Marines claim latest Iraq success, for how long?

[Barrett808]

Marines claim latest Iraq success, for how long?
By Peter Graff

KARABILA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Marines have rolled back into the desert claiming success in their latest major military operation in Iraq, but locals in the ruined town they left behind say the insurgents will be back.

After four days of bombardment and street-to-street gunbattles, the Marines cleared Karabila -- a strategic waystation near the main border crossing where the Euphrates flows in from Syria -- of foreign fighters who made it a base.

"The operation was very successful because we cleared out some insurgents and weapons caches. We found evidence of foreign fighters," their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Mundy, said.

But Operation Spear left much of the town in ruins. And even the Marines themselves say the insurgents will soon be back to fight another day.

"If this was the only thing we did, we would lose this war, quickly. But it's not the only thing we're doing," said Captain Thomas Silbey, the battalion intelligence officer. "Yeah, in a couple of weeks they'll be back and they'll make up for these losses. But that's fine, because we're not beating them in two weeks. We're beating them in two years."

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050620/ts_nm/iraq_karabila_dc

[newscott]

1. In ordert to save the city we had to destroy it.

[burrowowl]

15. Sounds

like Vietnam?!

[bluedog]

2. Iraqi official accuses US of 'indiscriminate killing'

Iraqi official accuses US of 'indiscriminate killing'



Iraqi official accuses US of 'indiscriminate killing' in western Iraq
Jun 18, 2005, 16:15 GMT
An Iraqi official has accused the US forces of "indiscriminate killing" and destruction in the Iraqi town of Al-Qa'im, on the Syrian border.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera TV on 18 June, Abd-al-Khaliq al-Rawi, director of telecommunications in Al-Qa'im, said that the town's residents had begun acts of "civil disobedience" in protest at the killings.

Al-Rawi told the channel that US snipers were killing people every day in the town's market.

"These actions have increased in the past week. There are innocent victims on a daily basis," he said.

snip

Responding to US statements that 50 militants have been killed in its current operations in western Iraq, Al-Rawi said that the injured who had arrived at the hospital in Al-Karabilah, where "Operation Spear" is currently taking place, were mostly civilians.

snip

He added that he had seen no gunmen or militants in the streets.

Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 1236 gmt 18 Jun 05

BBC Mon ME1 MEPol ab

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/mediamonitor/article...

[donco6]

12. To the US, they're "insurgents" if they're dead.

Dead men tell no tales.

[Kittycat]

14. God this just sickens me!!! n/t

:(

[Jacobin]

3. Bravado. Its all we have

Bush is an asshole for putting our troops in this quagmire

[Oreo]

4. 2 years? Is he telling them when we're leaving?

Bush better publicly denounce this soldier for helping the insurgents know the timeline for "victory"

[DinahMoeHum]

5. ". . .but every battle won is just another grain of sand. . .

...when you're white boots marching in a yellow land."

- Phil Ochs



:nuke:

[leftchick]

6. they admit to killing civilians....

this is fucking sick....


~snip~

But there was a cost to the assault. One Marine was killed and six wounded, Mundy said. His forces killed three civilians and wounded two in a firefight Friday and made no count of the number of civilians who may have been hurt from afar by air or artillery strikes, although many parts of the town were deserted before they arrived.

The chief doctor at the area's main hospital in Qaim, Hamdi al-Alusi, said he counted 17 civilian dead in recent days.

Every house was searched, often only after the front gate was blown off with explosives. Weapons caches were detonated on the spot bringing houses down around them.

Whole streets were obliterated, including one the Marines called Louisiana and one they called Muj Alley -- "muj" is their term for the mujahideen Islamist fighters they face.

Marines say the devastation is the price to pay to disrupt the insurgents responsible for a suicide bombing campaign that has worsened over the past two months since a new Iraqi government was formed and now kills dozens of civilians most days across much of Iraq.

[gratuitous]

10. "Marines say the devastation is the price to pay . . ."

Uhm, who's paying that price? And will they ever come back, looking for reimbursement? And from whom will they seek it?

[DavidDvorkin]

7. Madness

Evil madness.

I'd like to think that the American public will be outraged by this, but I doubt it. Those who aren't are also evil and mad.

[dbt]

8. Even MORE Viet Vu in Iraq Nam.

Trouble is, there's no Walter Cronkite to tell us all that this war is unwinnable, like the FIRST Viet Nam.

bu$h is murdering our children just the same as if he was pulling the trigger.

:freak:

[daleo]

9. Insanity: Destroy peoples houses and kill dozens of civilians.

Then say: "The operation was very successful because we cleared out some insurgents and weapons caches."

A war fought on this basis can never by won.

[gizmo1979]

11. The insurgents are like cockroaches

they scurry out of the light only to return when the light goes out.We need a better plan,I would think special forces would be a much better choice.

[FormerOstrich]

13. buttressing, no less......just a little editorial comment...

Four Iraqis were freed from a cell where they said they were tortured. Large quantities of weapons, ammunition, explosives and bomb-making gear were discovered in houses, in one case alongside a cache of passports from Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia.

Stuffed in one passport was a ticket and boarding pass showing the bearer flew on Libyan Arab Airways to Damascus from Tripoli on June 1, buttressing Washington's argument that Syria is allowing foreign insurgents to pass through.

[NNN0LHI]

16. Marines win Iraq desert battle, war far from over

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5887709&cKey=1119356450000

KARABILA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Marines claimed success on Tuesday in another battle against insurgents in the Iraqi desert but acknowledged that the war was far from over and that guerrillas would soon recover lost ground. snip

Battalion intelligence officer Captain Thomas Sibley pointed out, however, that any final victory was still some way off: "If this was the only thing we did, we would lose this war -- quickly. But it's not the only thing we're doing.

"Yeah, in a couple of weeks they'll be back and they'll make up for these losses. But that's fine, because we're not beating them in two weeks. We're beating them in two years."

Mohammed Solfeij, 33, whose house is on the outskirts of Karabila near where the Americans first entered the town, said the insurgents would be back "as soon as the Americans leave."

"The people are suffering. Most of them have fled to live in the desert," he said.

[Teaser]

17. god this is stupid

What is a "battle" in a guerilla war?

All "winning the battle" means is that the Marines are taking a break and will be back next month. And they even know it.

Dear sweet Christ.