BLOODY QUAGMIRE

U.S. assault on Falluja incites new uprisings

John Catalinotto

November 22,2004 -The Bush administration and the Pentagon had hoped that the image their operations in Falluja would give to the world would be of an all-powerful force, decisive in battle, merciful in victory: a ground-war version of "shock and awe."

Yet despite the Pentagon's control of "embedded" reporters and the near absence of independent news sources in Iraq, the main image to come out of Falluja was the video of a U.S. Marine executing a wounded and helpless resistance fighter.

And, as of Nov. 17, the big news out of Iraq was that the active armed resistance had spread to Mosul, Beiji, Baquba, Ramadi, Tikrit, Iskandariya, Samarra and Baghdad, with police stations overrun and arms captured by anti-occupation fighters.

In Falluja itself, after nine days of battle, U.S. forces were still calling in air strikes. The resistance fighters, far outgunned and outnumbered, were still able to shoot back. Some resistance units are reportedly going back into Falluja to continue shooting at U.S. troops.

The offensive succeeded in showing that the U.S. military is overwhelmingly well-armed and destructive, but also cruel and frightened. Instead of demonstrating "shock and awe," it has shown the world Abu Ghraib II.

NBC correspondent Kevin Sites, who took the original video of the Iraqi prisoner being shot, was quoted by the Associated Press on Nov. 17 as saying that U.S. Marines had killed three more unarmed and wounded Iraqi prisoners in a Falluja mosque on Nov. 12.

Comments across the Internet compared Falluja with other embattled cities of historic importance: Guernica, destroyed by Nazi bombers in the Spanish Civil War; Stalingrad, the Soviet city whose resistance marked the turning point of World War II in defeating German imperialism; Algiers, which the French could occupy but never completely control in Algeria's liberation war; and Hue in Vietnam, whose recapture by U.S. forces after the 1968 Tet uprising cost them the war as it came out that they had slaughtered 5,000 people.

No comparison can be exact, and the Iraqis will write their own history. Still, from each of these historic examples there are lessons that the Pentagon generals and the Bush White House seem incapable of learning.

Most Pentagon reports on casualties in Falluja claimed about 65 GIs killed and over 300 wounded, 200 of them seriously. In the course of the week, over 400 seriously wounded or ill U.S. troops were flown to hospitals in Germany. The Pentagon claimed its troops killed 1,200 "insurgents," which is what U.S. officials likes to call Iraqis who defend their country from invaders.

The U.S. military doesn't keep a count of civilians killed. Top U.S. generals claimed that most of Falluja's 300,000 residents had left, and boasted they would kill few civilians. But at least 50,000 remained.

Humanitarian disaster

Humanitarian agencies, speaking to the few independent news reporters left in Iraq, gave a different assessment. "The Iraqi Red Crescent Society, which is supported by the Red Cross and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has called the situation in Falluja a 'big disaster.'" (IPS reporter Dahr Jamail at dahrjamailiraq.com)

"Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of U.S. military reprisal, a high-ranking official with the Red Cross in Baghdad told IPS that 'at least 800 civilians' have been killed in Falluja so far."

"Muna Salim, who managed to flee the city with her sister after the rest of their family was killed by U.S. bombs, said Falluja had turned from a battlefield to a ghost town in recent days," reports Jamail.

"'Most families stayed inside their houses all the time,' she said after reaching Baghdad. 'We were always very hungry because we didn't want to eat our food or drink all of the water. We never knew if we would be able to get more, so we tried to be careful.' She could not bring herself to talk of the killings.

"The Iraqi Red Crescent has several teams of relief workers and doctors, and truckloads of food waiting for the authorization from the U.S.-backed interim government and the U.S. military, but they have not been allowed in."

Sara Khorshid writes on IslamOnline.net:

"Those in Baghdad might be better off than Fallujans still locked inside their hometown, which is currently being razed to the ground by the U.S. Army. Every thing is being wiped out. 'The residential areas, our houses, they are all destroyed. They bombed the hospital, the clinics, the doctors, the infrastructure, everything,' Abu Mohammed said.

