Razing Falluja

One does not find the “break in tradition” of which Kaplan speaks, nor the reinvented abstract and ideological form of Islam he blames for radicalism. Instead one finds numerous centers for religious study that produce many of Iraq’s most important theologians. The vast majority of the armed fighters in Falluja were not motivated by radical Islamic beliefs, but were fighting to defend their families, homes, city and way of life from the brutal American onslaught and were motivated by nationalism and pride.

The fighters were not, as Kaplan has us believe by quoting Lieutenant Colonel Byrne, men who fought in Chechnya or Afghanistan. The vast majority of the fighters were local men who had prior military experience in the Iraqi military. A few dozen foreign fighters were also present, though most were too young to have fought anywhere else. Kaplan also fails to explain how Byrne’s orders to grow mustaches and subsequently to shave them had anything to do with cultural sensitivity. The Marines would have been more culturally sensitive had they not offended Falluja’s residents by humiliating their fierce pride through violent searches that terrified women and children and involved placing boots in the heads of men.

...Kaplan comments on the dominance of southern Christian fundamentalism among the Marines without judgment and reports that their chaplain compares their entry to Falluja with Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, describing their impending destruction of much of the city as “a spiritual battle and you Marines are the tools of mercy.” Kaplan admires the Marines’ “matter-of-fact willingness to die.” Though he mistakenly insists that the defenders of Falluja were cowards who used the cover of women and children to attack the Marines, both the attackers and defenders had much more in common than he would have us believe.

Read more.

Another strike on Falluja

U.S. forces mounted an air strike on the Iraqi city of Falluja Friday, the latest in a series targeting suspected fighters linked to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the U.S. military said.

The military did not say if anyone was killed in the operation, which targeted the courtyard of a house. Residents in the town, 30 miles west of Baghdad, said at least five people were wounded, two of them children.

"Based on multiple sources of intelligence, the attack targeted 10 to 12 "terrorists" with known ties to the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi network," U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Erv Lessel said in a statement.

In Falluja, a prayer leader condemned the U.S. raids. Strikes over the last month have killed about 40 people.

"The Americans don't want peace in the town. They kill women and children every day on the pretext of targeting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group, which they know is not present," Sheikh Mohamed Abdullah told about 700 worshipers at Friday prayers.

In the past month, U.S. forces have carried out seven strikes against suspected safe houses in Falluja believed to have been used by Zarqawi's group

Al-Jazeerah article

The last strike was on Monday. This is an ongoing operation of destruction to a city considered one of the holiest, referred to as "the city of mosques". (Previous posts documenting the crusade.) If Americans don't recognize that, the Iraqis do.

Iraqi fighters in Falluja, their faces hidden behind chequered cloths, have denied in a taped message that al-Qaida-linked Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was holed up in their city.

"The American invader forces claim that al-Zarqawi, and with him a group of Arab fighters, are in our city," a masked man read from a piece of paper on Friday.

"We know that this talk about al-Zarqawi and the fighters is a game the American invader forces are playing to strike Islam and Muslims in the city of mosques, steadfast Falluja."

Aljazeera article

Razing Falluja

As we continue our air strikes to annihilate the city, I am wondering how that fits into the sovereignty scheme.

A U.S. military spokesman who confirmed the overnight attacks offered no details and referred journalists to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, which said it had no information to share.

CNN article

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Sunday he gave the US military the green light for the attack.

Aljazeera article

The War on Iraq Civilians

It's multifaceted. Empire Notes has an article on one facet: hospital closings.

“Why do you keep asking about the closing of the Fallujah hospital?” my Iraqi translator asks in exasperation. I explain that this is big news, and it hasn’t really been reported in English. He looks at me, incredulous; all Iraqis know about it.

