U.S. warplanes bombed rebel targets in the Iraqi city of Falluja on Thursday in an intensifying air campaign before an expected all-out offensive.
...Falluja residents said U.S. ground troops had apparently stayed on the perimeter of the city.
...Most of Falluja's 300,000 people have already fled the city, where they say U.S. bombardments cause civilian casualties and fuel already fierce anti-American sentiment.
...The strikes followed what witnesses said was an intense late-night bombardment on Wednesday of eastern and northwestern districts by AC-130 aircraft and tanks that shook the city for half an hour.
The bombardment was the heaviest inflicted on Falluja for several weeks, the witnesses said.
The U.S. military is poised for an assault on Falluja and another Sunni city Ramadi, also west of Baghdad, as part of a drive to pacify Iraq before national elections planned for January.
...Falluja residents said U.S. ground troops had apparently stayed on the perimeter of the city.
...Most of Falluja's 300,000 people have already fled the city, where they say U.S. bombardments cause civilian casualties and fuel already fierce anti-American sentiment.
...The strikes followed what witnesses said was an intense late-night bombardment on Wednesday of eastern and northwestern districts by AC-130 aircraft and tanks that shook the city for half an hour.
The bombardment was the heaviest inflicted on Falluja for several weeks, the witnesses said.
The U.S. military is poised for an assault on Falluja and another Sunni city Ramadi, also west of Baghdad, as part of a drive to pacify Iraq before national elections planned for January.
Juan Cole comments:
the razing of Fallujah is precisely the sort of action that may provoke an al-Qaeda response and will in any case aid in al-Qaeda's ability to recruit angry young Muslims.
...Also, one reason given for the Fallujah campaign is to allow elections to proceed. But the campaign itself may reinforce Sunni clerics' calls for a boycott.
...Also, one reason given for the Fallujah campaign is to allow elections to proceed. But the campaign itself may reinforce Sunni clerics' calls for a boycott.
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