"'What Zarqawi? Where is Al-Zarqawi? Is he a ghost?' asks Umm Usama. 'There is no Zarqawi in Falluja, no Arab fighters as they claim.' In the name of Al-Zarqawi 1,200 people have been killed in Falluja according to the American military, which describes the victims as 'insurgents' and 'guerrillas.' Eyewit nes ses say the dead are civilian residents.

"'[Given this tragic situation], whoever believes that America has invaded and occupied Iraq to bring democracy and freedom is either stupid or in cooperation with the U.S. against the Iraqis,' says Monther Yaakoub, another Fallujan in Baghdad.

"I am obliged to fulfill my promise to the Fallujans I spoke with and get their calls across through this article: Abu Mohammed calls upon the Western media to cover the horrific situation they are living in. Umm Waddah calls upon the Arabs, who view the Iraqi tragedy on Arab TVs, to act and help their brothers and sisters in Iraq. And Umm Usama asks us to pray for Falluja, and for Iraq."

Reports from the resistance itself can be found at freearabvoice.org. But even in the corporate media, one could find reports that the resistance had opened up armed struggles in a dozen cities in what is called the "Sunni Triangle"--although it is not exclusively Sunni, nor is it shaped like a triangle.

The resistance overran nine police stations in Mosul, a city of nearly 2 million people north of Baghdad. Oil wells and pipelines have been set on fire in at least five places.

Political impact

Demonstrations of thousands have already taken place in Arab countries in solidarity with Falluja. Perhaps even more important was the response in Iraq itself.

"On the fourth day of the ground attack on Falluja, last Friday [Nov. 12]," writes Haifa Zangana in the British Guardian Nov. 17, "joint Shia-Sunni prayers were held in the four mosques in Baghdad and were massively well attended. Inter-communal prayers were the hallmark of the 1920 revolution."

According to a Xinhua report on Nov. 17, some 47 Iraqi political and religious parties have decided to boycott the general elections engineered by Washington for January 2005. The reason was "the U.S.-led assaults in cities like Najaf, Karbala, Samarra, Sadr City, Adhmiya, and especially the genocide crimes in Falluja," said the statement.

Mainly Sunni factions led by the Muslim Clerics Association signed the statement, but at least eight Shiite groups and one Christian party were also among them, according to Xinhua.

Another place where Falluja will have an important political impact is in the United States and among U.S. troops. Already the New York Times reported on Nov. 16 that the Army had sent notices to more than 4,000 former soldiers ordering them to return to active duty. More than 1,800 have already requested exemptions or delays. Of about 2,500 scheduled to arrive on military bases for training by Nov. 7, some 733 failed to show--29 percent.

Within the U.S., there have been demonstrations in response to the Falluja war crimes in Baltimore, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Boulder, Colo., Wash ington, D.C., Buffalo, N.Y., and other cities.

Perhaps the closest historical example for Falluja is Hue. After all, it was Viet namese resistance organizer and communist leader Ho Chi Minh who said the Vietnamese were ready to fight for decades, even generations, if necessary.

The New York Times gave a hint of this when its reporter in Mosul wrote about the children at one playground there. "Amin Muhammad, 10, and his friends raced around with plastic guns. 'We divide ourselves into two teams,' he said. 'The mujahedeen versus the U.S. forces.' And in their battles, he said, the mujahedeen always win."

Reprinted from the Nov. 25, 2004, issue of Workers World newspaper

This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe: wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news: http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php

The address of this page is : http://www.uruknet.info?p=7485
The original address of this article is: http://www.workers.org/ww/2004/falluja1125.php

News Agency Confirms Mujahideen Controls Majority Of Fallujah

Nov 23, 2004
By Omar Al Faris, JUS

China’s Xinhua News Agency reported Monday that Mujahideen are holding 60 percent of Fallujah and have surrounded dozens of US Marines in the al-Jawlan district of the city. Quoting eyewitnesses on Sunday “who managed to sneak out of the city.” Xinhua wrote that the residents reported that the Mujahideen still controls the southern part of al-Fallujah, which “constitutes the larger part of the city and quoted the witnesses as saying that “US troops only control the north and small eastern spots in the city.”