When the United States began the siege of Fallujah, it targeted civilians in several ways. The power station was bombed; perhaps even more important, the bridge across the Euphrates was closed. Fallujah’s main hospital stands on the western bank of the river; almost the entirety of the town is on the east side. Although the hospital was not technically closed, no doctor who actually believes in the Hippocratic oath is going to sit in an empty hospital while people are dying in droves on the other bank of the river. So the doctors shut down the hospital, took the limited supplies and equipment they could carry, and started working at a small three-room outpatient clinic, doing operations on the ground and losing patients because of the inadequacy of the setup. This event was not reported in English until April 14, when the bridge was reopened.

In Najaf, the Spanish-language “Plus Ultra” garrison closed the al-Sadr Teaching Hospital roughly a week ago (as of yesterday, it remained closed). With 200 doctors, the hospital (formerly the Saddam Hussein Teaching Hospital) is one of the most important in Iraq. Troops entered and gave the doctors two hours to leave, allowing them to take only personal items -- no medical equipment. The reason given was that the hospital overlooks the Plus Ultra’s base, and that the roof could be used by resistance snipers. Al-Arabiya has also reported that in Qaim, a small town near the Syrian border where fighting recently broke out, that the hospital had been closed, with American snipers positioned atop nearby buildings.

The United States has also impeded the operation of hospitals in other ways.

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Falluja accounting - setting the record straight

One does not find the “break in tradition” of which Kaplan speaks, nor the reinvented abstract and ideological form of Islam he blames for radicalism. Instead one finds numerous centers for religious study that produce many of Iraq’s most important theologians. The vast majority of the armed fighters in Falluja were not motivated by radical Islamic beliefs, but were fighting to defend their families, homes, city and way of life from the brutal American onslaught and were motivated by nationalism and pride.

The fighters were not, as Kaplan has us believe by quoting Lieutenant Colonel Byrne, men who fought in Chechnya or Afghanistan. The vast majority of the fighters were local men who had prior military experience in the Iraqi military. A few dozen foreign fighters were also present, though most were too young to have fought anywhere else. Kaplan also fails to explain how Byrne’s orders to grow mustaches and subsequently to shave them had anything to do with cultural sensitivity. The Marines would have been more culturally sensitive had they not offended Falluja’s residents by humiliating their fierce pride through violent searches that terrified women and children and involved placing boots in the heads of men.

...Kaplan comments on the dominance of southern Christian fundamentalism among the Marines without judgment and reports that their chaplain compares their entry to Falluja with Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, describing their impending destruction of much of the city as “a spiritual battle and you Marines are the tools of mercy.” Kaplan admires the Marines’ “matter-of-fact willingness to die.” Though he mistakenly insists that the defenders of Falluja were cowards who used the cover of women and children to attack the Marines, both the attackers and defenders had much more in common than he would have us believe.

Read more.

More Airstrikes on Falluja

U.S. jets attacked a house in the turbulent city of Fallujah on Monday, witnesses and police said. As many as 15 people were killed in the blast, an Arab television station reported.

Ambulances headed to the eastern side of the city, where U.S. airstrikes have frequently targeted safehouses used by members of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network.

  Boston.com article

So say all of us. The residents say they aren't. In fact, I can't imagine that they would be. Even if they had been at one time, with all the U.S. airstrikes, it's much too unsafe in Falluja to have a safe house in that city.

The most likely story is that Falluja has become the city of punishment for its defiance - it never accepted the American "liberation" - and our inability to make the Fallujans bend to our will. And because they have embarassed us time and again in repelling our attempts to take the city.

Another Airstrike on Falluja

The fourth airstrike in the past two weeks was conducted yesterday.

U.S. forces attacked what they said was a safehouse belonging to Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on Thursday, killing at least six people in Iraq's most rebellious city.

In the fourth strike targeting suspected Zarqawi hideouts in Falluja in the past two weeks, a U.S. plane fired a missile overnight that witnesses said reduced the building to rubble.

  Reuters article

U.S. has a hard-on for Falluja, and we'll bomb the whole place flat if they don't cry uncle.