U.S. Marines Halt Offensive in Fallujah

[seruriermarshal]

U.S. Marines Halt Offensive in Fallujah

2 minutes ago


FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marines halted offensive operations in Fallujah on Friday to allow talks with a delegation of sheiks from the city, a stronghold of Sunni insurgents that has been besieged by American forces this week, a commander said.


"I would not describe this as a cease-fire. We are still aggressively defending our positions. However we have ceased offensive operations for now," said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment.


The offensive halt began at noon Friday, he said.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040409/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_fallujah&cid=540&ncid=1478


Sad message ......

[seruriermarshal]

U.S. Halts Offensive Operations in Falluja

10 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (*******) - U.S. forces unilaterally suspended military operations in the Sunni town of Falluja at midday on Friday to allow humanitarian access and to try to start talks with insurgents, Iraq (news - web sites)'s U.S. governor said.



"As of noon today coalition forces have initiated a unilateral suspension of offensive operations in Falluja to allow for a meeting between members of the Governing Council, the local Muslim leadership and the leadership of anti-coalition forces," Paul Bremer told reporters.


The U.S. military started a major offensive against Sunni insurgents in Falluja early this week. Hospital officials in the town have reported up to 300 Iraqis killed, and the Marines have also taken severe casualties.


Bremer said the U.S. military would remain poised to continue its crackdown on guerrillas if talks failed.


"During this suspension period coalition forces retain the inherent right of self defense and will remain fully prepared to resume offensive operations unless significant progress in these discussions occurs," he said.


Bremer, talking on the sidelines of a ministerial security meeting, said suspending operations would also allow the relevant Iraqi ministries to deliver aid and other supplies and permit residents of Falluja to attend to their wounded and dead.


He did not say how long the cease-fire would last in the town, west of Baghdad. A member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, which says it is in contact with Sunni insurgents and is represented on the Governing Council, said it would be in force for 24 hours.


"We call on the steadfast people of Falluja to respond in kind and help implement the deal," Qahtan al-Rubaie said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040409/ts_nm/iraq_ceasefire_dc&cid=564&ncid=1478



I'm worry , there have more attack .

:(

[Soulhunter]

It'll be interesting to see if the Puppet Council can reach any deal at all there ...

[duck]

Everyone who is not for armed conflict is an American puppet? Only the religious fanatics see through it all? Violence and Islamic law is the only solution for Iraq?

[Soulhunter]

no, only those who got their position through US command. as far as I know there still wasn't an election, was there?

[Ghostwolf]

Just heard from BBC and CNN, the U.S. military as of now resumes operations in Fallujah.

[seruriermarshal]

Suspension of Fallujah Offensive Ends

10 minutes ago


FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marines briefly halted offensive operations in Fallujah on Friday, but the suspension ended after only 90 minutes, a Marine commander said, apparently after negotiations with a city delegation fell through.


Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, said his forces were given the go-ahead to resume offensive operations.


The halt was called at noon to allow a delegation from the city to meet with U.S. commanders, let humanitarian aid into the city and give city residents a chance to tend to their dead.


Byrne did not know why the suspension was called off but believed the negotiations with the delegation never took place.


Moments after Byrne's comments, Marines could be heard firing into the city from their positions on the southern outskirts.


Smaller-scale shooting continued even during the brief halt, as Byrne said Marines were responding to insurgent fire.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040409/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_fallujah&cid=540&ncid=1478

[fdt]

no, only those who got their position through US command. as far as I know there still wasn't an election, was there?Yeah... that's a good point... Why not to organize free elections now? The one who kills more competitors wins the post of president or prime minister... Technically this is a provisional Council (or provisional govt) as the public international law terminology applies. Keep the name "puppet" for Yourself.

[Soulhunter]

The US are afraid of really democratic elections in Iraq. If they had elections right now, the Shiites would win big time and kick the US out of the country. But that's not what the Bushies and their corrupt pals like Chalabi wanted or expected.

I wonder what the reaction of the US (and of the Puppet Council if it still exists then) will be when the Shia'll win, change the temporary constitution and kick the coalition partners out of Iraq?

How can the US be so naive as to think an election will deliver the result they want???

[duck]

Maybe the Shiites will then follow their Iranian brothers example and set up a religious government. Of course they have to supress the educated and students like in Iran but at least the mobs will support them, for a while. And by then they will have built up a network of religious police and spy agencies to keep their own people in check like everywhere else in the Arab world. Then the Mullahs can pocket the oil income and blame "The Jews" for the resulting poverty among the population and soulhunter can be happy again.

[Soulhunter]

no, I won't be happy then. I think the Arab world needs reform, but I don't think the US has made the right decision to bring them democracy by the sword, so to speak ... That can only fail.

[fdt]

The US are afraid of really democratic elections in Iraq. If they had elections right now, the Shiites would win big time and kick the US out of the country. But that's not what the Bushies and their corrupt pals like Chalabi wanted or expected.

