Uncle Sam
04-23-2004, 07:32 PM
http://www.*******.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4924244
CAMP FALLUJA, Iraq (*******) - U.S. commanders preparing Marines for a possible new offensive in the flashpoint city of Falluja expect to face enemies from Islamists to hired guns in a battle they say could shape Iraq's future.
"As Falluja goes, so goes central Iraq, as central Iraq goes, so goes the nation," Colonel John Coleman, chief of staff of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told reporters.
"Falluja is the center of gravity."
More than 2,000 Marines are poised to strike Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, as their commanders say a new offensive could be launched in days if guerrillas fail to hand over heavy weapons and peace negotiators don't deliver.
The Americans possess overwhelming firepower, but killing combatants won't be easy in Falluja, a tough town with a wide range of enemies united only by hatred for the U.S. occupiers.
Guerrillas, Muslim militants, foreign fighters estimated by the U.S. military to number more than 200 and criminals offering freelance services are expected to challenge the Americans if full-scale hostilities resume, Coleman said.
U.S. Marines launched a crackdown on Falluja this month after four U.S. contractors were killed and mutilated there.
Hundreds of Iraqis died in the fierce fighting and thousands fled the city. A negotiated truce, which followed a unilateral U.S. cease-fire, has been punctuated by clashes.
At the sprawling Camp Falluja just outside the town, Coleman went through a long list of military and political land mines in Falluja, a Sunni Muslim town of about 300,000.
"You have the man who has fired on American troops and then lays low for a while, then comes out again when he is inspired by the Imam to Jihad (holy war)," he said.
Other potential foes could include out of work ex-military officers. While some of them may join the coalition, others may choose to join the "hardcore guerrillas," he said.
"There is only one way to deal with the hardcore. Tap (shoot) them," Coleman added.
"UNITED BY TURMOIL"
U.S. Marines themselves aren't pondering the complexities of a new offensive or the wide array of enemies inside Falluja.
"They are just Iraqi thugs. It's not like they wear blue and red uniforms. Whoever shoots at you, you just shoot back," said Lieutenant Duncan Hunter, 27, of San Diego, California, on a one-day break from his position on the edge of Falluja.
Some Marines say they had no guidance on their enemies so they just brand them terrorists.
"Nobody has really told us about them," said 25-year-old Lance Corporal Alan Deaver of Baltimore, Maryland.
Finding enemies could be difficult because there appears to be no central command and Coleman acknowledged that a new offensive could create new enemies.
"They are united by circumstances, the turmoil," he said.
"You will have Marines who see several enemies aiming at them. They won't be able to tell the difference between a Lebanese or a Syrian foreign fighter," he said.
A new battle over Falluja would be crucial for U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq, gripped by suicide bombings, kidnappings and shootings in an insurgency in which more than 100 U.S. troops and hundreds of civilians have been killed this month.
Falluja has become a symbol of national resistance against the U.S. occupation and its strategic location in the Sunni Triangle that was toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's powerbase means any battle will be high stakes.
"I don't want to be 70-years-old on my porch reading about another failure of American foreign policy," Coleman said of an offensive he suggested was imminent.
CAMP FALLUJA, Iraq (*******) - U.S. commanders preparing Marines for a possible new offensive in the flashpoint city of Falluja expect to face enemies from Islamists to hired guns in a battle they say could shape Iraq's future.
"As Falluja goes, so goes central Iraq, as central Iraq goes, so goes the nation," Colonel John Coleman, chief of staff of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told reporters.
"Falluja is the center of gravity."
More than 2,000 Marines are poised to strike Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, as their commanders say a new offensive could be launched in days if guerrillas fail to hand over heavy weapons and peace negotiators don't deliver.
The Americans possess overwhelming firepower, but killing combatants won't be easy in Falluja, a tough town with a wide range of enemies united only by hatred for the U.S. occupiers.
Guerrillas, Muslim militants, foreign fighters estimated by the U.S. military to number more than 200 and criminals offering freelance services are expected to challenge the Americans if full-scale hostilities resume, Coleman said.
U.S. Marines launched a crackdown on Falluja this month after four U.S. contractors were killed and mutilated there.
Hundreds of Iraqis died in the fierce fighting and thousands fled the city. A negotiated truce, which followed a unilateral U.S. cease-fire, has been punctuated by clashes.
At the sprawling Camp Falluja just outside the town, Coleman went through a long list of military and political land mines in Falluja, a Sunni Muslim town of about 300,000.
"You have the man who has fired on American troops and then lays low for a while, then comes out again when he is inspired by the Imam to Jihad (holy war)," he said.
Other potential foes could include out of work ex-military officers. While some of them may join the coalition, others may choose to join the "hardcore guerrillas," he said.
"There is only one way to deal with the hardcore. Tap (shoot) them," Coleman added.
"UNITED BY TURMOIL"
U.S. Marines themselves aren't pondering the complexities of a new offensive or the wide array of enemies inside Falluja.
"They are just Iraqi thugs. It's not like they wear blue and red uniforms. Whoever shoots at you, you just shoot back," said Lieutenant Duncan Hunter, 27, of San Diego, California, on a one-day break from his position on the edge of Falluja.
Some Marines say they had no guidance on their enemies so they just brand them terrorists.
"Nobody has really told us about them," said 25-year-old Lance Corporal Alan Deaver of Baltimore, Maryland.
Finding enemies could be difficult because there appears to be no central command and Coleman acknowledged that a new offensive could create new enemies.
"They are united by circumstances, the turmoil," he said.
"You will have Marines who see several enemies aiming at them. They won't be able to tell the difference between a Lebanese or a Syrian foreign fighter," he said.
A new battle over Falluja would be crucial for U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq, gripped by suicide bombings, kidnappings and shootings in an insurgency in which more than 100 U.S. troops and hundreds of civilians have been killed this month.
Falluja has become a symbol of national resistance against the U.S. occupation and its strategic location in the Sunni Triangle that was toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's powerbase means any battle will be high stakes.
"I don't want to be 70-years-old on my porch reading about another failure of American foreign policy," Coleman said of an offensive he suggested was imminent.