U.S. Launches (Third) Airstrike in Fallujah

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040625/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_22

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military launched its third airstrike in a week Friday in Fallujah, using precision weapons to destroy a suspected safehouse for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network.


The Jordanian-born terrorist claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks in other Iraqi cities that killed more than 100 people Thursday — less than a week before Iraq (news - web sites)'s new government takes power. Insurgents set off car bombs and seized police stations in an offensive aimed at creating chaos before the handover.


"Wherever and whenever we find elements of the Zarqawi network, we will attack them," a military statement said of the strike.


In Baghdad, the country's new leadership, due to assume sovereignty in five days, promised stern action against the insurgents, claiming much of the unrest was directed by foreigners but offering no proof.

[daleo]

1. Is there ever any evidence these aren't just innocent civilians?

How many times does Zarqawi have to come back to life, before it becomes clear how pointless and counter-productive striking these "safe houses" is. It looks like this is just random collective punishment to me. We never see any actual hard evidence of why these places are targeted, but almost always the bodies of innocent women and children are shown after the strikes by the Iraqis.

[cspiguy]

2. since EVERY house in Fah-Loo-Jah can be considered "safe" for Zarky

this does not bode well for the future of that poor city's residents.

[cspiguy]

3. civil war promised

>>In Baghdad, the country's new leadership, due to assume sovereignty in five days, promised stern action against the insurgents,

The day Shiite and/or Kurd forces show up to quell fallujan resistance, the real civil war will begin.

[leftchick]

4. Three ex-Iraqi Generals helping the Resistance speak....

al-zarqawi is not the problem....The Iraqis don't want the US there period...


'The liberation of Baghdad is not far away'
By Alix de la Grange


http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF25Ak07.html

<snip>
The network
Essentially composed by Ba'athists (Sunni and Shi'ite), the resistance currently regroups "all movements of national struggle against the occupation, without confessional, ethnic or political distinction. Contrary to what you imagine in the West, there is no fratricide war in Iraq. We have a united front against the enemy. From Fallujah to Ramadi, and including Najaf, Karbala and the Shi'ite suburbs of Baghdad, combatants speak with a single voice. As to the young Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, he is, like ourselves, in favor of the unity of the Iraqi people, multiconfessional and Arab. We support him from a tactical and logistical perspective."

Every Iraqi region has its own combatants and each faction is free to choose its targets and its modus operandi. But as time goes by, their actions are increasingly coordinated. Saddam's generals insist there is no rivalry among these different organizations, except on one point: which one will eliminate the largest number of Americans.

<snip>
But the most efficient weapon remains the Kamikazes. A special unit, composed of 90% Iraqis and 10% foreign fighters, with more than 5,000 solidly-trained men and women, they need no more than a verbal order to drive a vehicle loaded with explosives.

What if the weapons' reserves dwindle? "No worries, for some time we have been making our own weapons." That's all they are willing to disclose.

[leftchick]

5. update .... wtf? 20 here 20 there, 20 everytime they hit Falluja

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=2&u=/ap/20040625/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

<snip>
U.S. officials estimated 20-25 people were killed, without indicating how they determined the figure. Al-Jazeera television, in a report from Fallujah, said four U.S. missiles struck a vacant house in the eastern part of the city, injuring four residents of a nearby home.


In Baghdad, the country's new leadership, due to assume sovereignty in five days, promised stern action against the insurgents, claiming much of the unrest was directed by foreigners but offering no proof.

[hatrack]

6. And if we kill Zarqawi, all the attacks will stop!

Yeah, that's it! And we all get free space suits and purple basketballs! President Bush is making me giddy!

[thebigidea]

7. remember when they told us that capturing Saddam would make it stop?

Yeah, that worked out real well.