US Troops Move Into Fallujah
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By Kerry Serini: ... to invade Fallujah; the first happened several months ago and had to
be called off due to a rise in violence throughout the nation. The outbreak was thought to be the result of
false reports of civilian deaths coming from the main hospital in Fallujah. For this
reason, one of the first objectives in the invasion was to secure the hospital,
thought to be a “center of propaganda.”
The invading troops “were able to
take control of Fallujah hospital to defeat the
terrorists and armed groups so the citizens of Fallujah
will get help,” said Prime Minister Allawi. He also believes that “they were barricaded
in the hospital to carry out terrorist acts.”
Four foreign terrorists were
captured during the hospital raid, and thirty-eight people were killed. The suspicion of Prime Minister Allawi and the American commanders that the hospital was an
insurgent stronghold were correct, although it is suspected that many of the
insurgents fled the city before the invasion began, despite efforts by American
troops to seal the city’s borders.
Terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is also believed
to have fled the city to escape American and Iraqi forces.
Since the invasion in Fallujah
began on Monday, insurgency has risen yet again. Insurgents have raid three police stations
and killed at least twenty-one people in the providence containing Fallujah, and, dressed as policemen, several insurgents ambushed
a dozen national guardsmen returning to their homes, killing them all. Guerillas gunned down three Iraqi officials
on their way to a funeral, and militants set a Catholic Church on fire in
Most drastic of the insurgents responses to the invasion were more kidnappings –
this time of two of Prime Minister Allawi’s family
members. The kidnappers have released a
statement saying that if the siege on Fallujah was
not lifted within 48 hours, the abductees would be beheaded. Insurgent action
has risen since Allawi took power earlier this year,
and this only serves to further weaken his image among the Iraqi people.
Despite the insurgent responses,
however, mst people feel
that this invasion came at the appropriate time – all want to see Fallujah secured by the time the first democratic elections
are held at the end of January, 2005.
The New York Times reported
that “with only three months to go until the country's first democratic
elections, American and Iraqi officials are grasping for any tool at their
command to bring the insurgency under control.”
Allawi
also hopes for smooth, peaceful elections in January, ensuring that the
elections will be held without “intimidation by terrorists and by forces who
are trying to wreck the political process in
The hardest task for American and
Iraqi troops is yet to come – they have to cross the Euphrates River to get into
the heart of Fallujah, were more terrorists and insurgents
are expected to be found. There have
been fewer skirmishes with insurgents within the city than expected, and, as Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, the multinational ground force
commander in
This invasion only
strengthens the idea that the “time of negotiations is over, and this is the
action necessary” as FoxNews reported. The White House has promised that Fallujah insurgents “will be defeated,” and hopefully, that
is true. American and Iraqi troops now
hold 70% of the city, and, if Operation Phantom Fury, whose main objective is
to rid
Pictures from FOXNEWS
(foxnews.com) – in order: American soldiers approach Fallujah
train station, insurgents attack American & Iraqi troops, and American
soldier blindfolds an insurgent captured in Fallujah’s
main hospital.