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US Losses In Fallujah to Overweight Victory: Expert
PARIS, November 18 (IslamOnline.net) – Washington will win the military battle in the western Iraqi city of Fallujah but its strategic looses will certainly outweigh such a victory, said a French strategic expert.
Branding the US practices against the Fallujah residents as "state terrorism," Pascal Boniface, Director of the Institute for International and Strategic Studies in Paris, expected the onslaught to further fan anti-US feelings in the entire Islamic world.
Branding the US practices against the Fallujah residents as "state terrorism," Pascal Boniface, Director of the Institute for International and Strategic Studies in Paris, expected the onslaught to further fan anti-US feelings in the entire Islamic world.
Addressing a seminar organized by the Arab World Institute on Wednesday, November 17 , Boniface said the cold-blooded killing of an unarmed, wounded Iraqi by a US soldiers in a Fallujah mosques was not an isolated incident.
He said the murder as well as the prisoners abuses in the infamous Abu Ghreib and Guantanamo Bay detentions demonstrate an established policy and doctrine.
Several US television networks aired footage of members of a US marine unit entering a mosque in Fallujah before one marine shot an unarmed, wounded man in the head as he lay prone against a wall.
The crime generated revulsion and diatribe from leading international human rights watchdogs, which dismissed it as a war crime and demanded an immediate investigation.
The Iraqi abuse scandal exploded onto the world stage on April29 , after the US CBS news network published several graphic photos of Iraqi detainees tortured and sexually abused by American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
Since then the scandal has been deepening, exposing more elements and factors about interrogation techniques approved by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has been under domestic and international pressure to step down.
Strategic Loss
The French expert described the Fallujah offensive as a " strategic loss" for the Bush administration.
The Americans would undoubtedly win the fighting but they would strategically lose the battle as they did with the Iraq invasion, Boniface said.
Some 10 , 000US marines and army forces, alongside some2 , 000Iraqi national guard soldiers unleashed a long expected onslaught on the resistance hub Monday, November8 , capping long nights of massive US raids.
The French expert considered the Fallujah operation as a new proof of American troubles in the Iraqis quagmire.
He refuted American allegations that the offensive was to eliminate terrorists from the city.
Boniface expected the onslaught to fan the already spiraling anti-US sentiments across Arab and Muslim countries and create more generations of those described by Washington as terrorists, not only in Iraq but in other parts of the world.
He added that the operation also killed stone dead the legitimacy of the planned January elections and its outcome.
The interim government lost credibility among Iraqis and Arabs who see it as a puppet in the hands of the US occupation forces, said the French expert.
Forty seven Sunni, Shiite, Turkoman and Christian bodies had declared their boycott of the general election over the Fallujah offensive.
A US report warned that any significant withdrawal of US forces from Fallujah would strengthen the Iraqi resistance in the city, The New York Times reported Thursday.
"The enemy will be able to effectively defeat the marines' ability to accomplish its primary objectives of developing an effective Iraqi security force and setting the conditions for successful Iraqi elections," said the seven-page report.
Arab Public Opinion
Boniface hailed Arab popular reaction to the Fallujah offensive.
He said that despite the absence of democracy and political pressure groups, the Arab public opinion is turning into a mighty force interacting with developments in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
The French expert noted that the emerging force of the public opinion, motivated by the Arab satellite channels, is now seen by the west and the Americans as the official spokesman of the Arab world.
He excluded the possibility of other US pre-emptive strikes against other Islamic countries, especially Iran and Syria.
Boniface said Washington’s preventive doctrine proved to be a failure and is not likely to be repeated in other areas.
However, he said it remains possible hitting specific targets, such as Iranian nuclear reactors.
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-11/18/article07.shtml
He said the murder as well as the prisoners abuses in the infamous Abu Ghreib and Guantanamo Bay detentions demonstrate an established policy and doctrine.
Several US television networks aired footage of members of a US marine unit entering a mosque in Fallujah before one marine shot an unarmed, wounded man in the head as he lay prone against a wall.
The crime generated revulsion and diatribe from leading international human rights watchdogs, which dismissed it as a war crime and demanded an immediate investigation.
The Iraqi abuse scandal exploded onto the world stage on April29 , after the US CBS news network published several graphic photos of Iraqi detainees tortured and sexually abused by American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
Since then the scandal has been deepening, exposing more elements and factors about interrogation techniques approved by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has been under domestic and international pressure to step down.
Strategic Loss
The French expert described the Fallujah offensive as a " strategic loss" for the Bush administration.
The Americans would undoubtedly win the fighting but they would strategically lose the battle as they did with the Iraq invasion, Boniface said.
