Target Centermass

Category: Middle East

  • Counterpoint: US Troops Reportedly Gassing Fallujah

    If you care to read what the Islamic world is hearing, apparently resistance in Fallujah is so stout that the US has turned to employing WMDs.

    US troops are reportedly using chemical weapons and poisonous gas in its large-scale offensive on the Iraqi resistance bastion of Fallujah, a grim reminder of Saddam Hussein’s alleged gassing of the Kurds in1988 .

    “The US occupation troops are gassing resistance fighters and confronting them with internationally-banned chemical weapons,” resistance sources told Al-Quds Press Wednesday, November10 .

    The fatal weapons led to the deaths of tens of innocent civilians, whose bodies litter sidewalks and streets, they added.

    “They use chemical weapons out of despair and helplessness in the face of the steadfast and fierce resistance put up by Fallujah people, who drove US troops out of several districts, hoisting proudly Iraqi flags on them. Resistance has also managed to destroy and set fire to a large number of US tanks and vehicles.

    “The US troops have sprayed chemical and nerve gases on resistance fighters, turning them hysteric in a heartbreaking scene,” an Iraqi doctor, who requested anonymity, told Al-Quds Press.

    ….

    The sources said that the media blackout, the banning of Al-Jazeera satellite channel and subjective embedded journalists played well into the hands of the US military.

    “Therefore, US troops opted for using internationally banned weapons to soften the praiseworthy resistance of Fallujah people.

    “More and more, the US military edits and censors reports sent by embedded journalists to their respective newspapers and news agencies,” the sources added.

    Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Al-Shaalan had said Tuesday, November9 , would be decisive.

    “Al-Shaalan declaration meant nothing but the use of chemical weapons and poisonous gases to down Fallujah fighters,” observers told Al-Quds Press.

    The reported gassing stands as a grim reminder of Saddam Hussein’s alleged gassing of the Kurdish community in the northern city of Halbja in 1988 .

    While the West insisted that Saddam was the one behind the heinous attack, the ousted president pointed fingers at the then Iranian regime.

    Ummmm … okay. I’m going to side with the story that the terrorists are getting their collective Fallujah-asses handed to them. Unfortunately, so many in the Arab world will believe this tripe.

    UPDATE: With the news of Arafat’s death, the Arab world will quite possibly bury their own Fallujah propaganda in the coming days with a loving devotion to Palestinian terrorist el numero uno.

  • Point: Insurgents Cornered in Fallujah

    It looks like things are progressing as planned, if not better, for the coalition forces in Fallujah.

    The top US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, has told US President George W. Bush that his troops are “making very good progress” securing Iraq, as American forces and their Iraqi allies paralysed insurgent forces in Fallujah and cut off their escape routes from the city.

    “He said that things are going well in Fallujah,” Mr Bush said on a day when US forces cornered insurgents after a swift advance that seized control of 70 per cent of the militant stronghold.

    ….

    The senior US Marine commander there said Wednesday echoed that message.

    “We are comfortable that they are not able to communicate, to work out any coordination,” Lieutenant General John Sattler said of Fallujah’s insurgents. “They are now in small pockets, blind, moving about the city. We will continue to hunt them down and destroy them.”

    ….

    Lt-Gen Sattler, appearing with a senior Iraqi general, declined to discuss the positions and strategy of the American and Iraqi forces still fighting in Fallujah. But he said they have followed their battle plan and left the remaining insurgents with no good options.

    “When they attempted to flee from one zone to another they were killed,” Lt-Gen Sattler said. “We feel very comfortable that none of them moved back toward the north or escaped on the flanks.”

    Major General Abdul Qader Mohammed Jassem Mohan, speaking through an interpreter, said it was “possible but unlikely” that any insurgents had escaped in the days since the city was sealed off. Asked to describe the fighting tactics of the insurgents, he replied, “They have no tactics.”

    The US military and the interim Iraqi government are eager to put an Iraqi face on the Fallujah offensive. In addition to letting the Iraqi general take the lead in responding to reporters’ questions, officials showed a video of Iraqi soldiers in Fallujah hoisting an Iraqi flag and singing the Iraqi national anthem.

