For marines on raids, an eerie silence - Report from the front

[NNN0LHI]

http://csmonitor.com/2004/1008/p06s02-woiq.html

HASWAH AND MUSAYYIB, IRAQ – In the shadow of night, on the edge of the volatile town of Haswah, a convoy of humvees silently pulls to a stop and disgorges its marines.

In the wake of daytime raids Wednesday, in which 200 US troops cordoned off the town and 100 Iraqi special forces arrested 17 men, the marines of Operation Phantom Fury, which began this week, expected resistance.

They had never been here, some 30 miles south of Baghdad, and not been engaged by insurgents. And they had never planned such deep penetration, striding behind storefronts to the narrow, dusty streets behind.

But instead of a firefight, they stepped into a surreal silence.

"I don't believe this - aren't there supposed to be people in the streets at 11 at night? Drinking tea?" asked one marine emerging from a side street in full combat gear, threatened by nothing more than clusters of wild dogs.

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[Wickerman]

1. Great article

and further proof we have idea what to do there. I don't fault our military - this is the kind of warfare we should never have gotten involved in.

A loudspeaker blaring at 2:40 a.m. was taken by one marine as a call to arms from a mosque - not uncommon in such raids - until he was laughingly corrected: The sound was in fact a US psychological operations unit blasting pro-coalition messages.

[Moderator]

2. Reason for move

This is a good article, but not really breaking news. Unfortunately, in LBN it will fall off the front page in a few hours.

After the move, I'll nominate for the home page!

[ixion]

3. very tragic

we need to get out of Iraq, the sooner the better.

It is very clear that we are not wanted there, and all we are doing is making the lives of the residents dangerous, miserable and unbearable.

"I don't believe this - aren't there supposed to be people in the streets at 11 at night? Drinking tea?" asked one marine emerging from a side street in full combat gear, threatened by nothing more than clusters of wild dogs.

I think this shows the callousness and ignorance of our military. Who is going to sit out on the street drinking tea knowing the occupiers are armed to the teeth and on the way to 'enforce democracy'?

Articles like this make me very sad. This is a military that I pay taxes to support, destorying and torturing and murdering. It's a terrible thing, and we need to stop and step back and become a member of the internation community once again, IMO, and stop acting like a rogue state (*cough* Israel).


Thanks for posting, Don.

[Hand]

4. Shades of Nam...

Everyone off the street in anticipation of a US raid... Why? Because they were tipped off in advance by a local on the inside, the same way the VC always knew when a big US/ARVN operation was in the offing.

"BRING IT ON" cried the AWOL chimp.

:grr: