Target Centermass

Category: General

  • Muslims Condemn Fallujah ‘Slaughter’

    As I predicted and exactly on cue, the Muslim world has already began screaming about the Fallujah massacre that isn’t.

    Muslim organizations in Britain condemned the US-led assault on the Iraqi rebel stronghold of Fallujah, describing the offensive as a “ghastly” counterproductive move to pro-democracy efforts.

    “It is highly improbable that the US army is going to help usher in an era of liberation and democracy in Iraq by terrorizing and killing its citizens in this ghastly manner,” Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the prominent Muslim Council of Britain, said.

    Hizb ut-Tahrir, an independent Islamic political party, denounced the effort to wrest control over the rebel-held Sunni Muslim city as the “brutal slaughter of civilians”.

    ….

    Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Imran Waheed said Muslims in Britain “must be the voice of the Muslims of Fallujah against this brutal genocide and the silence of the spineless rulers of the Muslim world.”

    Ghastly … terrorizing … killing … brutal … slaughter … genocide. Yup, following the Jenin script, as expected.

    Let’s take a look at some other reactions from the religion of peace.

    Commentary in Qatar’s al-Watan:

    Beside the human catastrophe in making Falluja a ghost city, one should wonder at this point whether there is any difference between what the US forces claim to stand for and what former President Saddam Hussein stood for.

    Editorial in Saudi Arabia’s al-Watan:

    The American forces are expected to increase their barbaric acts in the hope of finishing off once and for all the Iraqi resistance so that they can have peace and realize their aims, foremost of which is the rearrangement of the country in such a way that would enable their new allies to hide behind “a false legitimacy” which they will use to open a new phase in which the final word will be that of ruling gang in Tel Aviv.

    London-based Arabic newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi:

    There is no rationale whatsoever in the invasion of Falluja. The attack on Falluja is basically to expresses schadenfreude at the Iraqis and get even with them… However, since we are in the holy month of Ramadan, we would like to say here that such an aggression against the innocents will not be accepted by God, and that there is another superpower up there that is monitoring the developments.

    Personal note: as an atheist, I’m not too concerned about “another superpower up there.”

    Editorial in Jordan’s al-Dustur (expressing, at least to some degree, an understanding of Allawi’s difficult choice):

    The Iraqi government has finally taken the painful decision to wage a total war to recover the cities even when they are ghost cities already destroyed by missiles and air strikes. This is surely because it cannot afford to engage itself in a half-battle, nor compromise itself by starting negotiations during the attack. This means that the next few days will be catastrophic beyond our imagination.

    Commentary in Lebanon’s al-Safir (expressing utter realism):

    Perhaps there is no need to wonder what will be the outcome of the confrontation: Falluja fighters stand no chance in defeating the strongest army in history.

    And what of the terrorists, what is their reaction? Well, here it is.

    A posting on an Islamist Web site warned Iraqis to stay at home Wednesday in Baghdad and other cities or they would be “putting their lives in danger.”

    The statement, in the name of eight known militant groups, said the unified “Islamic resistance” would step up operations against the “American enemy” in retaliation for the U.S.-led attack on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

    The statement urged Iraqis to stay at home Wednesday “to avoid putting their lives in danger.”

    In Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown, insurgents distributed leaflets warning shopkeepers to close their stores indefinitely starting Wednesday to protest the attack on Fallujah.

    Some families said they would keep their children away from school Wednesday because of the insurgent threat.

    Translation: “We hate the coalition’s military might almost as much as we loath our own impotence against it. Watch out, we’ll find some softer targets elsewhere.”

    There is no hope of a popular Iraqi uprising to support the terrorists. In fact, the tidbit about keeping children away from school shows that the Iraqis understand the evil nature of the Islamist bastards. The terrorists cannot win favor with warnings now, not after Beslan.

  • Hosting Issue

    Well, looks like my hosting service is going bye-bye. Anybody have any recomendations?

  • UK Soldiers’ Killer May Be European

    There’s a lot of barely-supported speculation in this piece, along with one all-too-obvious observation.

