Fallujah slaughter set to occur immediately AFTER elections
- Thread starter 2-0-Sixx
- Start date
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Fallujah and the Reality of War
The assault on Fallujah has started. It is being sold as
liberation of the people of Fallujah; it is being sold as a
necessary step to implementing “democracy” in Iraq. These are
lies.
I was in Fallujah during the siege in April, and I want to paint
for you a word picture of what such an assault means.
Fallujah is dry and hot; like Southern California, it has been
made an agricultural area only by virtue of extensive irrigation.
It has been known for years as a particularly devout city; people
call it the City of a Thousand Mosques. In the mid-90’s, when
Saddam wanted his name to be added to the call to prayer, the
imams of Fallujah refused.
U.S. forces bombed the power plant at the beginning of the
assault; for the next several weeks, Fallujah was a blacked-out
town, with light provided by generators only in critical places
like mosques and clinics. The town was placed under siege; the
ban on bringing in food, medicine, and other basic items was
broken only when Iraqis en masse challenged the roadblocks. The
atmosphere was one of pervasive fear, from bombing and the threat
of more bombing. Noncombatants and families with sick people, the
elderly, and children were leaving in droves. After initial
instances in which people were prevented from leaving, U.S.
forces beegan allowing everyone to leave – except for what they
called “military age males,” men usually between 15 and 60.
Keeping noncombatants from leaving a place under bombardment is a
violation of the laws of war. Of course, if you assume that every
military age male is an enemy, there can be no better sign that
you are in the wrong country, and that, in fact, your war is on
the people, not on their oppressors,, not a war of liberation.
The main hospital in Fallujah is across the Euphrates from the
bulk of the town. Right at the beginning, the Americans shut down
the main bridge, cutting off the hospital from the town. Doctors
who wanted to treat patients had to leave the hospital, with only
the equipment they could carry, and set up in makeshift clinics
all over the city; the one I stayed at had been a neighborhood
clinic with one room that had four beds, and no operating
theater; doctors refrigerated blood in a soft-drink vending
machine. Another clinic, I’m told, had been an auto repair shop.
This hospital closing (not the only such that I documented in
Iraq) also violates the Geneva Convention.
In Fallujah, you were rarely free of the sound of artillery
booming in the background, punctuated by the smaller,
higher-pitched note of the mujaheddin’s hand-held mortars. After
even a few minutes of it, you have to stop paying attention to it
– and yet, of course, you never quite stop. Even today, when I
hear the roar of thunder, I’m often transported instantly to
April 10 and the dusty streets of Fallujah.
In addition to the artillery and the warplanes dropping 500,
1000, and 2000-pound bombs, and the murderous AC-130 Spectre
gunships that can demolish a whole city block in less than a
minute, the Marines had snipers criss-crossing the whole town.
For weeks, Fallujah was a series of sometimes mutually
inaccessible pockets, divided by the no-man’s-lands of sniper
fire paths. Snipers fired indiscriminately, usually at whatever
moved. Of 20 people I saw come into the clinic I observed in a
few hours, only five were “military-age males.” I saw old women,
old men, a child of 10 shot through the head; terminal, the
doctors told me, although in Baghdad they might have been able to
save him.
One thing that snipers were very discriminating about – every
single ambulance I saw had bullet holes in it. Two I inspected
bore clear evidence of specific, deliberate sniping. Friends of
mine who went out to gather in wounded people were shot at. When
we first reported this fact, we came in for near-universal
execration. Many just refused to believe it. Some asked me how I
knew that it wasn’t the mujaheddin. Interesting question. Had,
say, Brownsville, Texas, been encircled by the Vietnamese and
bombarded (which, of course, Mr. Bush courageously protected us
from during the Vietnam war era) and Brownsville ambulances been
shot up, the question of whether the residents were shooting at
their own ambulances, I somehow guess, would not have come up.
Later, our reports were confirmed by the Iraqi Ministry of Health
and even by the U.S. military.
The best estimates are that roughly 900-1000 people were killed
directly, blown up, burnt, or shot. Of them, my guess, based on
news reports and personal observation, is that 2/3 to ¾ were
noncombatants.
But the damage goes far beyond that. You can read whenever you
like about the bombing of so-called Zarqawi safe houses in
residential areas in Fallujah, but the reports don’t tell you
what that means. You read about precision strikes, and it’s true
that America’s GPS-guided bombs are very accurate – when they’re
not malfunctioning, the 80 or 85% of the time that they work,
their targeting radius is 10 meters, i.e., they hit within 10
meters of the target. Even the smallest of them, however, the
500-pound bomb, has a blast radius of 400 meters; every single
bomb shakes the whole neighborhood, breaking windows and smashing
crockery. A town under bombardment is a town in constant fear.