    Lt-Gen Sattler declined to specify how many US and Iraqi troops had been killed and wounded in the fighting.

    “They would be catalogued as light at this time,” he said, adding that to be more specific would provide the insurgents with potentially useful information about the effectiveness of their tactics.

    Both Lt-Gen Sattler and the Iraqi general expressed confidence the Fallujah offensive would restore order in that hotbed of Sunni resistance, but they cautioned that much fighting remained.

    Along with this progress, evidence of the terrorist atrocities is being uncovered in the wake of the advance.

    Iraqi forces fighting alongside US troops in Fallujah yesterday claimed to have found the houses in which civilian hostages were held by militants and beheaded in front of a camera.

    Iraqi troops found video disks with recordings of the killings, the black clothes worn by militants in the videos and records of the names of hostages, Major-General Abdel Qadir Jassem said. “We have found hostage slaughterhouses in Fallujah that were used by these people,” said General Jassem, who has just been named military governor of Fallujah by the US-appointed Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi.

    Although General Jassem said records of prisoners’ names had been found, he could not say whether information had been uncovered about the humanitarian worker, Margaret Hassan,held since 19 October, or the two French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot, held since 21 August.

    General Jassem said that records of “hundreds” of prisoners had been found. At least 28 foreigners are known to be held and 38 are known to have been killed. But Iraqis have been abducted and killed in much higher numbers.

    The beheadings of hostages have become the most haunting image of what is unfolding in Iraq. Although most television networks, both Western and Arab, have refused to show the grotesque execution videos, they are widely available on the Internet and thousands of Westerners have watched them.

    Since the first video was released, of the American contractor Nick Berg being beheaded with a knife, there has been a steady stream of similar videos. At least 38 foreign hostages have been killed in Iraq. Although some were shot, many have been beheaded on camera, including the British hostage Kenneth Bigley.

    It was the beheadings, more than anything else, that forced the Americans’ hand into going into Fallujah. The last aid agencies were leaving and any effort at reconstruction was impossible with contractors facing abuction and murder.

    All this evidence does is show how important it is to continually press the evil Islamists until they reach their breaking point.

  • 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.

  • Forces Advance to Heart of Fallujah

    Combined American and Iraqi forces have penetrated the outer defenses and reached the center of the terrorist-dominated Fallujah, and the Islamists are scattering like roaches in the light.

    U.S. troops powered their way into the center of the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on Tuesday, overwhelming small bands of guerrillas with massive force, searching homes along the city’s deserted, narrow passageways and using loudspeakers to try to goad militants onto the streets.

    As of Tuesday night, the fighting had killed 10 U.S. troops and two members of the Iraqi security force, the U.S. military announced. The toll already equaled the 10 American military deaths when Marines besieged the city for three weeks in April.

    U.S. officials issued no estimate of insurgent casualties, but one American commander said his battalion alone had killed or wounded up to 90 guerrillas.

    As the offensive moved into a second full day, up to eight attack aircraft — including jets and helicopter gunships — blasted guerrilla strongholds and raked the streets with rocket, cannon and machine-gun fire ahead of U.S. and Iraqi infantry who were advancing only one or two blocks behind the curtain of fire.

    Small groups of guerrillas, armed with rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns, engaged U.S. troops, then fell back. U.S. troops inspected houses along Fallujah’s streets and ran across adjoining alleyways, mindful of snipers.

    As I said recently, this would be no Stalingrad. In this case, one side obviously holds all the cards.

    A psychological operations unit broadcast announcements in Arabic meant to draw out gunmen. An Iraqi translator from the group said through a loudspeaker: “Brave terrorists, I am waiting here for the brave terrorists. Come and kill us. Plant small bombs on roadsides. Attention, attention, terrorists of Fallujah.”

    Faced with overwhelming force, resistance in Fallujah did not appear as fierce as expected, though the top U.S. commander in Iraq said he still expected “several more days of tough urban fighting” as insurgents fell back toward the southern end of the city, perhaps for a last stand.