    A suicide bomber who killed three Black Watch soldiers was white, suggesting British troops are being targeted by European terrorists.

    The bomber’s face was seen by surviving troops as he drove up to a road block seconds before the blast. His features have allowed Army commanders to rule him out as an Arab.

    A senior military source in Iraq said: “The bomber was Caucasian. That means he could be from anywhere between Bosnia to Birmingham. We don’t know any more because there wasn’t much left of him.

    “But it confirms our fears that the Black Watch are now up against foreign terrorists.”

    After-the-fact eye witness accounts can often be spotty, and distinguishing a Caucasian definitively from an Arab in a moving vehicle which subsequently explodes is highly suspect. That said, the argument that there is no reason to fully believe this story does not correspond to arguing there is no reason to disbelieve this story. It may be true, but the evidence in this article is scant at best.

    What is obvious, however, is that the Black Watch is facing foreign terrorists. All of Iraq is. Even if this story holds true, it only shows that another obvious fact so many refuse to face — this is a global war against Islamist terror, and Iraq is currently the predominant battlefield.

  • Kadhafi Committed to Democracy

    File this one under the “Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it” category.

    Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi is committed to introducing direct democracy in his North African nation, his son Sayef al-Islam Kadhafi said in an interview.

    Speaking on BBC World Service radio, the younger Kadhafi said that in the wake of regional government elections three months ago, nation-wide polls — under the gaze of US and European observers — would be “the next step” and that they would be held “soon”.

    “The Libyan people want to modernise their economy, they want to reform their system, they want to deepen direct democracy,” he said. “We will do this through a collective action.”

    “In Libya, next time, everything should be democratic from A to Z. This is the desire of my father. This is the desire of the people.”

    Kadhafi’s motivations for democracy are obvious. With the president’s re-election, Bush’s drive towards a successful democracy in the Arab world will continue. Right now, very goods seats are still available on the “Arab Freedom” bus. An open and democratic Libya would certainly reap economic rewards from the West, as well as pushing itself towards greater prominence in the Arab world and international community.

    Unfortunately, there’s a major hitch.

    Asked whether his father — who rules Libya with no formal title — would contest the presidency, he replied with a laugh: “I think he is going to be the leader, and not president.”

    The Kadhafi regime simply does not understand democracy.

  • U.S. Sees Hard Fight, Low Civilian Toll in Falluja

    With the allied offensive to remove the current Fallujah terror menace beginning, key U.S. officials expressed their general expectations for the fight.

    Well-armed insurgents will retreat into the heart of Falluja before making a stand against U.S. and Iraqi troops aiming to take control of the city, the top American officer in Iraq predicted on Monday.

    But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he did not foresee large numbers of civilian casualties in the urban battle as a force of about 10,000-15,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops began an offensive to capture the rebel-held city west of Baghdad.

    “What we have generally seen is that there is an outer crust of the defense — and our estimates tell us that they will probably fall back and go toward the center of the city where there will be probably a major confrontation,” Army Gen. George Casey told reporters at the Pentagon by telephone from Baghdad.

    “I don’t want to get much more specific about what we know about that,” Casey said, adding that rebels had placed car bombs in Falluja and wired streets with explosives as “weapons of choice.”

    Casey said, “We expect that we will have a fight in there over the next few days.”

    At a later Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld declined to call the battle for Falluja a final showdown with insurgents, who rose up against U.S. and other foreign troops following the ouster of President Saddam Hussein in an American-led invasion last year. Casey said roughly 3,000 rebels were in Falluja.

    “I wouldn’t use the word final,” Rumsfeld said.

    “I think it’s a tough business and I think it’s going to take time.”

    ….

    Both Casey and Rumsfeld said they did not know what rebel leaders, including al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, remained in Falluja.

    “It’s constantly changing. But I do believe that some of the key leaders will stay there and will fight with their soldiers,” said Casey, adding that the rebels were armed with weapons from AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy anti-aircraft-type guns.

