Nightline 4/16 -- Iraq: How it got so bad so quickly

[Bozita]

 
Nightline Daily E-Mail
April 16, 2004


TONIGHT'S FOCUS: U.S. and Iraqi negotiators are engaged in talks with leaders of the embattled city of Falluja while militants and U.S. troops continue to fight despite a shaky cease-fire. U.S. troops are also poised on the edge of the holy city of Najaf. Their target: Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. As the U.S. backs off its promise to capture or kill him. He stood his ground vowing not to disband his 10,000 strong militia; a key U.S. demand. At the end of the deadliest two weeks since the war began, we'll be looking at how it got so bad so quickly. What has happened in Iraq?

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We have broadcast a series of reports over the last few weeks chronicling the series of devastating clashes between U.S./Coalition forces and Iraqi insurgents. So we wanted to take a step back, and look at all the events in Falluja and Shiite parts of the country to try to understand why things have spiraled so quickly out of control. Was the U.S. totally unprepared for the reaction the aggressive U.S tactics would produce in parts of Iraq that are hotbeds of anti-U.S. sentiment? Or did they know exactly what they were getting into? Is this some kind of planned strategy to deal a heavy blow to the pockets of resistance to show that they can't win? Pictures of dead and wounded Iraqi civilians and militants have not been shown that much on American television, but they play often on Arab satellite channels in Iraq and the rest of the Arab world.

Our first piece will look at Falluja. After 4 American security officers were killed and their bodies mutilated in Falluja, the U.S. decided to lay siege to the city to try to root out the nucleus of Sunni militants responsible for the killing and other attacks on U.S. forces. The insurgents have scattered themselves amongst the civilian population--in houses, mosques and garages--to force U.S. troops into attacking civilian areas. Their strategy seems to be working as up to 600 Iraqis have been reported killed. On the American side, at least 29 marines--who were originally sent to the Sunni triangle to win the heart and minds of the population--are dead from the fighting. Even Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said last night that he has was surprised at how hard U.S. forces have been hit.

We'll also look at Moqtada Al-Sadr--the renegade cleric who has been promoting anti-U.S. sentiment since the moment U.S forces occupied Iraq a year ago. The shutting down of one of his newspapers set off a series of violent episodes all over Iraq. The U.S. says Sadr doesn't actually have a large following, but it's hard to tell how much support he has gained from the fighting in the last two weeks. The U.S. massed forces on the edge of the Muslim holy city of Najaf--where Sadr has been staying--and said they would either capture of kill him. In the last two days, realizing how provocative any U.S. troops siege of the Holy City would be, the rhetoric has softened. Is this a genuine uprising that the U.S. needs to worry about? How far could it spread? We'll try to answer some of those questions.

We hope you'll join us for tonight's broadcast.

Gerry Holmes and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices
ABCNEWS Washington D.C.

[Cocoa]

1. it didn't happen suddenly

it's been brewing, even if Peter Jennings didn't report about it when he was over there a month ago.

[ramapo]

2. Took a year

I'm surprised it took so long.

Why it's a surprise is the real surprise. Let's see. US occupation. Outside corporations get rich. Importing labor. Religious tensions.
Ethnic differences. And so on and so on and so on.

[rpannier]

4. Of Course It Took This Long

They were so busy boot-licking that they refused to see the disaster unfolding until they couldn't hide it any longer. I live in Asia (Korea) and what amazes me is, I saw all this stuff months ago on CNN Asia, but when I watched the US News feeds, I saw almost none of it.

[0007]

3. I hope it is objective and not slanted one way or the other

[Wonk]

5. kick

[Bozita]

6. Good show! Chris Bury had Fareed Zakaria commenting

Yep, Bush is certainly uniting Sunni and Shiaa.

He's a uniter, not a divider.

The Bushies will not like this.

[raysr]

7. It's the shits

when you take over a country and the people fight back!

[Bozita]

8. Bill O'Really did a cameo -- said Fallujah needed to be destroyed

FauxNews logo and all.

wow

[AussieInCA]

9. O'Reilly recommending war crimes now eh

in his warped brain I guess he is justifying this unethical behavior to achieve the neocons ideological freedom mantra.

guy is nuts

[opihimoimoi]

10. Revenge is a wonderful feeling to guys of OReallys ilk.

They just luv pandering to the blood thirsty sheep.

[Bozita]

11. on now for leftcoasters