The news agencies filing confirms what our sources and Mafkarat al-Islam have been reporting.

The residents said that “some American troops are based in government buildings and they are pounded by fighters.” They told the news agency, “in daytime groups of mujahideen engage with hit-and-run attacks with US Marines, and at the same time they gear themselves up for the night battles.” Xinhua reported that “fierce fighting and loud explosions resonated throughout the al-Jawlan neighborhood before sunset.”

They agency further reported eyewitnesses as saying on Monday that “fierce clashes are underway in the al-Jawlan, al-‘Askari, and ash-Shuhada’ neighborhoods on Monday. They said that several relief teams were conducting hard negotiations with US troops to gain access to the city to provide assistance to the wounded and bury the dead.

Residents outside the city reported that US troops let one relief team into the city on Sunday but later opened fire on their convoy, killing one member of the team and forcing them to withdraw amid growing fears of a humanitarian crisis in Fallujah.

Bigley House Found In Fallujah?

Meanwhile, mainstream news is reporting that a house found in central Fallujah is the site where British hostage, Kenneth Bigley, was held and beheaded. News agencies are reporting details of the house match the video images in which Bigley appeared while he was captivated, such as writings on the walls and a chicken-wire cage. Shackles and handcuffs were also present in the house.

This appears to be more misinformation to justify the Fallujah massacre of civlians as the last video taken of Bigley inside a cage was not filmed inside Iraq according our sources but rather in Jordan, where he was said to be excuted.

Relative Calm In The City Monday

Calm prevailed over the center and outlying regions of Fallujah on Monday, according to a dispatch posted on Mafkarat al-Islam at 11:35pm Monday night. US occupation forces remain centered in their same positions as on previous days, having made no advances. Some minor movements were observed of some military units, but these were inconsequential.

Correspondents outside the city of al-Fallujah observed occupation troops to be in a relaxed mood, as they could be seen getting out of their cars, resting and playing around with one another. Occupation forces occasionally opened and occasionally closed the road that leads to as-Saqlawiyah, allowing families some movement. (JUS)

Muhammad Abu Nasr, Free Arab Voice, contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_inter...list=/home.php&

Medics Testify to Fallujah's Horrors

Navy Corpsmen Treated Unusually Devastating Injuries at Field Hospital

By Jackie Spinner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 24, 2004; Page A15

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- The first time Jose Ramirez saw a human body ripped apart by a rocket, it took hours for him to regain his composure. Nothing in his training as a Navy medical corpsman had prepared him for the sight of the dead Marine brought in September to the military field hospital outside Fallujah.

"I walked around in shock," said Ramirez, 26, of San Antonio, a Navy petty officer third class attached to Bravo Surgical Company. "I've seen people die before on the emergency room table. But what I was trying not to do, what I was trained not to do, is look at the patient with tunnel vision. It reminded me that I had to get prepared."

Two months later, when the first wounded American and Iraqi troops arrived at the hospital after storming Fallujah, Ramirez had braced for the worst.

"It doesn't hit me when I'm working on a patient. But after we're cleaning up, and I see the blood on the floor or I see someone bagging a piece of arm or leg, I know it's going to be in my mind for the rest of my life," Ramirez said.

Fifty-one U.S. troops have been killed and 425 wounded since the ground assault on this insurgent stronghold began on Nov. 8. Although U.S. commanders say they control the city, Marine units are still going door to door to root out the remaining fighters, sometimes with deadly consequences.

Medics at the Bravo Surgical Company's field hospital, where all the battlefield dead and wounded are brought, said the injuries that troops sustained in the Fallujah fight were unusually devastating, most of them the result of close-range explosions.

"They're just horrific injuries," said Chief Petty Officer Damon Sanders, head of the shock stabilization team. "We saw an increasing amount of shrapnel wounds. Typically there are one or two people who take the brunt of the blast, and the rest of the guys take shrapnel."