    This analysis of Fallujah as a booby-trapped and pre-wired exterior serving as a barrier to an anticipated, hard-fought urban showdown sounds familiar. Anybody remember the West Bank refugee camp/terror hive of Jenin in April, 2002, and the Palestinian allegations of a civilian massacre committed by the Israelis? Rumsfeld addressed the civilian issue.

    Despite warnings from some analysts that the assault could kill hundreds of civilians in the city, Rumsfeld predicted that the discipline of U.S. troops would prevent large numbers of innocent casualties.

    “There aren’t going to be large numbers of civilians killed, certainly not by U.S. forces,” he told reporters.

    “The U.S. forces are disciplined. They are well-led. They’re well-trained. They are using precision. And they have rules of engagement that are appropriate to an urban environment.”

    Many residents have already left the city of 300,000 people.

    Despite all this, civilian losses are certain to happen, both at the hands of the American-Iraqi forces and the already-bloodied hands of the Islamist terrorists. Just like Jenin, expect al-Jazeera, along with the usual cast of leftists and anti-American sympathizers, to trumpet the cries of “Massacre!” Just like Jenin, expect the facts to be otherwise, though the truth will be late and will unfortunately but assuredly be downplayed internationally.

  • Let’s Get It On, Fallujah-Style

    It looks like things are getting under way in the pacification (read brutal beatdown) of the Islamist holdouts in Fallujah.

    U.S. forces stormed into the western outskirts of Fallujah early Monday, seizing the main city hospital and securing two key bridges over the Euphrates river in what appeared to be the first stage of the long-expected assault on the insurgent stronghold.

    An AC-130 gunship raked the city with 40 mm cannon fire as explosions from U.S. artillery lit up the night sky. Intermittent artillery fire blasted southern neighborhoods of Fallujah, and orange fireballs from high explosive airbursts could be seen above the rooftops.

    U.S. officials said the toughest fight was yet to come — when American forces enter the main part of the city on the east bank of the river, including the Jolan neighborhood where insurgent defenses are believed the strongest.

    The initial attacks on Fallujah began just hours after the Iraqi government declared 60 days of emergency rule throughout most of the country as militants dramatically escalated attacks, killing at least 30 people, including two Americans.

    Several hundred Iraqi troops were sent into Fallujah’s main hospital after U.S. forces sealed off the area. The troops detained about 50 men of military age inside the hospital, but about half were later released.

    This is just the prelude to what may well end up being a drawn-out, bloody drama, as urban warfare so often is. It should be made clear, however, that we’re most definitely not rolling into the outskirts of Stalingrad. This is Fallujah, where an ascending Iraqi national army will be assisted by the most professional, best equipped and truly lethal military force the world has known — the American military. Arrayed against them: terrorists and fanatics, outcasts and criminals, armed with RPGs, booby traps, mines, car bombs, mortars and rifles, employing tactics that have already repeatedly failed them.

    The terrorists are desperate, knowing the loss of Fallujah would be a savage blow to their efforts and a tremendous boost to the interim Iraqi government. They also have little hope of a second intervention by the Iraqi government to avert a crushing of Fallujah, as no good came from the previous act of mercy. Their two hopes are contradictory in nature — inflict as much of a bloodletting as possible in hopes of blunting coalition will, or bug out with as much of the leadership intact as possible and strength as can be salvaged.

    To counter this, the Americans are entering the combat with several key advantages, including airpower, intelligence, night-time capabilities, firepower and training. Add to this list the intangibles of optimism and motivation.

    As U.S. forces prepared for what is expected to be the biggest Marine-led urban assault since Vietnam, U.S. commanders pumped up troop spirits Sunday, saying they were no different from the storied heroes of Iwo Jima and Korea.

    Standing before some 2,500 Marines who stood or kneeled at his feet, Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, the commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told them that they would be at the front of the charge.

    “This is America’s fight,” Sattler said. “What we’ve added to it is our Iraqi partners. They want to go in and liberate Fallujah. They feel this town’s being held hostage by mugs, thugs, murderers and terrorists.”

    Two Marine battalions, along with a battalion from the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, will be the lead units sent into a Fallujah attack. They will be joined by two brigades of Iraqi troops.