Some 10 , 000US marines and army forces, alongside some2 , 000Iraqi national guard soldiers unleashed a long expected onslaught on the resistance hub Monday, November8 , capping long nights of massive US raids.
The French expert considered the Fallujah operation as a new proof of American troubles in the Iraqis quagmire.
He refuted American allegations that the offensive was to eliminate terrorists from the city.
Boniface expected the onslaught to fan the already spiraling anti-US sentiments across Arab and Muslim countries and create more generations of those described by Washington as terrorists, not only in Iraq but in other parts of the world.
He added that the operation also killed stone dead the legitimacy of the planned January elections and its outcome.
The interim government lost credibility among Iraqis and Arabs who see it as a puppet in the hands of the US occupation forces, said the French expert.
Forty seven Sunni, Shiite, Turkoman and Christian bodies had declared their boycott of the general election over the Fallujah offensive.
A US report warned that any significant withdrawal of US forces from Fallujah would strengthen the Iraqi resistance in the city, The New York Times reported Thursday.
"The enemy will be able to effectively defeat the marines' ability to accomplish its primary objectives of developing an effective Iraqi security force and setting the conditions for successful Iraqi elections," said the seven-page report.
Arab Public Opinion
Boniface hailed Arab popular reaction to the Fallujah offensive.
He said that despite the absence of democracy and political pressure groups, the Arab public opinion is turning into a mighty force interacting with developments in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
The French expert noted that the emerging force of the public opinion, motivated by the Arab satellite channels, is now seen by the west and the Americans as the official spokesman of the Arab world.
He excluded the possibility of other US pre-emptive strikes against other Islamic countries, especially Iran and Syria.
Boniface said Washington’s preventive doctrine proved to be a failure and is not likely to be repeated in other areas.
However, he said it remains possible hitting specific targets, such as Iranian nuclear reactors.
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-11/18/article07.shtml
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It's because of my country's war crimes like this that I've taken to wiping my ass with the flag. It's a little rough, but it gets the job done!
Posted 11/18/2004 12:46 PM
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Commander: Fallujah siege has 'broken the back of the insurgency'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The senior U.S. Marine commander in Iraq said Thursday that the U.S.-led offensive in Fallujah has "broken the back of the insurgency" by seizing their main base of operations.
"We feel right now that we have, as I mentioned, broken the back of the insurgency. We've taken away this safe haven," Lt. Gen. John Sattler told reporters at the Pentagon in a video teleconference from Fallujah.
He said that assessment was based on what U.S. officials found in records uncovered in insurgent command posts inside Fallujah. Sattler's conclusion is far more optimistic than an assessment made shortly before the offensive by Marine intelligence officers, who said the insurgency would rebound if U.S. troop levels in the area were significantly reduced after the offensive.
Sattler made no mention of the intelligence assessment, but he stressed the importance of bringing essential services back on line in Fallujah as quickly as possible and starting reconstruction work.
He said the insurgents are now "scattered" in Iraq with fewer resources available to carry out attacks.
"Each and every time we can force these individuals to go to new locations, expand their circle of friends — if you want to call it that — to include some that they don't know and they don't trust, they'll bring in rookies, more junior people that will, in fact, make mistakes," he said.
"And that's why I mentioned that this has disrupted them, I believe — my personal belief — across the country. This is going to make it very hard for them to operate," he added.
Sattler cautioned that remnants of the insurgents who had controlled Fallujah for months are still a problem. A group of insurgents attacked U.S. Marines and Iraqi government forces from a house inside the city Thursday, killing one Marine and one Iraqi soldier, Sattler said. One Marine and one Iraqi soldier also were wounded.
Sattler at one point said Fallujah "is not quite secure at this point," but later he said he had misspoken. "The town of Fallujah is secure, but we're in the search-and-clear phase that will make it safe — relatively safe is the best word," he said.
Bomb-making materials and improvised explosive devices need to be recovered or disarmed, he said, and the Marines are still looking for remaining insurgents who may be lying low with the intention of disrupting efforts to reconstruct the city.
He said U.S. forces have found a number of documents from the insurgents' command posts inside the city that lists the names of some of their fighters, including some from outside of Iraq.
Sattler said the total U.S. death toll so far in the Fallujah offensive, which began Nov. 7, stands at 51, with about 425 wounded in action. Earlier in the week U.S. officials put the number of dead at 38.
He declined to give a firm estimate of the number of insurgents killed in the fighting, but he said the 1,200 figure cited in some news reports was "a safe number." He said 1,025 captured insurgents were in detention, and that about 150 who had been captured were subsequently determined to be non-hostile and were let go.
Sattler said city residents who fled before the U.S.-led offensive will not be allowed back until conditions are safer. He said the resettlement would be done in phases, starting with residences in the northern part of Fallujah.