Sanders, 36, of Temecula, Calif., said the injuries sustained in Fallujah were more severe than those typically suffered in Iraq, largely because the insurgents had been in control of the city for months and were ready to fight.

"It's when you're waiting, you give the enemy time to set up," he said. "When they're running, they can't do as much."

Marine Lance Cpl. Davi Allen said he saw little action in the first days of the Fallujah offensive. But last week, after the city had mostly been secured, he and his platoon -- part of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment -- were clearing houses in one of the northern neighborhoods that troops swept through at the start of the offensive. After going through about 50 houses, Allen, 21, of Cloverdale, Ore., was looking around the small living room of a residence when he heard gunshots coming from the kitchen.

He looked over and saw a grenade roll into the room. The house's windows had bars on them, and the grenade was too close to the doorway for Allen to make a run for it. He said he had no choice but to ride it out.

"I balled myself in the corner and waited," he said. "It blew up behind me."

Two Marines were injured and one was killed in the attack. Medics brought Allen to Bravo Surgical with 24 pieces of shrapnel in his backside. One of the corpsmen who treated him was Ramirez.

When Allen recounted the tale last weekend, he was standing outside the hospital, sipping a soda. Ramirez dashed by to help carry an injured Iraqi detainee to a waiting ambulance, then came over to talk to Allen. They share an interest in rap music, the two said, and Ramirez repeated a promise to bring Allen some music.

"I knew eventually I'd get hurt," Allen said, cuts still visible on his hands and arms. "I was lucky just to get a grenade. I just want to go back home and see my wife."

Ramirez said the hospital prepared for large numbers of wounded troops before the battle began. But he and his colleagues did not prepare for what he called "the walking wounded." At the last minute, the corpsmen set up a tent to deal with patients who were not brought in on stretchers. Another tent was set up for Iraqi detainees. That freed up some space for the seriously injured, he said, but so many were carried in that a lounge had to be turned into a triage room.

"When they told us we'd go into Fallujah, many of us thought we'd see gunshot wounds, but not people with limbs already amputated due to the blast," Ramirez said.

He spent a lot of time reassuring troops that they were getting the best care possible. "There was one soldier, and I needed to put an IV in his arm," Ramirez recalled. "He was really nervous, and I told him, 'Look man, you just survived a blast.' "

Sanders said the hospital staff worked around the clock during the height of the battle, particularly as troops pushed into Fallujah's southern neighborhoods and confronted a hard core of better-trained insurgents.

There are days, Sanders said, that he and his crew will never forget.

"You're seeing your brothers come in, but you can't see them. You're almost like a machine," he said. "The history we've gone through here will forever make us family. If we see each other 10 years from now, not a word will have to be spoken."

During a recent break, Ramirez imagined facing his mother and what he would say to her. He joined the Navy 8 1/2 years ago to become a medical corpsman after her breast cancer was diagnosed. A single parent, his mother raised him to be the best at what he did, no matter what path he chose, Ramirez said.

"I would honestly be afraid to go back home and tell my family I didn't perform the best I could," he said. "I couldn't look my mother in the eye."

In the distance, but close enough for the ground to shake, an explosion thundered, sending a dark mushroom cloud toward the clear, blue sky.

"We'll know soon enough if it was incoming," Ramirez said, stretching his legs. "I will shoot if I have to. I have shot at people, but that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to save lives."

A few minute passed, then a half-hour, and no ambulance raced to the door of the hospital.

"There's just one thing I want you to know," Ramirez said, before turning to walk away. "There is a corpsman in the memorial of Iwo Jima. He's a pharmacist mate, second class, John Bradley. He was there in the fight. Most people don't know that."

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A...anguage=printer

This news is from Islam Online, and if it's true Bush is guilty of war crimes:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...d=564&ncid=1480

Confusion Reigns as US Raid Misses Target in Iraq

Down the road, soldiers were ramming open the gates of an upscale house. They were about to burst through the door when it opened. Inside were seven young women and six dazed children.