    ….

    Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent, the top enlisted Marine in Iraq, told troops Sunday the coming battle of Fallujah would be “no different” than the historic fights at Inchon in Korea, the flag-raising victory at Iwo Jima, or the bloody assault to remove North Vietnamese troops who occupied the ancient citadel of Hue in the 1968 Tet Offensive.

    “You’re all in the process of making history,” Kent boomed in a clarion voice. “This is another Hue city in the making. I have no doubt, if we do get the word, that each and every one of you is going to do what you have always done — kick some butt.”

    Marine battalion commander Lt. Col. Mike Ramos said many of the young fighters would be dashing into battle for the first time. In the barracks, Marines could be seen packing up gear, strapping anti-tank missile tubes to their packs. They would also be carrying gas masks in case of chemical weapons, a threat Ramos deemed unlikely.

    “They’re sharpening their K-Bar fighting knives; they’re cleaning their weapons for the last time; they’ve fueled their vehicles and they’ve rehearsed the plan,” said Ramos, 41, of Dallas.

    Ramos predicted that “freedom and democracy” would prevail in Fallujah within days.

    “Make no mistake about it, we’ll hand this city back to the Iraqi people,” he said. “I think it will be rapid.”

    During the fight, rules of engagement allow U.S. troops to shoot and kill anyone carrying a weapon or driving in Fallujah, a move aimed at allowing U.S. troops to fire on car bombers, Ramos said. Military age males trying to leave the city will be captured or turned back.

    “If I see someone who looks like a martyr, driving at high speed toward my unit, I’ll send him to Allah before he gets close,” Ramos said.

    Sattler reminded the troops that the assault would be a joint U.S.-Iraqi effort. The fledgling Iraqi military, which has been under intense U.S. training, needs to be led by example into the fight against Fallujah, he said.

    “This is a whole can of whoop-butt all combined here,” Kent said, surveying the Marines surrounding him.

    A pumped-up crowd shouted a deafening “Hoo-rah” in response.

    Good luck and happy hunting, troops.

  • Reciprocity VI

    I’m honored to be added to the blogroll of Bill Faith at Small Town Veteran.

    Thanks for the link from Y’allBlog.

    Go check out these blogs. Also, if you’ve linked or blogrolled Target Centermass and I haven’t found you, please send an email or post a comment.

  • Call for Constitutional Amendment

    November 7.

    It’s only freakin’ Nov. 7.

    Hey, I dig Christmas as much as the next guy, but a local DFW radio station has already switched to all-Xmas music.

    Selling decorations, fine. I’ll live with that. Putting up decorations or continuously playing the music, wrong. Oh, so very wrong. Wait ’til at least the weekend following Turkey Day.

  • Saudi Religious Scholars Support Holy War in Iraq

    A group of Islamists have issued a statement to supposedly rally the Iraqi citizenry against the coalition forces.

    Prominent Saudi religious scholars urged Iraqis to support militants waging holy war against the U.S.-led coalition forces as American troops prepared Saturday for a major assault on the insurgent hotbed of Fallujah.

    The 26 Saudi scholars and preachers said in an open letter to the Iraqi people that their appeal was prompted by “the extraordinary situation through which the Iraqis are passing which calls for unity and exchange of views.” The letter was posted on the Internet.

    “At no time in history has a whole people been violated … by propaganda that’s been proved false,” Sheik Awad al-Qarni, one of the scholars, told Al-Arabiya TV.

    “The U.S. forces are still destroying towns on the heads of their people and killing women and children. What’s going on in Iraq is a result of the big crime of America’s occupation of Iraq.”

    In their letter, the scholars stressed that armed attacks by militant Iraqi groups on U.S. troops and their allies in Iraq represent “legitimate” resistance.

    The scholars were careful to direct their appeal to Iraqis only and stayed away from issuing a general, Muslim-wide call for holy war. They also identified the military as the target, one that is considered legitimate by many Arabs who view U.S. troops and their allies as occupiers.

