Iraq Approved Fallujah Air Strike

Word that Allawi approved yesterday morning’s attack was a clear attempt to show that the Iraqi government had taken full sovereignty from the Americans and had firm control, despite its deep reliance on the 160,000 foreign troops, mainly from United States.

“We worked with the government, the government was fully informed about these matters, agreed with us on the need to take the action, we conducted the action,” US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage said. “We didn’t just strike off on our own, a sovereign nation had to agree.”

Since the US Marines pulled back from Fallujah – a focal point of resistance to the US occupation – after besieging the city for three weeks in April, the US military has been limited to using missiles attacks and air strikes to hit potential targets there.

The nature of yesterday’s target, like those hit in previous attacks, was in dispute.

The US military said it had destroyed trench lines and fighting positions used by fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaida-linked Jordanian militant blamed for masterminding car bombings and other attacks in Iraq. The military said 25 al-Zarqawi fighters had been at the site moments before.

But Fallujah mayor Mahmoud Ibrahim al-Jirisi said the attack hit a site for civilians supporting the Fallujah Brigade, a militia of local residents that took responsibility for security in the city when the marines left.

“There are no Arabs or foreigners with them,” he told the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera.

Explosions from the 2am strike rocked the city. Scores of people ran to the scene and dug through the wreckage looking for survivors. Body parts were scattered at the scene.

The attack, the sixth US strike on the city in about a month, killed 14 people and injured three, according to Saad al-Amili, a health ministry official.

After a July 5 air strike, Allawi, who has promised strong security co-operation with the Americans, issued an unprecedented statement saying his government had provided intelligence for the strike.

After this attack, he went far further, saying that he had authorised the strike.

“The multinational force asked Prime Minister Allawi for permission to launch strikes on some specific places where some terrorists were hiding,” an official in Allawi’s office said. “Allawi gave his permission,”

Armitage, the highest-ranking US official to visit since the handover, emphasised the independence of the interim government.

“We’re not in the front seat anymore with our hand on the steering wheel. We are a supporting partner to a sovereign government,” he said.

Armitage also expressed regret at the decision of the Philippines to pull its forces out in the face of the hostage crisis.

The pullout, engineered to save the life of Angelo dela Cruz, was due to end as early as today, when the 22 remaining members of the humanitarian contingent were to make an “exit call” on the new Polish commander at their base south of Baghdad, Philippine foreign minister Delia Albert said.

“After the call, the remaining contingent will then proceed to Kuwait, and from there, return to Manila by commercial flight,” Albert said.

Some allies have sharply criticised the move, saying it would only encourage more kidnappings.

Over the past 15 months, militants have used kidnappings, car bombs, sabotage and other attacks to try to destabilise the country and push out coalition troops.

In their continuing effort to rout the uprising, US forces said they had detained a senior commander of Saddam’s elite Republican Guard, who was suspected of planning and financing attacks against Iraqis, Iraqi security forces and coalition troops.

Iraqi national guardsmen and coalition forces captured Sufyan Maher Hassan in a raid in Tikrit on Friday. He was being held at a local multinational force detention centre, said Maj Neal O’Brien of the 1st Infantry Division.

Hassan was the Republican Guard commander responsible for units defending Baghdad during the war. A relative of former leader Saddam Hussein, Hassan was blamed for the quick fall of Baghdad. He was not on the United States’ list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis.

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