    Some U.S. military officers estimated they controlled about a third of the city. Commanders said they had not fully secured the northern half of Fallujah but were well on their way as American and Iraqi troops searched for insurgents.

    U.S. and Iraqi troops captured two key landmarks Tuesday — a mosque and neighboring convention center that insurgents used for launching attacks, according to a Los Angeles Times reporter embedded with U.S. forces.

    “I’m surprised how quickly (resistance) broke and how quickly they ran away, a force of foreign fighters who were supposed to fight to the death,” Lt. Col. Pete Newell, a battalion commander in the 1st Infantry Division, told CNN.

    Newell was quoted on CNN’s Web site as saying his battalion had killed or wounded 85 to 90 insurgents.

    ….

    “The enemy is fighting hard but not to the death,” Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, the multinational ground force commander in Iraq, told a Pentagon news conference relayed by video from Iraq. “There is not a sense that he is staying in particular places. He is continuing to fall back or he dies in those positions.”

    Metz said Iraqi soldiers searched several mosques Tuesday and found “lots of munitions and weapons.”

    Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that the lethal but long-delayed onslaught will take care of all the roaches in the infestation.

    Although capturing or killing the senior insurgent leadership is a goal of the operation, Metz said he believed the most wanted man in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had escaped Fallujah.

    It was unclear how many insurgents stayed in the city for the fight, given months of warnings by U.S. officials and Iraqis that a confrontation was in the offing.

    Metz said troops have captured a very small number of insurgent fighters and “imposed significant casualties against the enemy.”

    ….

    U.S. commanders said the operation was running on or ahead of schedule, and Iraqi officials designated an Iraqi general to run the city once resistance is broken.

    However, the American command said the insurgents were massing in the southern half of the city, from which U.S. troops were receiving mortar fire. Some U.S. units were reported advancing south of the main highway but not in strength.

    Formica said the security cordon around the city will be tightened to ensure insurgents don’t slip out.

    “My concern now is only one — not to allow any enemy to escape. As we tighten the noose around him, he will move to escape to fight another day. I do not want these guys to get out of here. I want them killed or captured as they flee,” Formica said.

    For more thorough look at today’s Fallujah action, check out Belmont Club.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Clock Ticking on Fallujah

    While air strikes continue to hit the Islamist stronghold of Fallujah, the pressure is mounting on both the Islamists in the city and the Iraqi and American forces readying for assault.

    U.S. warplanes attacked targets in and around the insurgent-held city of Falluja early Saturday, while sporadic gunfire and artillery echoed through the night.

    U.S. and Iraqi forces are gearing up for a major offensive in the western city and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Friday the “window is closing” for a peaceful settlement there.

    “We intend to liberate the people and bring the rule of law,” Allawi said in Brussels, Belgium, where he was visiting the European Union and NATO to discuss aid for his fledgling government.

    Allawi will make the decision whether to begin the assault. Iraqi authorities have asked Falluja city leaders to hand over the insurgents.

    That the terrorists are on the clock is obvious. The battle that is brewing is one they cannot win. Unless they avoid the assault, the terrorists can only hope for another act of restraint by Allawi, whether driven by high losses or another gambit of mercy.

    That the clock is a danger to the coalition is more subtle but two-fold.

    First, I wrote less than two weeks ago about the British agreement to move troops of the Black Watch Regiment to Baghdad to free up American forces for the anticipated Fallujah action. Well, as somehow seems wont to occur to troops in a war zone, the Black Watch has suffered casualties and the anti-war Brit press is melodramatically playing it for all it’s politically worth.

    British newspapers are keeping Prime Minister Tony Blair in the hot seat by playing up the nation’s grief and anger over the deaths of three soldiers redeployed to a US-run sector of Iraq.

    For the second day in a row, the national dailies ran front-page stories about the deaths of three soldiers in a suicide attack after their Black Watch regiment redeployed in the last week to an insurgent-hit area near Baghdad.

    The Daily Express, a mass circulation tabloid, ran a 12-year-old girl’s poignant farewell note to her father who was killed in the bombing under the headline: “So Is It Really Worth It Mr. Blair?”

