US troops seize third of Fallujah in battle to retake rebel city

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - US troops and crack Iraqi soldiers surged into rubble-strewn districts in the heart of Fallujah, seizing one third of the city after hours of street fighting with rebels in the largest military onslaught since the war.

The US military it was closing in on the centre of Fallujah, an insurgent stronghold long off-limits to foreigners, less than 24 hours after launching a massive operation to retake the city from insurgents.


But in a possible new setback to hopes of stabilising the country ahead of January elections, insurgents took control of the centre of the flashpoint city of Ramadi after a day of clashes with US forces, an AFP correspondent said.


US forces withdrew Tuesday around 2:00 pm (1100 GMT) from Ramadi's main streets to their bases east and west of the city, the correspondent said. The US military could not immediately be contacted for comment.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=1&u=/afp/20041109/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_041109133045

Jane Araf reporting on CNN of utter destruction...some incoming fire, but US military feels that many "insurgents" have melted away.

from Jane Araf also.....this may be over soon and not much, if anything, will be accomplished.

you could hear the sadness in her voice. :(

more innocents will have been killed;
more Iraqi infrastructure destroyed;
and more America haters will have been born.

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Store: www.cafepress.com/tesibria.com (All proceeds go to buy PROGRESSIVE books and magazines for small town ("red") library.)
Blog: www.democracyiscoming.com

It's on to Berlin from here, baby!

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi authorities imposed the first nighttime curfew in more than a year on Baghdad and surrounding areas Tuesday in the latest use of new emergency powers, the prime minister's office said.


The curfew was announced a day after guerrillas carried out a string of attacks, including bombings of two churches, that killed nine people and wounded 80 — just as U.S. and Iraqi forces were launching a major offensive against insurgents in the city of Fallujah, to the west.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041109/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_curfew&cid=540&ncid=1480

How about a little propaganda with you morning meal, sir?

Also, no surprise the insurgents didn't stick around for the slaughter. They aren't uniformed military so they have that capability. Which is why, after Vietnam, we swore we'd never fight another counterinsurgency. Lesson unlearned, thanks to W.

Reminded me of the Judean People's Front Crack Suicide Squad from the Life of Brian...

"Crack soldiers" of the army that's lost every war it ever fought... and well on its way to keeping that streak going. Arseholes...

A: Absolutely nothing.


BTW, as the US has been attacking Fallujah, another story in LBN indicates the 'rebels' have taken the center of Ramadi.

On edit: It was Ramadi I was thinking of:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x971947

The Brits sent 12,000 troops into Derry and the IRA simply melted away. That will happen again here unless they start indiscriminately shooting what is left of the civilian population.

Monday 08 November 2004, 20:40 Makka Time, 17:40 GMT

Thirty six US soldiers have been captured in the Iraqi city of
Falluja and are being paraded through its streets, according to
an influential Iraqi Muslim group

The Qatar-based spokesman said several eyewitnesses in Falluja
had confirmed the capture of the soldiers.

A spokesman for US-led forces in Iraq told Aljazeera.net
that the reports were baseless. :eyes:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/82CBAF0D-8EFF-47C3-8FAE-7E7E3F7C3F93.htm

Anyone for a game of Whack-a-mole?

I was thinking that -- but couldn't remember the term -- that's it!!
Whack-a-mole!

--------------------
Store: www.cafepress.com/tesibria.com (All proceeds go to buy PROGRESSIVE books and magazines for small town ("red") library.)
Blog: www.democracyiscoming.com

One of them gets out, and by the time you corral him and bring him back, another one's gotten free...

in disregard of any reality. This has been painted as the battle that will prove our superiority, and merely clearing the city will prove the inevitability of cause. It's crap, and anyone with a scrap of sense knows it. These guys are in such a farfetched fantasyland that it would make mere deluded psychos turn in awe.

Yeah, we can clear the city, but it's precisely like Vietnam: there's no place we can't go and clean out, plant the flag and grunt and pray about our righteousness, but we can't stop the will of those who fight for their country and culture.

As for casualties on the insurgents' side I can tell you that they are dying. A lot of them are dying and this is a good thing," marine spokesman Lieutenant Lyle Gilbert said.


"We are downing them," said Major Todd Desgrosseilliers, an executive officer with the marines. "We are using good old American firepower."

:puke: and what about the civilian casualties????? or are those being counted as insurgents???