You read the reports about X killed and Y wounded. And you should
remember those numbers; those numbers are important. But equally
important is to remember that those numbers lie – in a war zone,
everyone is wounded.
The first assault on Fallujah was a military failure. This time,
the resistance is stronger, better-armed, and better-organized;
to "win," the U.S. military will have to pull out all the stops.
Even within horror and terror, there are degrees, and we – and
the people of Fallujah – ain’t seen nothin’ yet. George W. Bush
has just claimed a new mandate – the world has been delivered
into his hands.
There will be international condemnation, as there was the first
time; but our government won’t listen to it; aside from the
resistance, all the people of Fallujah will be able to depend on
to try to mitigate the horror will be us, the antiwar movement.
We have a responsibility, that we didn’t meet in April and we
didn’t meet in August when Najaf was similarly attacked; will we
meet it this time?
.................................................................
.................................................................
Rahul Mahajan is publisher of
the weblog
Empire Notes
http://www.empirenotes.org
with regularly updated
commentary on U.S. foreign
policy, the occupation of
Iraq, and the state of the
American Empire. He has been
to occupied Iraq twice, and
was in Fallujah during the
siege in April.
His most recent book is
Full Spectrum Dominance:
U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond
.................................................................
Fallujah and the Reality of War
The assault on Fallujah has started. It is being sold as
liberation of the people of Fallujah; it is being sold as a
necessary step to implementing “democracy” in Iraq. These are
lies.
I was in Fallujah during the siege in April, and I want to paint
for you a word picture of what such an assault means.
Fallujah is dry and hot; like Southern California, it has been
made an agricultural area only by virtue of extensive irrigation.
It has been known for years as a particularly devout city; people
call it the City of a Thousand Mosques. In the mid-90’s, when
Saddam wanted his name to be added to the call to prayer, the
imams of Fallujah refused.
U.S. forces bombed the power plant at the beginning of the
assault; for the next several weeks, Fallujah was a blacked-out
town, with light provided by generators only in critical places
like mosques and clinics. The town was placed under siege; the
ban on bringing in food, medicine, and other basic items was
broken only when Iraqis en masse challenged the roadblocks. The
atmosphere was one of pervasive fear, from bombing and the threat
of more bombing. Noncombatants and families with sick people, the
elderly, and children were leaving in droves. After initial
instances in which people were prevented from leaving, U.S.
forces beegan allowing everyone to leave – except for what they
called “military age males,” men usually between 15 and 60.
Keeping noncombatants from leaving a place under bombardment is a
violation of the laws of war. Of course, if you assume that every
military age male is an enemy, there can be no better sign that
you are in the wrong country, and that, in fact, your war is on
the people, not on their oppressors,, not a war of liberation.
The main hospital in Fallujah is across the Euphrates from the
bulk of the town. Right at the beginning, the Americans shut down
the main bridge, cutting off the hospital from the town. Doctors
who wanted to treat patients had to leave the hospital, with only
the equipment they could carry, and set up in makeshift clinics
all over the city; the one I stayed at had been a neighborhood
clinic with one room that had four beds, and no operating
theater; doctors refrigerated blood in a soft-drink vending
machine. Another clinic, I’m told, had been an auto repair shop.
This hospital closing (not the only such that I documented in
Iraq) also violates the Geneva Convention.
In Fallujah, you were rarely free of the sound of artillery
booming in the background, punctuated by the smaller,
higher-pitched note of the mujaheddin’s hand-held mortars. After
even a few minutes of it, you have to stop paying attention to it
– and yet, of course, you never quite stop. Even today, when I
hear the roar of thunder, I’m often transported instantly to
April 10 and the dusty streets of Fallujah.
In addition to the artillery and the warplanes dropping 500,
1000, and 2000-pound bombs, and the murderous AC-130 Spectre
gunships that can demolish a whole city block in less than a
minute, the Marines had snipers criss-crossing the whole town.
For weeks, Fallujah was a series of sometimes mutually
inaccessible pockets, divided by the no-man’s-lands of sniper
fire paths. Snipers fired indiscriminately, usually at whatever
moved. Of 20 people I saw come into the clinic I observed in a
few hours, only five were “military-age males.” I saw old women,
old men, a child of 10 shot through the head; terminal, the
doctors told me, although in Baghdad they might have been able to
save him.
