religious institutions? Absolutely not,ââ Hertling, a deputy commander of the 1st Armored Division, told reporters outside Najaf. He did not say when the move would occur, but it appeared unlikely for several days. Hertling said the move aimed to tighten the clampdown on radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his militia. ââItâs not going to be large-scale fighting, the likes of other places, but itâs going to be critical,ââ he said. ââWeâre going to drive this dead man walking guy into the dirt.ââ
And 6 feet under
ââEither he tells his militia to put down their arms, form a political party and fight with ideas not guns or heâs going to find a lot of them killed,ââ he said.
| I'll buy that for a dollar... |
Also, an Army reservist missing in Iraq since a convoy attack April 9 was confirmed dead. The remains of Sgt. Elmer Krause, 40, were found Friday, according to a statement Saturday from the Department of Defense. It gave no other details. Another soldier and a U.S. contract worker abducted in the same attack remain unaccounted for. The latest deaths brought to 109 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the beginning of April. At least 718 servicemembers have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. Anywhere from 900 to 1,200 Iraqis have been killed in April depending on various reports of the death toll from Fallujah.
Posted by: chinditz 2004-04-25 |