Fallujah typically has a population of about 200,000. The vast majority fled before the fighting began.
"The town must be secure before we let the Fallujah people back in," he said. He gave no specific estimate of when that would happen, saying only that it would take "some time."
Sattler said 25 to 30 civilians have been treated for injuries, but he was unaware of any civilians being killed during the offensive.
Today's Top News Stories
• U.S. claims finding headquarters of al-Zarqawi group - 6:14 PM
• Clinton library opens with pomp, presidents and U2 - 5:23 PM
• Nike co-founder Knight steps down as CEO - 5:17 PM
• Weak dollar pressures nations to pep up economies - 4:03 PM
• Second mad cow case suspected in USA - 3:26 PM
• Add USATODAY.com headlines to your Web site
E-Mail Newsletters
Sign up to receive our free Daily Briefing e-newsletter and get the top news of the day in your inbox.
E-mail:
Select one: HTML Text
Breaking News E-Mail Alerts
• Get breaking news in your inbox as it happens
Commander: Fallujah siege has 'broken the back of the insurgency'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The senior U.S. Marine commander in Iraq said Thursday that the U.S.-led offensive in Fallujah has "broken the back of the insurgency" by seizing their main base of operations.
"We feel right now that we have, as I mentioned, broken the back of the insurgency. We've taken away this safe haven," Lt. Gen. John Sattler told reporters at the Pentagon in a video teleconference from Fallujah.
He said that assessment was based on what U.S. officials found in records uncovered in insurgent command posts inside Fallujah. Sattler's conclusion is far more optimistic than an assessment made shortly before the offensive by Marine intelligence officers, who said the insurgency would rebound if U.S. troop levels in the area were significantly reduced after the offensive.
Sattler made no mention of the intelligence assessment, but he stressed the importance of bringing essential services back on line in Fallujah as quickly as possible and starting reconstruction work.
He said the insurgents are now "scattered" in Iraq with fewer resources available to carry out attacks.
"Each and every time we can force these individuals to go to new locations, expand their circle of friends — if you want to call it that — to include some that they don't know and they don't trust, they'll bring in rookies, more junior people that will, in fact, make mistakes," he said.
"And that's why I mentioned that this has disrupted them, I believe — my personal belief — across the country. This is going to make it very hard for them to operate," he added.
Sattler cautioned that remnants of the insurgents who had controlled Fallujah for months are still a problem. A group of insurgents attacked U.S. Marines and Iraqi government forces from a house inside the city Thursday, killing one Marine and one Iraqi soldier, Sattler said. One Marine and one Iraqi soldier also were wounded.
Sattler at one point said Fallujah "is not quite secure at this point," but later he said he had misspoken. "The town of Fallujah is secure, but we're in the search-and-clear phase that will make it safe — relatively safe is the best word," he said.
Bomb-making materials and improvised explosive devices need to be recovered or disarmed, he said, and the Marines are still looking for remaining insurgents who may be lying low with the intention of disrupting efforts to reconstruct the city.
He said U.S. forces have found a number of documents from the insurgents' command posts inside the city that lists the names of some of their fighters, including some from outside of Iraq.
Sattler said the total U.S. death toll so far in the Fallujah offensive, which began Nov. 7, stands at 51, with about 425 wounded in action. Earlier in the week U.S. officials put the number of dead at 38.
He declined to give a firm estimate of the number of insurgents killed in the fighting, but he said the 1,200 figure cited in some news reports was "a safe number." He said 1,025 captured insurgents were in detention, and that about 150 who had been captured were subsequently determined to be non-hostile and were let go.
Sattler said city residents who fled before the U.S.-led offensive will not be allowed back until conditions are safer. He said the resettlement would be done in phases, starting with residences in the northern part of Fallujah.
Fallujah typically has a population of about 200,000. The vast majority fled before the fighting began.
"The town must be secure before we let the Fallujah people back in," he said. He gave no specific estimate of when that would happen, saying only that it would take "some time."
Sattler said 25 to 30 civilians have been treated for injuries, but he was unaware of any civilians being killed during the offensive.
"We feel right now that we have, as I mentioned, broken the back of the insurgency."
How many times have I heard this? About as many times as I've heard: "Suspected WMDs found in Iraq."
Good luck breaking the back of the insurgency, freedom fighters. The American insurgency, that is.
Viva la Fallujah!
How many times have I heard this? About as many times as I've heard: "Suspected WMDs found in Iraq."
Good luck breaking the back of the insurgency, freedom fighters. The American insurgency, that is.
Viva la Fallujah!
For more information:
http://www.sinkers.org/posters/minuteman/f...
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