farmgirl
04-20-2004, 05:36 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040420/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_fallujah&e=4
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rated the chances of a negotiated solution to the standoff in Fallujah as "remote" and warned that the US military will not stand by indefinitely.
The marines were poised for military action against insurgents in the town but no deadline has been set for negotiators trying to defuse tensions there, top US military leaders said here.
"The current state of affairs in Fallujah will not continue indefinitely," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon (news - web sites) press conference with General Peter Pace, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.
"Thugs and assassins and former Saddam henchmen will not be allowed to carve out portions of that city and to oppose peace and freedom," he said.
Rumsfeld said the problem with the negotiations was that they have not involved the fighters in Fallujah, only "town fathers."
"They're not talking to the former intelligence officers that are in there. They're not talking to the SSO or the Special Republican Guard people that are in there. They're not talking to the foreign terrorists that are in there," he said.
"These are the people that are causing the problems, these are the ones that are terrorizing the people of Fallujah," he said.
Rumsfeld said negotiators were dealing with the circumstances of civilians caught in the city and might succeed in bringing some fighters to justice.
But he added, "I just characterized it, as it seems to me, to be remote."
In a deal struck with town leaders Monday, the marines have suspended offensive operations and agreed to ease access to the city by civilians and medical workers.
"What is happening militarily is that the Marines are still poised to resume offensive operations," Pace said.
"They're still taking very aggressive defensive protective measures. They're in place as they are attacked. They are very aggressively killing the enemy," he said.
"There is not a specific timeline right now. The Marines are giving the political figures in the country the opportunity to work out a political solution," he said.
A simmering hotbed of resistance to the US-led occupation, Fallujah erupted after four US contractors were killed March 31 in an ambush and then mutilated by angry crowds in the city.
The incident triggered fierce urban battles between Marines and insurgents, that have continued to flare despite a ceasefire.
"We went in because we had to find the perpetrators and what we found was a huge rat's nest that is still festering today. It needs to be dealt with," General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites).
Myers, who visited Iraq (news - web sites) last week, said that although coalition authorities were responding with negotiations and a ceasefire, extremists continued to fire on US marines in Fallujah.
"I think it was yesterday or the day before a Red Crescent ambulance trying to get in Fallujah was stopped and weapons were found inside. They are trying to resupply themselves with weapons and ammunition," he said.
He said the area was still "very, very hot" after a surge of violence earlier this month both by Sunnis in Fallujah and also in Baghdad and several southern cities where followers of a radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr rose up.
"Part of it is going to have to be dealt with military force, in my judgement," he said.
"Obviously a big part of it has to be dealt with in making sure we have a strategy that enfranchises the Sunni population, and that's being worked very hard," he added.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rated the chances of a negotiated solution to the standoff in Fallujah as "remote" and warned that the US military will not stand by indefinitely.
The marines were poised for military action against insurgents in the town but no deadline has been set for negotiators trying to defuse tensions there, top US military leaders said here.
"The current state of affairs in Fallujah will not continue indefinitely," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon (news - web sites) press conference with General Peter Pace, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.
"Thugs and assassins and former Saddam henchmen will not be allowed to carve out portions of that city and to oppose peace and freedom," he said.
Rumsfeld said the problem with the negotiations was that they have not involved the fighters in Fallujah, only "town fathers."
"They're not talking to the former intelligence officers that are in there. They're not talking to the SSO or the Special Republican Guard people that are in there. They're not talking to the foreign terrorists that are in there," he said.
"These are the people that are causing the problems, these are the ones that are terrorizing the people of Fallujah," he said.
Rumsfeld said negotiators were dealing with the circumstances of civilians caught in the city and might succeed in bringing some fighters to justice.
But he added, "I just characterized it, as it seems to me, to be remote."
In a deal struck with town leaders Monday, the marines have suspended offensive operations and agreed to ease access to the city by civilians and medical workers.
"What is happening militarily is that the Marines are still poised to resume offensive operations," Pace said.
"They're still taking very aggressive defensive protective measures. They're in place as they are attacked. They are very aggressively killing the enemy," he said.
"There is not a specific timeline right now. The Marines are giving the political figures in the country the opportunity to work out a political solution," he said.
A simmering hotbed of resistance to the US-led occupation, Fallujah erupted after four US contractors were killed March 31 in an ambush and then mutilated by angry crowds in the city.
The incident triggered fierce urban battles between Marines and insurgents, that have continued to flare despite a ceasefire.
"We went in because we had to find the perpetrators and what we found was a huge rat's nest that is still festering today. It needs to be dealt with," General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites).
Myers, who visited Iraq (news - web sites) last week, said that although coalition authorities were responding with negotiations and a ceasefire, extremists continued to fire on US marines in Fallujah.
"I think it was yesterday or the day before a Red Crescent ambulance trying to get in Fallujah was stopped and weapons were found inside. They are trying to resupply themselves with weapons and ammunition," he said.
He said the area was still "very, very hot" after a surge of violence earlier this month both by Sunnis in Fallujah and also in Baghdad and several southern cities where followers of a radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr rose up.
"Part of it is going to have to be dealt with military force, in my judgement," he said.
"Obviously a big part of it has to be dealt with in making sure we have a strategy that enfranchises the Sunni population, and that's being worked very hard," he added.