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The battle of Fallujah
Capt. Sean Sims watched artillery shells fall and explode in a blast of sand and rubble, close enough to hear but too far to see what they hit. It was Sims' first daylight look at the rebel-held city of Fallujah on Monday afternoon, just hours before he would lead his men deep into its heart. A Marine Harrier jet screamed overhead. A Mark-19 automatic grenade launcher nearby let loose - bomb-boom-boom - sending grenades to burst in the distance.As commander of Alpha Company, of the 1st Infantry Division's Task Force 2-2, Sims drew a mission the U.S. military had sought to avoid since the start of the Iraq war: house-to-house fighting in an urban landscape that gave rebels many places to hide, significantly offsetting the superior firepower of U.S. troops while risking civilian casualties and vast property destruction. It would be the most intense urban combat for U.S. troops since the 1968 battle for Hue, in Vietnam. Sims' men would win the battle, yet no one would feel like celebrating. Killing the enemy, they learned, was sobering. More so was the loss of friends. Sims would not come back. It would be interesting to sit down with some Ernie Pyle and see how these stories compare. It is interesting that all three stories start out focusing on an officer. I suspect the reporters simply cannot relate to the enlisted men and so gravitate to those closest to them. Interesting that they found two who died. I wonder if this means officers are disproportionatly casualties or if the embeds were placed in really forward units. Of course, we get the degredation of the effort by comparing it to Vietnam or Abrams shooting at youngsters in tennies. Overall, I get a very negative feeling from these articles, but that may be as much that combat is not often an uplifting experience as that the reporters are rooting for the other side. Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-29 |
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