For those of you who have been following developments in Iraq at all, this is interesting news.
quote:FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces have begun a push into Falluja as part of an all-out assault aimed at driving insurgents out of the city.
[...]
More than 10,000 forces -- Marines, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi forces -- are expected to be involved in the assault. On Monday morning, tanks and attack vehicles streamed through the desert, getting in position for the fight.
The U.S. and Iraqi forces hope to pacify Falluja in time for elections in January for a transitional national assembly.
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
Haha, this was an excellent Dobie of the M&Ms thread.
Five out of five Dobies.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
So it begins...
*crosses fingers*
--j_k
Posted by digging_holes (Member # 6237) on :
Update. Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
"10000 forces"? What the devil are these "forces"? Strong force, weak force, electromagnetic force? What's wrong with the word "soldiers"?
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
Seems to be going well! Awesome .
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
So far so good.
*Hopes for swift victory and low American/civilian casualties*
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
Guys, if we learned anything, it's that the battle is the easy part. The problem is keeping the peace.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
I have a friend in Baghdad. I hope he's doing ok.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Sounds encouraging. I'm glad that they're making the mistake of standing and fighting us; that's the kind of thing the US military is very, very good at doing. I was afraid that they'd just melt away, blend in with the populace, and all that, and then just take up arms again at the first opportune moment.
I find it staggering that we have the capability to perform airstrikes so precise that they take out a mosque's minarets without bringing down the rest of the building. The article's kind of ambiguous though; did they then destroy the mosque anyway?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Lovely The US seems to be using Nerve gas on Fallujah... Terrific. *bitter*
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I doubt that.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I don't... One never knows... and it bothers me. There is also another issue I have to do research on.....
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I worked for the Army at USAMRIID for 2 years, and i doubt that those weapons will ever be used again, except in defense of the USA...as in the fighting is here, and we are fighting for our homes.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Interesting Q -- if we would use them were we invaded, could we have justifiably condemned Iraq if they used them upon our invasion?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote: BAGHDAD, Nov. 11 -- A battered hostage, his wrists and ankles shackled to a wall, has been rescued by U.S. Marines moving through Fallujah, military officials said Thursday, providing further evidence that the rebel-held city was being used as a hideout for kidnappers.
Marine spokesman Maj. Francis Piccoli said the hostage was found about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday as troops engaged in a house-to-house sweep as part of the ongoing assault on Fallujah, the rebellious, mostly Sunni city about 35 miles west of the capital. Piccoli said the hostage's nationality was unknown. The rescued man said he was a taxi driver and that he had been held for 10 days without food or water.
I know this doesn't mean that the overall Fallujah operation will be successful or turn out to have been a good idea, but it is cause for celebration.
Dagonee
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Yay! We saved a guy!
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
A guy who had likely only been captured for a couple days, or in fact was given drink/food.
I believe it's impossible to live more than a few days without water. If you aren't dead by day 10, you are in a coma.
That said, I hope the soldiers to a great job and get Iraq into a shape that can be conducive to better government than it's had in recent history (Hussein, not US Coalition, you wags!)
-Bok
Posted by Lost Ashes (Member # 6745) on :
Sure means the world to that fellow who was chained to the wall, doesn't it?
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Reading that the hostage was a cabdriver, I remembered a news item -- published a short few days prior to the US entry -- in which a Falluja cabdriver was named while giving a quote similar to "I just wish these rebels would leave the city and let us live in peace." And wondered whether it was the same cabdriver being punished for the reporter's lack of discretion.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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