Allen: Fallujah to be clear of al-Qaida (by August)

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

Allen: Fallujah to be clear of al-Qaida
By Kim Gamel, Associated Press Writer | June 21, 2007

BAGHDAD --A U.S. Marine commander in Anbar province predicted that al-Qaida fighters will be expelled from Fallujah by August as the military moves to cut insurgent supply and reinforcement lines into Baghdad and surrounding areas.

Brig. Gen. John Allen, the deputy commander for American forces west of Baghdad, said al-Qaida in Iraq has largely been pushed out of population centers in much of the Anbar province.

He cited the success in turning Sunni tribes against the organization and an influx of American troops to chase al-Qaida out of Iraqi and regions around the capital.

"The vast majority of them have been pushed out of the population centers," Allen said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "The surge has given us the troops we needed to really clear those areas, so cleared them and we stayed."



Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/06/21/allen_fallujah_to_be_clear_of_al_qaida/

---

Fallujah Patrol Finds Bombs on Ice Make Case for U.S. Exit

By Daniel Williams

June 21 (Bloomberg) -- The three U.S. Marines in Lance Corporal Justin Moyer's Humvee shook their heads at the news on their radio phone.

Iraqi police had just found some explosives hidden in blocks of ice at an ice-making factory in Fallujah, long one of Iraq's most rebellious towns. The explosives were raw material for a roadside bomb, the Marines figured, to be provided to insurgents disguised as a delivery of ice.

``These Iraqis aren't stupid,'' said Moyer, 19, halfway into an eight-month tour of Iraq. ``They'll try anything once. Who would think to inspect ice? It's hot here. Everybody loves ice.''

A day spent with Moyer and his comrades of the Marine 6th Battalion, 2nd Regiment highlights the chronically tenuous security situation in Fallujah. The city is one of the areas targeted by President George W. Bush's 20,000-strong troop ``surge'' designed to bring security to Baghdad and western parts of Iraq this summer.

more:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=alQamgvxD8DI

[krispos42]

1. I'll be the first to say it....

AGAIN?

How many times have we done this their? Fifty? Sixty?

[maddezmom]

2. deja vu: 'Civilians trapped'

'Civilians trapped'
'Civilians trapped'

There was no official acknowledgement of civilian casualties.



But the head of Baquba's emergency services told the BBC not long after the operation began that at least 12 civilians had been killed by the end of the first day, including three women.

He said that there were certainly more civilian casualties, but ambulances were being prevented by US troops from going in to evacuate them.

A number of houses had been destroyed, and there were fears that civilians might be trapped in the rubble.

People had been told by Iraqi army loudspeakers to keep off the streets and stay indoors.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6769391.stm

[aquart]

3. Al qaeda, huh? And the insurgents?

[IndianaGreen]

4. The pacification of Fallujah is right on schedule

I wonder if BG John Allen was in Hue when the famous words "we must destroy the city in order to save it" were uttered by another Marine general.

[acmavm]

5. So what's the plan? Just kill everyone and call them al Quaeda and

declare another victory?

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

14. bingo

;(

[auburngrad82]

6. I thought they cleared Falujah of Al Qaeda a couple years ago

And pretty much left it uninhabitable. Or am I thinking of the wrong city?

[ShortnFiery]

7. Yes, but this is a new, and improved Falujah Beautification Project.

Is there any doubt that those who survive our mighty showers of guns and bombs, then bombs and guns, are going to HATE OUR (USA) GUTS for a very, very, VERY long time?

Dear Leader and his boys and girls within The Unitary Executive have annihilated DECADES of thoughtful diplomacy within the Middle East.

In fact, the USA has NOT EVER been loathed any greater than it is right now. :scared: I shudder when I consider what
a Just God may do. :wow:

[MetaTrope]

8. I was under the impression that Fallujah had become a U.S. fortress second only to Baghdad?

Isn't it now the primary base for the Marines or something?

[ShortnFiery]

9. I don't believe so ... but one thing's for sure, this 2007 campaign will be a bloodbath.

:nuke: :cry: :thumbsdown:

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/fadhily.php?articleid=11076
-------------
Fallujah city has become a symbol for all Iraqis and all good people in the world who decided to fight this monstrous American occupation and no siege will stop the great victorious resistance that represents the voice of all Iraqis who believe in Allah and in the dignity of Iraq," a resistance fighter said. "We can see the world is sleeping while America is conducting a dirty plan to enslave all the human beings on earth."

They are dividing the city into sections in a way that does not allow people to move and make their living," said Jabbar Amir, a shopkeeper in the main market area. "It takes me four checkpoints to reach my shop and most of the week I cannot make it there. This new security force is worse than the Americans – who give them full support regardless of what they do to people.

The U.S. military brought in members of the Shi'ite Badr militia and the Kurdish peshmerga militia to run patrols and checkpoints throughout the city after the devastating November 2004 siege. Many residents believe that this was an act of provocation and an attempt to foment sectarian conflict."

/snip

"Human life is worth nothing in Fallujah these days," said Jameel Nassir , a 21-year-old university student. "The government soldiers executed so many young men, just like what happened in Haditha, and the new security force conducted massive killings against us while Americans pay both armies millions of dollars to do the dirty work for them."



---------------------------------

[Roland99]

10. Third time's a charm, eh? And, btw, who says they're Al Qaeda? The US?

:eyes:

[wryter2000]

21. Thank you!

I've been railing for the last couple of weeks that the corporate media are repeating Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda with no evidence to support that the people attacking our troops and Iraqis are Al Qaeda. Typical dimbulbs, just repeating what they're told like little, mindless automatons.

Prove to me it's Al Qaeda or shut the hell up, news model.

[Roland99]

22. That's been going on for a few months now. I've noticed the trend is picking up.

[youngdem]

11. Either they are lying or are gonna nuke it and build a huge fence to keep people out

Al Qaeda isn't a species of brown people....it is simply identifying with those fighting against the occupiers who under pressure revert to extreme religious ideology.

I'm sure no one like that exists here in the US though, and that is why we can't seem to understand this. :eyes:

[Bragi]

12. Mods, surely this isn't LBN

Since the liberation of Falluja happened more than two years ago, this dated story should be moved from LBBN to some historical DU forum...

(Hey, come to think of it, why isn't there a DU forum for historical discussions?)

- B

[Strelnikov_]

13. Isn't this an example of why 'clear and hold' will not work? n/t

[dipsydoodle]

15. And that would be August

of which year ?

[gratuitous]

18. I notice the spokesmouth was careful not to specify

So it'll be our own darned fault if we assume he meant August 2007, when later "clarification" of his remarks reveals that he meant some undefined August in the indeterminate future. These are the troops we're supposed to be supporting?

[bemildred]

16. Proving, once again, that "whack-a-mole" is a game that you can play, but you can't win. nt

[0007]

17. Bullshit!!

[BushOut06]

19. That's pretty easy, when you can just declare who Al-Qaeda is on a whim

Wanna kill someone in Iraq? Just say they're Al-Qaeda. Accidentally killed a bunch of Iraqis? Just say they were Al-Qaeda. Wanna show you're making "progress" in Iraq? Just say that you cleared an area of Al-Qaeda.

[fed-up]

20. read "Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill for the whole story on Fallujah :( nt