Falluja ceasefire broken

Wednesday 14 April 2004, 11:39 Makka Time, 8:39 GMT


Occupation forces in Iraq have used F16 fighter planes to bomb the Nizal neighbourhood in Falluja, Aljazeera TV's correspondent has reported.

He also said the occupation on Tuesday pushed several tanks through the only open gateway used as an exit for Iraqi families in an apparent violation of the latest ceasefire in Falluja.



"The invading forces were met with fierce resistance by the Falluja defenders which forced the US tanks into a quick withdrawal," correspondent Abd Al-Adhim Muhammad reported.



"Five were killed and severel others injured in the battles between the resistance fighters and the occupation troops."



The US fighter planes dropped stun bombs to cover their troops withdrawal, he added.



US denial



But occupation troops denied any violation of the ceasefire... http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F8388B06-6A1B-43AB-8DF1-529ADBEA24DA.htm

US jets, guns shatter ceasefire in Fallujah



By A Staff Reporter


An Iraqi insurgent holds up a rocket propelled grenade launcher near a burning US Humvee in Fallujah yesterday. Picture: Reuters
US F-15 jet fighters flew a number of sorties over the flashpoint Iraqi city of Fallujah early yesterday evening, firing cannons at unidentified targets, and unleashed land-based machine-gun fire, shattering a fragile ceasefire in place over the past four days.

Clashes also broke out in the Al Jumhuriya quarter, he said. The confrontations continued for more than half an hour and black smoke billowed into the sky over the area.

Earlier yesterday, insurgents in the city shot down a coalition helicopter. One US Marine and nine Iraqis were killed in renewed fighting in the town, which a top coalition official said had become "a hotbed for foreign fighters."... http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/Region2.asp?ArticleID=117901

If the US military had their way, AJ would be out of there entirely. And then how would we know about this latest break in the ceasefire at all?

esp. with the U.S. media pooling their coverage.

Also, since so much of this war is political, it's necessary to have an Arab perspective.

Yes, they do have a bias, just as virtually all US press does. However, they are closer to what is happening in Fallujah than anyone else.

Recently the US command said that 95% of those killed in Fallujah were Iraqi men "of fighting age". Al Jazeera disputed this, and provided photographic evidence to support their claims that up to half of those killed were in fact women and children.

Which do you believe?

The answer isn't to shut them down, the answer is to be aware of the bias, but glean what facts you can. No one was reporting on or taking images of the wounded and dead in Falluja. Everyone here knows why, and Al Jazeera provides a service to its viewers and this country by providing non-tactical information the US armed forces see fit to suppress.

It does not sound like a ceasefire to me....


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=3&u=/ap/20040414/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

<snip>
A U.S. Cobra attack helicopter fired rockets and heavy machine-guns before dawn Wednesday at gunmen gathered on the northern edge of the city of Fallujah. Rocket-propelled grenades arched up from the ground toward the helicopter and a second gunship providing support, but none apparently hit the gunships.

Early Wednesday, A-130 gunships pounded a row of buildings from which Marines say ambushes have repeatedly been launched in a residential area of the city.

A day earlier, Marines came under two heavy ambushes, the best coordinated and largest guerrilla operations in days, said Capt. James Edge. Two Marines were killed Tuesday and two Monday, the military announced.

"I think they are absolutely taking advantage" of the truce, said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, deployed on the southern side of the city.

A force of 20 insurgents attacked a Marine position in a residential neighborhood, then damaged an armored vehicle that came to support it, Edge said.

A fierce battle followed to extract the vehicle as F-15s overhead fired on gunmen. Early Wednesday, A-130 gunships fired on a row of buildings in the area from which ambushes have repeatedly been launched, Edge said.

"I think they are absolutely taking advantage" of the truce, said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, deployed on the southern side of the city."

Um, sir, if you weren't making daily incursions into their city to provoke them, they wouldn't be firing. You are at least as guilty as them of initiating combat.

I want to know. This is something new they are using. What is it and what does it really do?

It's an E-warfare bomb that destroys circuitry.

Maybe more like the flash grenades used by police, perhaps? I mean, given the technological inferiority of the Iraqi irregulars I would think E-warfare wouldn't be that useful, especially given the potential for damaging U.S. circuitry as well. Perhaps the resistance is using cell phones or walkie-talkies, though.

Of course it might just be a propaganda term with no real meaning - just to make the U.S. public think that they have some Star Trek like humanitarian weapons (set phasers on stun), since this is a civilian area.

You referring to a localized EMP weapon, this isn't what is being spoken of here. In fact, if they did use such a weapon it would be more harmful to US equipment than Iraqi. Most of the Iraqi equipment contains no circuitry whatsoever, especially compared to our own.

AMY GOODMAN: And have you gotten an chance to talk to U.S. soldiers?


RAHUL MAHAJAN: Initially I did, when I was in Sadr city, a couple of days after the outbreak of violence there, and I talked to some young men who were posted there. They had only been in Iraq three weeks, so they were more friendly and easier to approach. There was one we tried to talk to who simply kind of waved at us in the way that most troops will do if they've been in the country a long time, they get extremely wary and nervous. But these guys talked to us. They were perfectly nice. They were very, very ignorant of what was going on in Iraq. They were there in Sadr city because of clashes with Al Sadr's Madi army. So, I asked them, "What do you think about the stuff with Al Sadr. What do you think about the Madi army?" They said, "What? Who is that? Who are they? In fact one of them was very curious and came up and asked us several questions trying to figure out who these people were. They were thrown in here. They don't know any Arabic. They don't even know how to say, "please get away from the tank" in a respectful way, and they're sent over here to kill people and die. And it is a shame. I haven't been able to talk to any in more recent days.

more
http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4291.html