I wonder what the reaction of the US (and of the Puppet Council if it still exists then) will be when the Shia'll win, change the temporary constitution and kick the coalition partners out of Iraq?

How can the US be so naive as to think an election will deliver the result they want???The trick is that no govt freely elected can withstand without the outside support... so no govt can afford to kick out Yanks. Even Saddam was not capable to supress Kurdish minority.

US want the free elections as soon as possible, because it will fundamentally change their position. They will be no longer occupiers but most welcome supporters of legitimate free Iraqi government. Instead of keeping the whole situation under control, they will be able (asked by govt) to kick some asses from time to time, operating from their safe bases located in Iraq. Clear and simple...

[seruriermarshal]

no, I won't be happy then. I think the Arab world needs reform, but I don't think the US has made the right decision to bring them democracy by the sword, so to speak ... That can only fail.

Maybe you are right , But we see Mr. Daniel Pearl killed . So , I'm worry , they will kill everyone .

:(

[Soulhunter]

fdt: that'll only work if there's a government that acts as the US wants it to act. But that's not sure at all!

This is still a big gamble for the US ... :roll:

[fdt]

fdt: that'll only work if there's a government that acts as the US wants it to act. But that's not sure at all!

This is still a big gamble for the US ... :roll:Every govt by definition, must have at least elementary control over the ruled country. Iraqi govt must then have control over the oil fields. Oil brings money, money talk. Opposition will be then bought or killed (the reason will be always in place: terrorists, insurgents, bandits, criminals, islamists... or other). It is obvious that Yanks will not leave the oil fields in wrong hands so it constitutes a common interest of US and EVERY future govt. As simple as it is... Elections will be held soon, power transfer in June 2004 is as certain as death... p-)

[Soulhunter]

That still doesn't make sure the new Iraqi government will act as the US wants it to??? :roll:

What if the party with the majority won't play along US rules or threats?

[UkrainianAmerican]

Am I fcuking missing something here?
Negotiations? Was the mob negotiating, when they were mutilating the bodies of my countrymen?
The only negotiator they deserve is a B-52 loaded with a nice MOAB.

[Soulhunter]

yes, level everything. shoot first, ask later.

[cold0]

Well, the American have retake Kut and restart the offensive on Falluja...
Tought time for the "insurgets".....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040409/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716


.S. Forces Recapture Southern Iraq City
51 minutes ago

By LOURDES NAVARRO, Associated Press Writer

FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. forces on Friday regained control of a southern city seized this week by a rebellious Shiite militia, the military said, while a brief halt in the U.S. assault on Fallujah fell apart as the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad was marked by more violence.


U.S. troops fanned out across Kut, southeast of the capital, after meeting little resistance, witnesses said, in a major foray by the American military into the south, where U.S. allies have struggled to deal with the uprising by the al-Mahdi Army, led by a radical Shiite cleric.


Meanwhile, militants were holding at least six foreign hostages in unknown locations in the country. Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed not to withdraw 530 troops in the south after kidnappers threatened to burn three Japanese captives alive unless the troops leave the country.


In Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad and the scene of bloody fighting with Sunni insurgents this week — Marines called a halt to offensive operations at noon, while a delegation of city leaders met with Marine commanders, said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment.


But 90 minutes later, Marines were given the go-ahead to resume operations, Byrne said. U.S. forces were heard firing into the city soon after. The reasons for the end of the suspension were not immediately clear, but it appeared negotiations never took place.


The heavy siege of the city, a bastion of anti-U.S. Sunni guerrillas, has angered even pro-U.S. Iraqi officials.


"These operations were a mass punishment for the people of Fallujah," Adnan Pachachi, a senior member of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council, told Al-Arabiya TV. "It was not right to punish all the people of Fallujah and we consider these operations by the Americans unacceptable and illegal."


The top U.S. administrator in Iraq (news - web sites), L. Paul Bremer, said in a statement that the halt in operation also aimed to allow humanitarian supplies into the city and "allow residents of Fallujah to tend to wounded and dead."


Shooting was still heard in the city after the halt was called.


Five days of heavy fighting using tanks, warplanes and helicopter gunships in residential areas of the city of 200,000 has killed more than 280 Iraqis and at least four Marines.


Insurgents, armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, have put up stiff resistance, but Marines have said they are winning the battle, holding at one point around a quarter of the city.


Scores of Fallujah residents tried to leave the city during the brief pause in fighting, said Byrne. Troops used loud speakers overnight to tell people that old men, women and children would be allowed to leave, but not "military-age men."


"We told them that they would be afforded the opportunity to leave and they are leaving," he said, adding that a long line of cars was lining up to be checked by Marines before being allowed out.


The newly invigorated insurgency — Sunni rebels in the west and Shiite guerrillas in central and southern regions — further threatens shaky Iraqi security as the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority prepares to hand sovereignty to an Iraqi government on June 30.