One thing that snipers were very discriminating about – every
single ambulance I saw had bullet holes in it. Two I inspected
bore clear evidence of specific, deliberate sniping. Friends of
mine who went out to gather in wounded people were shot at. When
we first reported this fact, we came in for near-universal
execration. Many just refused to believe it. Some asked me how I
knew that it wasn’t the mujaheddin. Interesting question. Had,
say, Brownsville, Texas, been encircled by the Vietnamese and
bombarded (which, of course, Mr. Bush courageously protected us
from during the Vietnam war era) and Brownsville ambulances been
shot up, the question of whether the residents were shooting at
their own ambulances, I somehow guess, would not have come up.
Later, our reports were confirmed by the Iraqi Ministry of Health
and even by the U.S. military.
The best estimates are that roughly 900-1000 people were killed
directly, blown up, burnt, or shot. Of them, my guess, based on
news reports and personal observation, is that 2/3 to ¾ were
noncombatants.
But the damage goes far beyond that. You can read whenever you
like about the bombing of so-called Zarqawi safe houses in
residential areas in Fallujah, but the reports don’t tell you
what that means. You read about precision strikes, and it’s true
that America’s GPS-guided bombs are very accurate – when they’re
not malfunctioning, the 80 or 85% of the time that they work,
their targeting radius is 10 meters, i.e., they hit within 10
meters of the target. Even the smallest of them, however, the
500-pound bomb, has a blast radius of 400 meters; every single
bomb shakes the whole neighborhood, breaking windows and smashing
crockery. A town under bombardment is a town in constant fear.
You read the reports about X killed and Y wounded. And you should
remember those numbers; those numbers are important. But equally
important is to remember that those numbers lie – in a war zone,
everyone is wounded.
The first assault on Fallujah was a military failure. This time,
the resistance is stronger, better-armed, and better-organized;
to "win," the U.S. military will have to pull out all the stops.
Even within horror and terror, there are degrees, and we – and
the people of Fallujah – ain’t seen nothin’ yet. George W. Bush
has just claimed a new mandate – the world has been delivered
into his hands.
There will be international condemnation, as there was the first
time; but our government won’t listen to it; aside from the
resistance, all the people of Fallujah will be able to depend on
to try to mitigate the horror will be us, the antiwar movement.
We have a responsibility, that we didn’t meet in April and we
didn’t meet in August when Najaf was similarly attacked; will we
meet it this time?
.................................................................
.................................................................
Rahul Mahajan is publisher of
the weblog
Empire Notes
http://www.empirenotes.org
with regularly updated
commentary on U.S. foreign
policy, the occupation of
Iraq, and the state of the
American Empire. He has been
to occupied Iraq twice, and
was in Fallujah during the
siege in April.
His most recent book is
Full Spectrum Dominance:
U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond
US strikes raze Falluja hospital
The hospital was run by an Islamic charity
A hospital has been razed to the ground in one of the heaviest US air raids in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
Witnesses said only the facade remained of the small Nazzal Emergency Hospital in the centre of the city. There are no reports on casualties.
A nearby medical supplies storeroom and dozens of houses were damaged as US forces continued preparing the ground for an expected major assault.
UN chief Kofi Annan has warned against an attack on the restive Sunni city.
It is the third time since the end of the US-led war that US and Iraqi forces have tried to gain control of Falluja.
They say militants loyal to top al-Qaeda suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are hiding there.
Zarqawi's supporters have been behind some of the worst attacks on coalition and Iraqi forces as well as dozens of kidnappings. Some of the hostages - foreigners and Iraqis - have been beheaded.
'Ruined'
US troops using 155mm howitzers pounded a number of pre-planned targets in Falluja on Saturday.
Rest of article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3988433.stm
Motherfuckin Iraqi's are pissed...
At least 33 people are killed in multiple car bomb attacks in Samarra, as US forces bombard Falluja.
Two blasts went off outside the mayor's office. A US convoy thought to be trying to reach the scene was also hit.
There are also reports that militants attacked three police stations, killing and wounding a number of policemen.
Samarra has been cited by the Iraqi government as an example of how they have been able to restore order to areas formerly controlled by rebels.
US and Iraqi forces seized control of the Sunni Muslim city in early October.
The BBC's Claire Marshall in Baghdad says that on the eve of an attack on Falluja, events in Samarra seem to demonstrate that it takes more than a large scale military assault to bring a town fully under control.
At least 33 people are killed in multiple car bomb attacks in Samarra, as US forces bombard Falluja.
Two blasts went off outside the mayor's office. A US convoy thought to be trying to reach the scene was also hit.
There are also reports that militants attacked three police stations, killing and wounding a number of policemen.
Samarra has been cited by the Iraqi government as an example of how they have been able to restore order to areas formerly controlled by rebels.
US and Iraqi forces seized control of the Sunni Muslim city in early October.