    The independent scholars — some of whom have been criticized in the past for their extremist views — apparently did not want to antagonize the Saudi government, a U.S. ally, or appear to be flouting its efforts to fight terrorism.

    Saudi Arabia has sealed off its long border with Iraq and bars people from crossing into that country. Its most senior clerics issued a statement last year saying the call for jihad — or holy war — should only come from the ruler and should not be based on edicts issued by individual clergymen.

    This is pure propaganda, and it ain’t aimed at Iraq. The Iraqi nationals on the ground on Iraq know better than the city-destroying and baby-killing crap.

    Make no mistake, folks, these “scholars” are not trying to speak to the Iraqi people. No, they realize that they already have any Iraqi national support from the local Baathists and Islamists that they will get, pending disaster. The Saudi Islamist “scholars” are actually trying to stir a further movement into Iraq from Saudis, Syrians, Egyptians, et al. in hopes of strengthening the bastards we’re currently facing.

    I take this as an important sign of progress, because it stinks of desperation. The Islamists failed to affect the Afghan elections. They failed to pull off anything substantial enough to have any impact on the American election. Their rallying points in Iraq are fallen or facing increased pressure or impending assault. And now, apparently they need more numbers. This is begging for cannon fodder, bomb-belt carriers and car-bomb drivers. Because they are losing and verging on being impotent to stem the tide.

  • Veteran Sues After He Receives Duty Order

    A former soldier has been recalled and doesn’t want to report for duty. And this time, if the details are correct, I generally agree with him.

    A veteran of the first Persian Gulf War is suing the Army after it ordered him to report for duty 13 years after he was honorably discharged from active duty and eight years after he left the reserves.

    Kauai resident David Miyasato received word of his reactivation in September, but says he believes he completed his eight-year obligation to the Army long ago.

    “I was shocked,” Miyasato said Friday. “I never expected to see something like that after being out of the service for 13 years.”

    His federal lawsuit, filed Friday in Honolulu, seeks a judgment declaring that he has fulfilled his military obligations.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Yee said his office would defend the Army. He declined to comment further. An Army spokewoman at the Pentagon declined to comment to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

    Miyasato, 34, was scheduled to report to a military facility in South Carolina on Tuesday.

    Within hours of filing the lawsuit, however, Miyasato received a faxed letter from the Army’s Human Resources Command saying his “exemption from active duty had not been finalized at this time” and that he has been given an administrative delay for up to 30 days, said his attorney, Eric Seitz.

    Miyasato, his wife, Estelle, and their 7-month-old daughter, Abigail, live in Lihue, where he opened an auto-tinting shop two years ago.

    His lawsuit states that Miyasato is suing not because he opposes the war in Iraq, but because his business and family would suffer “serious and irreparable harm” if he is required to serve.

    Miyasato enlisted in the Army in 1987 and served in Iraq and Kuwait during the first Persian Gulf War as a petroleum supply specialist and truck driver.

    Miyasato said he received an honorable discharge from active duty in 1991, then served in the reserves until 1996 to fulfill his eight-year enlistment commitment.

    The Army announced last year that it would involuntarily activate an estimated 5,600 soldiers to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Army officials would be tapping members of the Individual Ready Reserve — military members who have been discharged from the Army, Army Reserve or the Army National Guard, but still have contractual obligations to the military.

    Miyasato said he never re-enlisted, signed up for any bonuses or was told that he had been transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve or any other Army Reserve unit.

    “I fulfilled my contract,” Miyasato said. “I just want to move on from this, and I’m optimistic that I’ll be successful.”

    Miyasato speculated that he may have been picked because his skills as a truck driver and refueler are in demand in Iraq. He told reporters he did the same work as that done by a group of Army reservists who refused to deliver fuel along a dangerous route in Iraq last month.

    I suspect that this is an administrative error, as I’m sure we have sufficient numbers of transport troops in the IRR, and I would expect for this to be resolved in Miyasato’s favor. Earlier, when I said I generally agreed, I meant that I agreed up to a point. However, if the Army truly needed the man, I would expect him to serve. If the Army called me up, I would go, and I am also free of IRR commitment.