Friday marked the first anniversary of the capture of Baghdad by invading U.S. forces that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) — symbolized by the April 9, 2003 toppling of a statue of Saddam by Marines with a crowd of cheering Iraqis in central Baghdad's Firdos Square.


That image became symbol of liberation from his dictatorial regime.


But there was no celebrating Friday and the capital was tense. U.S. forces imposed a curfew in the morning around Firdos Square. At the western entrance to the capital, gunmen freely roamed the main highway, destroying a tanker truck Friday that sent a huge pall of smoke over the city.





Other gunmen on the highway were seen stopping a car carrying two Western civilians — apparently private security guards — since both had sidearms. The gunmen pulled the men from the car, firing at the ground to warn them to obey. Their fate was not immediately known.

Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. general in Iraq, vowed on Wednesday that coalition forces were launching a new operation dubbed "Resolute Sword" to destroy al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia, which besides Kut was in control of the southern city of Kufa and the central part of nearby Najaf.

U.S. forces moved into Kut two days after Ukrainian forces abandoned the city in the face of heavy fighting with al-Sadr followers. Police in several cities have also abandoned their stations or stood aside as the gunmen roam the streets — raising concerns over the performance and loyalty of a force U.S. administrators are counting on to keep security in the future Iraq.

In Najaf, a policeman watched helplessly on Thursday as a pickup truck carrying a dozen heavily armed Shiite militiamen went past his police station — already in the militia's hands.

"Look, how can we control such a situation?" he asked an Associated Press reporter.

U.S. forces that swept into Kut before dawn seized police stations, forcing out both Iraqi police and militiamen and confiscating all police weapons stores throughout the city, witnesses said. There was little resistance. During the day, Americans were out in force, patrolling Kut's streets.

Coalition forces also have moved in to block the road between Kufa and Najaf, a senior aide to al-Sadr, Sheik Qays al-Khaz'ali, told The Associated Press.

Al-Sadr, a young, firebrand anti-U.S. cleric, is thought to be holed up in his office in Najaf, protected by scores of gunmen. He has said he is willing to die resisting any U.S. attempt to capture him.

He attempted Thursday to rally Iraqis — including Sunnis — behind him.

"This ordeal has shown that all the Iraqi people are united," he said in a statement issued by his office.

Sanchez said the presence of thousands of Shiite pilgrims in Najaf this weekend was hampering coalition forces from moving against militiamen who hold police stations and are in the streets around Shiite shrines in the city center.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are in southern cities, particularly Karbala, ahead of al-Arbaeen ceremonies this weekend to mark the end of the period of mourning for a 7th-century martyred Shiite saint.

The kidnapping of foreigners pointed to a dangerous new tactic by militants — the use of hostages to pressure U.S. coalition allies in Iraq.

TV pictures aired in the Middle East by the Al-Jazeera satellite network and rebroadcast during prime time in Japan showed the three Japanese — two aid workers and a journalist — wide-eyed and moaning in terror as their black-clad captors held knives to their throats, shouting God is Great in Arabic.

The three were reportedly abducted in southern Iraq, but it was not clear when and by whom.

Two Arab aid workers from Jerusalem — one who had once lived in Georgia — were abducted in a separate incident, and a Syrian-born Canadian humanitarian aid worker for the International Rescue Committee was taken hostage Wednesday by a local militia in Najaf.

A representative of the security firm, Blackwater USA, also told the New York Times that four American contractors who were killed and mutilated in Fallujah last month were lured into an ambush by members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. editions. The men were working for Blackwater when their vehicle was hit by rocket-propelled grenades.

The Iraqi men had promised the Blackwater-led convoy safe passage through the city, but instead, they suddenly blocked off the road, preventing any escape from waiting gunmen, Patrick Toohey, Blackwater's vice president for government relations said in Friday's editions.

Two senior Pentagon (news - web sites) officials said Thursday that they could not confirm the conclusions of the Blackwater investigation and that a separate military inquiry was continuing.

[fdt]

That still doesn't make sure the new Iraqi government will act as the US wants it to??? :roll:

What if the party with the majority won't play along US rules or threats?It's a simple matter of common sense. Ther can never be an assurance that somebody will not jump of the skyscraper's roof. On the other hand, assuming that the opposite side will act pointlessly against it's own interest is in this case a kind of.... khm,khm ... racism?

[Soulhunter]

well, it's racist to say that they can't act without the US!

[Soulhunter]

cold0: of course the US will take those cities back! the insurgents can't beat them militarily. That should be clear to everyone. The insurgents need a different tactic if they want to score wins against the US.

[cold0]

cold0: of course the US will take those cities back! the insurgents can't beat them militarily. That should be clear to everyone. The insurgents need a different tactic if they want to score wins against the US.

It's simply an update taken from the news: nothing more.

[fdt]

well, it's racist to say that they can't act without the US!It's politics not racism... Same sh*it for common people, they always pay the full price.