The Siege of Falluja, a Test in a Tinderbox (NYT)

By Eric Schmitt

WASHINGTON, April 27 — The siege in Falluja is a case study in mistaken assumptions, dashed hopes, rivalry between the Army and the Marine Corps, and a tragedy that became a trigger, Pentagon officials, senior officers and independent military analysts said Tuesday.

The chain of decisions leading to the standoff that has made the city of nearly 300,000 people in the Sunni heartland a symbol of the insurgency also illustrates conflicting military strategies and shifting political aims. The fate of Falluja has become a possible harbinger for all of Iraq.

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Some Army officers said marines had stirred up a hornet's nest without responding swiftly and forcefully enough. "The threat in the Al Anbar Province was flat out afraid of the 82nd paratroopers," said one Army officer who served near Falluja.

But Maj. Kevin Collins, a Marine operations officer in Falluja, put the Marines' attitude this way, "If you chose to pick a fight, we'll finish it."

The Siege of Falluja, a Test in a Tinderbox....

Lots of children will be moweed down, before this is over.

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There seems to be no stopping them over there. Kill anything that moves. These young men have been fired up by some one or are on some thing like the people flying planes maybe? Shame on us.

In the end, all they've been trained for is the use of force. And they've got it in spades, so that's what they'll use.

At this point I don't know how to handle it either, but when the opposing forces find a 15:1 ratio of kills in your favour acceptable to continue the war, I'd say it's clear the war is unwinnable from the US perspective.

"Dealing with Falluja has gone from strictly a military matter for commanders in Iraq to a broader political debate involving President Bush and his top national security aides in Washington, who have voiced concerns that images of fierce fighting in Falluja will stir uprisings throughout Iraq and outrage throughout the Arab world."

Let me see if I grok this. bu$h is afraid of "stirring...outrage throughout the Arab world," so every move "he" makes in Falluja is designed to stir outrage in the Arab world?!?!?

Oh, yeah. This is the kind of shit that happens when a deserter is allowed to command armies!!

:freak:
dbt