posted on May 1, 2004 04:53:19 PM new
. . .Fallujah handover
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Gunmen waved their weapons in Fallujah’s streets and outside car windows Saturday, cheering what they called a victory as U.S. forces pulled back. But the Marines insisted that they weren’t going far and that a new Iraqi force taking the front line would root out die-hard insurgents.
The new “Fallujah Brigade,” put together by Iraqi generals from Saddam Hussein’s ousted regime, likely will include some former army soldiers who fought American forces over the past month, Marine Lt. Gen. James Conway said.
He promised, however, that anyone who has “blood on their hands” would not be allowed to stay in the force.
Another military official acknowledged that the United States didn’t know who the individual members of the force were and that its fighters and commanders still had to be vetted to ensure that they are not connected to crimes of the Saddam regime. The force’s leadership could be changed soon because of the screening process, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Scores of Iraqis gathered in the streets Saturday morning, some flashing “V” for victory signs and raising the Iraqi flag. Motorists drove through the streets, shouting “Islam, it’s your day!” and “We redeem Islam with our blood!”
Some were masked with kuffeyahs and raised automatic weapons, members of the insurgency that put up stiff resistance against the Marines. Some guerrillas drove through the city, honking horns and waving their guns out the windows.
More deaths on Saturday
Meanwhile, violence continued Saturday, exactly a year after President Bush stood aboard an aircraft carrier a declared that major combat in Iraq had ended.
A U.S. soldier was killed when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his convoy near the town of Qarraya, 45 miles south of Mosul, the military said. A second soldier died Saturday of wounds suffered the day before in a roadside bombing in the same area.
In another Saturday bombing, two foreign contractors were killed and five other foreigners wounded in an attack in the northern city of Mosul, according to the U.S. military and witnesses. Nationalities of the victims were unavailable.
A British foot patrol also came under attack in the southern city of Amarah, sparking a gunbattle with insurgents that left five Iraqis dead and six British soldiers wounded, according to witnesses and a British forces spokesman.
Witnesses said the five Iraqis killed were members of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army.
The clashes were ongoing Saturday night, said British Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Jonathan Arnold, a military spokesman. He confirmed the six British wounded but had no information on Iraqi deaths.
posted on May 1, 2004 06:10:53 PM new
Yep and had people not tied President Bushs hands, we could/should of destroyed that city...
I am thinking that they may wish the marines would come back as the Security Forces won't be bound by certain nicities...
AIN'T LIFE GRAND...
It's too bad that their blindness can't see they are killing more soldiers than President Bush ever has... Protest Loud and Proud! Your fellow taliban and insurgents are rejoicing at the support...
posted on May 1, 2004 06:25:08 PM new
I'd like to see how many would stand out in the streets when a Specter flies over again.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on May 1, 2004 06:28:13 PM new
If you have to be there (and I don't like that we are), I think handing this city over to those who fought us is asking for trouble. I still wonder if we know just what we are doing. I'm not for this war in any way, shape or form, but I am deeply concerned for our soldiers over there. This could give new life to insurgents and terrorist groups over there right now.
