Falluja and Beyond

As I feared, Falluja is indeed proving to be deadly. As of the latest reports, 18 US soldiers have been killed, 178 wounded (with 102 of them serious enough to be flown out of the country). Iraqi troop casualties were estimated at 5, and "insurgent" dead at 600. I can find no estimates of civilian casualties, but concern is high. On Tuesday (11/09), Al Jazeera reported 'Scores of civilians' killed in Falluja, and the Guardian reported the food, medicine, and medical aid were sorely lacking. This proved true in the case of as the 9 year old son of Mohammed Abboud bled to death because the family could not get him to a hospital through the fighting.

The assault on Falluja is proving costly in other ways as well. Violence is erupting all over Iraq.

Hundreds of armed men entered Ramadi, taking over government buildings, while in Baquba, north of Baghdad, 45 people, including 25 policemen were killed in a series of attacks. Eleven people died in bombings in Baghdad, and an attack on a National Guard headquarters in Kirkuk killed three people. US 'pacifies' city but rebels take violence to rest of country

The BBC is reporting that Iraqi security forces are reported to have lost control of large parts of the northern city of Mosul. The attacks in Mosul are fierce enough that "[T]he Stryker Brigade, the light-armored mobile unit charged with controlling the region, is pulling its battalion out of the Falluja operation to send it north. Three Stryker battalions are already in the Mosul area."

Even given the rapidly increasing violence outside of Falluja, General Metz stated in a Special Defense Department Video Teleconference Briefing on 11/09/04 that:

So nothing has surprised us to date. Things in the south and the far north are very calm, and it's this former-regime part of the country, formerly known as the Sunni Triangle, Ramadi to Baghdad and up to Samarra and Tikrit, is where we're seeing the most of the activity, and I think it is associated with our operation in Fallujah.

There have been unconfirmed reports that 35 US soldiers captured in Fallujah, and confirmed reports that a cousin and of Allawi and his wife have been kidnapped. It should also be of significant given the attempt to line up a representative government that the Sunni Party leaves the Iraqi government over the Falluja attack.

One would think it would be difficult to talk about how successful the Operation Phantom Fury is going in light of all this, but the US corporate media seem to have few problems with the task. However, I am not alone in my concern about the negative overall effects of Phantom Fury. Dahr Jamail from IPS, argues that the actions in Falluja are undermining the Iraqi government, and that would seem to be supported by the withdrwal of the Sunni representatives. And some leaders are calling for the Iraqi National Guard to withdraw and not fight by the side of US forces.

Mark LeVine has an excellent piece in Mother Jones - Four Times Falluja Equals? in which he cogently discusses the upbeat "progress" reports on the operation, and the re-embeded reporters who are covering this offensive with the same alarcity of the original invasion. After all that has gone on in the last 20 months you would think that they might a bit more careful of the party line. However, the pressures are the same and many are in units under fire. It is just not a good idea to tick off the military in such a situation.

I fear that things are just heating up in Iraq. Bush has committed to January elections in Iraq, and to call them free and democratic in the current environment would lack credibility. So the "wipe 'em out" mentality is likely to prevail. Unfortunately, this type of plan is likely to stimulate even more violence, and more widespread "insurgency." Somehow I doubt that Allawi's curfew is going to either stem the violence, nor stem toll on civilians caught in the crossfire.

As the "shock and awe" approach continue, I can't help but see some of the images from Hussein's crushing of insurrgents. Will the US get to the point of wiping out entire cities who offer resistance? Is Falluja the first in line?

Other Items of Interest
11/11/04 CTV.ca, 600 rebels, 18 U.S. soldiers dead in Fallujah

11/11/04 Sierra Times, U.S. Tries To Corner Fallujah Insurgents :

The U.S. military said 18 of its troops had been killed and 178 wounded during four days of fighting in Fallujah. Five Iraqi troops were reported killed and 24 wounded in the same period.

A U.S. military spokeswoman said 102 seriously wounded soldiers from around Iraq had been flown to the main U.S. military hospital in Germany on Thursday, joining 125 who arrived Monday through Wednesday.

Numbers of insurgent and civilian casualties could not be independently determined, but a military spokesman in Baghdad, Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, said an estimated 600 rebels had been killed so far, the Associated Press reported.

Posted by rowan at November 11, 2004 9:34 PM | TrackBack | [eMail this article!] |