Fallujah's Police Force Disappears

[kpete]

This is from the Los Angeles Times.


BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Hundreds of newly recruited police officers in Fallujah failed to show up for work Sunday after insurgents disseminated pamphlets threatening officers who stayed on the job, according to police officials in the restive western Iraq city.

"We will kill all the policemen infidels," read the pamphlets, "whether or not they quit or are still in their jobs."

Fallujah Police Lt. Mohammed Alwan said that the force, which he estimated had increased to more than 2,000, has now shrunk to only 100. Alwan said that insurgents have killed dozens of policemen in their homes and also attacked family members in a weeks-long intimidation campaign.

A Fallujah police major, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to a fear of reprisals, said that at least 1,400 policemen had left their jobs since Friday, 400 of them police officials above the rank of officer.

more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/8/13/223731/900
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/08/14iraq.html

[Clarkie1]

1. Not good. Are these Iraqi insurgents or Al Qaeda?

Does the article say? Do they know?

[Kagemusha]

2. It's almost besides the point actually

But the death of Zarqawi did spark a lot of damage to Al Qaeda in Iraq so, the native Sunni insurgents happily took over now that the US had rid them of a political annoyance.

[Clarkie1]

3. Actually I think it's a critical point.

It's bad either way, but worse if it's home-grown isurgents and not Al Qaeda, in my opinon. It makes the prospects for escalating civil war more likely if it is Iraqis doing this.

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. Really, what's the difference, they are all in Iraq and probably

aren't going to leave.

[evox]

10. you know something

I just thought about what you wrote just now, and this really pisses me off. What the hell does Al Qaeda do in Iraq if they were supposed to be in Afghanistan? Did the U.S. not bomb the hell out of them in 2001-2002? How did they get to Iraq, and why are they in large numbers over there? And if most of Al Qaeda are in Iraq, then what's going on in Afghanistan? This whole labelling all our enemies with "Al Qaeda" is beginning to get out of hand.

[Kagemusha]

12. Al Qaeda in Iraq is just a name adopted after the fact.

Originally, see, Osama wasn't good enough for Zarqawi. Not radical enough, see. Later Zarqawi found the Osama banner convenient to operate under; it made his struggle seem like a more global one, rather than simply Iraq. It's not as if Al Qaeda invaded Iraq from Afghanistan through Iran (though there are those with such fantasies). Zarqawi was Jordanian, and found shelter in the Kurdish areas of Iraq where Saddam's writ did not extend... thanks to the US, which then used Zarqawi's finding shelter in "Iraq" as a black mark against Saddam Hussein.

Al Qaeda in Iraq did not migrate to Iraq. It was already there, and just changed its name to the present form... and by the way, they labeled themselves that, after finally accepting that maybe Osama was good enough for Zarqawi after all.

[evox]

14. Thanks for clearing things up a bit

Yet still, it's just annoying how everything seems to be labelled as or related to Al Qaeda; even the foiled terror plot in London. It makes you wonder, which Al Qaeda? Afghanistan? Iraq? you know what I mean? Also, it's still annoying that after five years of supposedly fighting Al Qaeda, whoever they are, or wherever they are, they are still out in large numbers.

[madrchsod]

15. also in iraq

there are criminal organizations, various "death squads",former saddam supporters,and other bad guys who kidnap and kill. the country is not in a civil war but it is a total collapse of law and order or anarchy. we had a small window of opportunity to save iraq from collapse in just a few days after entering Baghdad but the whitehouse did`t care about stabilizing the country

[Jazzgirl]

17. Evox, I agree.

How come most of the Iraqi's haven't ever met al Qaeda? AQ is a big boogie man for Americans to fear and a propoganda tool to push in Iraq too though most know better.

JG

[leftchick]

18. you are very right

who named them al-Qaida in Iraq anyway? Why the US military. That is enough for me to know it is bullshit. They are Iraqis with a very small percentage of foreigners who want the USA OUT of Iraq!

[babylonsister]

4. And Bush/Cheney/Rummy/Rice's goal is to stay until enough

cops have been recruited. This is beyond nightmare, who will recognize that?

[WCGreen]

5. Here we go a spiraling a spiraling out of control.....

Where we end, who knows but we can bet it won't be with flowers and candy...

[NNN0LHI]

6. Did we train and arm them well before their unscheduled vacation? n/t

[ECH1969]

7. Al-Qaida vows to take back Fallujah

Al-Qaida in Iraq has pledged to take back the volatile western city of Fallujah, declaring that it has united local armed factions into a cohesive force to fight the US and Iraqi troops who now control its streets.

The insurgent group’s proclamations in mosques and schools came as US military commanders in Washington testified before the Senate armed services committee that Iraq’s sectarian violence, if not stopped, could push the country into civil war.

In Fallujah, police said they were taking the al-Qaida warning seriously. It followed the recent killings of several religious and tribal leaders whom insurgents had accused of collaborating with US forces and the Iraqi Government.

The printed statement posted around Fallujah vowed that “your brothers in the al-Qaida organisation” would restore the city to the “glory and dignity” it enjoyed before the US offensive.

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=29&ContentID=2391

[kentuck]

9. Final deterioration before complete disrepair?

Would this not be an opening for civil war? I suspect the American troops are performing another sweep of the area and they wanted the new policemen to assist them?

[Straight Shooter]

11. "We'll stand down when they stand up."

bush is such a friggin' idiot. How long do you think the Bubble King would last under those circumstances?

I don't blame the police officers for running from a hopeless situation.

[DemonFighterLives]

13. No one ever prints the good news

:sarcasm:

[MysteryToMyself]

16. Iraq would already fit in under the definition of a civil war

When the country is so divided they start killing each other, would you say that is civil war?

The ***** want them to kill each other.

They are setting up Lebanon for the same thing. Israel is going to attack if Lebanon doesn't disarm Hezbollah. It makes the possibility of war very high.

[NNN0LHI]

19. I wonder where they went? n/t