The BBC's Claire Marshall in Baghdad says that on the eve of an attack on Falluja, events in Samarra seem to demonstrate that it takes more than a large scale military assault to bring a town fully under control.
Im watchin and CNN by far has the best coverage. They aint suger coatin the shit.
i was watchin fox for about 30 mins and the only shit they was reporting was the video of combat and then retired generals with maps tellin everyone how for lack of a better word easy this is gonna be. they didnt say easy but they was down playin everything.
then i go back to cnn and they got the guy on the phone live 1 mile back from the front line tellin a completely diffrent story. you cant go 3 seconds without hearing some kind of massive explosion or small arm fire ( witch was odd because he said he was a mile away from the front line but you can hear machine guns goin off right next to him) in the back ground.
fox just fuckin sugar coats shit. it really is GOPTV
and millions of morons watch them as their only source of info and belive it hole heartly
i was watchin fox for about 30 mins and the only shit they was reporting was the video of combat and then retired generals with maps tellin everyone how for lack of a better word easy this is gonna be. they didnt say easy but they was down playin everything.
then i go back to cnn and they got the guy on the phone live 1 mile back from the front line tellin a completely diffrent story. you cant go 3 seconds without hearing some kind of massive explosion or small arm fire ( witch was odd because he said he was a mile away from the front line but you can hear machine guns goin off right next to him) in the back ground.
fox just fuckin sugar coats shit. it really is GOPTV
and millions of morons watch them as their only source of info and belive it hole heartly
That’s right. The majority of these people are simply Iraqi civilians protecting their city. They are NOT loyal Saddam extremist or terrorist. Remember, Fulujah is a city that has a long history of opposing Saddam.
I hope the people of Fullujah put up a good fight. The world is watching and for each dead Iraqi/American, the opposition grows stronger.
I hope the people of Fullujah put up a good fight. The world is watching and for each dead Iraqi/American, the opposition grows stronger.
A man who fled the city told the BBC the streets were littered with bodies.
At least 10 US and two Iraqi soldiers had been killed today.
link
A total of 14 Americans have been killed in the past two days across Iraq — including three killed in Falluja on Tuesday and 11 who died Monday, most of them as guerrillas launched a wave of attacks in Baghdad and southwest of Falluja, a senior Pentagon official said.
As fighting raged in Falluja, PM Iyad Allawi declared a night curfew in Baghdad and its surroundings. Hundreds of guerrillas were also swarming the streets of Ramadi, another insurgent stronghold 110 km west of Baghdad.
The violence and US deaths raised the possibility that guerrillas would shift their campaign elsewhere even as American and Iraqi troops make their swift advance into Falluja.
link
AP Photo/Karim Kadim
Let us not forget what the amerikans did to the people of this city just months ago
Occupation forces murder Iraqi protestors in Fallujah
HiRes propaganda pictures, here
all that shit dont mean nothing 20 sixx just posted.......bottom line is some fucks decided to kidnapp inocent people and behead them on camera.....that doesnt have shit to do with the us army.....i understand people dont want to be occupied, but that means u can kidnap innocent women and men and start beheading them, fuck that.....and im 100% positive that a couple of them fucks are in fallujah....so yall can cry out all yall want bout the innocent iraqis beink killed and blah blah blah.....them fucks took it to an extreme when they started with all that beheading......now them, and their people, will pay for that...
"a couple of them live in fallujah"
"A COUPLE"
Does that give the U.S the right to invade an entire city and kill innocent men, women and children?
I'm glad you think everything I posted means nothing. The dead bodies, the injured children...MEANINGLESS, right? I guess you really are just greedy, only care about yourself and have no concern over human life. Dont know about you, but being GREEDY is not something i'd be proud of. It is a personal flaw that needs to be corrected.
"A COUPLE"
Does that give the U.S the right to invade an entire city and kill innocent men, women and children?
I'm glad you think everything I posted means nothing. The dead bodies, the injured children...MEANINGLESS, right? I guess you really are just greedy, only care about yourself and have no concern over human life. Dont know about you, but being GREEDY is not something i'd be proud of. It is a personal flaw that needs to be corrected.
So, your breakdown would go something like this:
A handful of beheaded (non Iraqi) civilians > thousands upon thousands of bombed, shot, and burned Iraqi civilians...get a fucking grip...just because you can go see the beheading video does not make it any worse than a bomb killing a person...wake the fuck up...death is death no matter how it is administered.
A handful of beheaded (non Iraqi) civilians > thousands upon thousands of bombed, shot, and burned Iraqi civilians...get a fucking grip...just because you can go see the beheading video does not make it any worse than a bomb killing a person...wake the fuck up...death is death no matter how it is administered.