4/11/2004: On Monday April 5th, the US closed off Fallujah in attempt to round up those responsible for the killing and mutilation of 4 US contractors on March 30th. By Wednesday, there were reports of many civilian deaths, with 40 dead in a US bombing of a mosque. While the US maintained those being killed were all combatants, the Al Jazeera crew in Fallujah broadcast out images of young children killed in the US offensive. As estimates of the numbers of Iraqis killed grew to over 700 (including 160 women, 141 children and many elderly), even coalition partners of the US were horrified. A Senior British officer was reported as stating that the US troops "don't see the Iraqi people the way we see them. They view them as untermenschen. They are not concerned about the Iraqi loss of life..." A batallion of the US backed Iraqi army refused to deploy to Fallujah with members quoted as saying they "did not sign up to fight Iraqis." One of the most famous guerrilla leaders against Saddam Hussein, Abdel-Karim Mahoud al-Mohammedawi, said he was suspending his membership in the Council until "the bleeding stops in Iraq". Even Adnan Pachachi, who Bush showed off in his January 2004 State of the Union address as a future leader of Iraq, stated of the seige: "These operations were a mass punishment...It is not right to punish all the people of Fallujah, and we consider these operations by the Americans unacceptable and illegal."
On Friday April 9th, Paul Bremer announcement that his forces were suspending military operations in Fallujah, but there were fresh reports of US offensive operations despite the claimed ceasefire.
Saturday April 10th: Negotiations between the US, members of the Governing Council and rebels in Fallujah seems to have resulted in a lull in fighting. Women and children fled the city as the US Marines ordered "Iraqi men of 'military age' to stay behind, sometimes turning back entire families if they refused to be separated." A soccer stadium has been turned into a mass grave.
The Falluja Massacre will surely be remembered by many in the Middle East in the same way as Jenin, Deir Yassin, Sabra and Chatila, and Saddam Hussein's massacre of thousands of Shiite's in South Iraq in 1991. As with most massacres, in the future there will be outrage, but as the killing occurs the world is again silent.
Read More About The Massacre in Fallujah On UK Indymedia