    “To Dad, Love you and miss you, Love Kirstin,” read the note to Sergeant Stuart Gray from his daughter Kirstin Gray.

    The Express and other newspapers also ran a searing condemnation from Private Craig Lowe, a serving soldier whose brother Paul was one of the three killed.

    He said his 19-year-old-brother had been deeply opposed to a conflict fought over “money and oil”.

    “He (Paul) thought they shouldn’t be there, they should all just be back here because it’s a war which nobody knows why it was started or what it was done for,” said Lowe, who himself returned from Iraq last month.

    The Independent newspaper ran a front-page photograph of Paul Lowe wearing his ceremonial military kilt against a backdrop of the number 19, his age. The headline read: “A boy who just wanted to come home.”

    The Ministry of Defense in London on Friday named Private Paul Lowe, along with Sergeant Stuart Gray, 31, and 22-year-old Private Scott McArdle as the soldiers killed along with an Iraqi civilian translator.

    The trio, all from the Scottish-based Black Watch regiment, died on Thursday afternoon when a vehicle-borne suicide bomb exploded at a checkpoint they were manning by the Euphrates River.

    ….

    The incident happened just two days after the 850-strong Black Watch battle group started full operations at Camp Dogwood, a bleak outpost to the west of the insurgent-hit town of Mahmudiyah, southwest of Baghdad.

    ….

    The redeployment has been hugely controversial in Britain, with Blair’s critics accusing him of sending troops into harm’s way largely as a symbolic gesture to show that the United States is not fighting alone in Iraq.

    Blair has insisted the decision was military, not political.

    ….

    However the deaths, so soon after the redeployment, were bleak political news for a prime minister who has seen his opinion poll ratings tumble since he opted to back the invasion of Iraq.

    Blair came under swift condemnation, with Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, bitterly contrasting “the bravery of our soldiers with the duplicity of the politicians who sent them there”.

    Blair, however sturdy in his resolve and right in his cause, cannot for long be asked to pay a political price for Fallujah.

    Secondly, the planned election calendar adds to the pressure and, as is the norm, Kofi Annan and the dysfunctional United Nations ain’t helping.

    U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned the United States, Britain and Iraq that an assault on Falluja risked further dividing the Iraqi people and undermining planned January elections.

    …. U.N. officials made no secret of their fear that a large-scale attack on Falluja could provoke an election boycott by Sunni Muslims [previously discussed here] and undermine efforts to promote stability.

    Okay, granted a beatdown of the terrorists may spur a Sunni boycott, but a prolonged standoff will most assuredly affect the election. Possibly damned if you do, certainly damned if you don’t. No matter the UN’s eventual level of love for the election, Iraq is better off with a pacified Fallujah. Let’s roll.

  • Iraq Insurgents Call for Hassan’s Release

    The terrorists in Iraq are reportedly hoping to save a hostage’s life.

    The militant group al-Qaida in Iraq purportedly called Friday for the release of the kidnapped executive of the CARE charity, Margaret Hassan, and promised to free her if she fell into their hands.

    In a message posted on the Internet, the group led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said it wanted the world to know “if (the kidnappers of Margaret Hassan) handed us this captive, we will release her immediately unless it is proven she was conspiring against Muslims.”

    “We are demanding that those who are in charge of her release her unless she is proven to be an agent. If guilty, they should show that to everybody so as not to attribute something to our religion that is alien to it,” the message said.

    The authenticity of the statement could not be verified, but it was signed “al-Qaida in Iraq” and appeared on Web site known for publishing messages from Islamic militant groups. The person who posted it used the pseudonym Abu Maysara al-Iraqi — the name usually associated with statements from al-Zarqawi’s group.

    Are the Islamists suddenly having a change of heart and looking to do their good deed of the day? Hell no. As I stated before, they have stumbled badly and are in danger of cutting their own feet out from under themselves. The Iraqi nationals are very opposed to the kidnapping and threatening of the humanitarian Hassan. Knowing that they will now face constant pressure from the Iraqi government and the coalition following President Bush’s re-election, the terrorists are grasping at straws to maintain any local support that they can. The murder of Hassan, while tragic, would only serve to strengthen the government’s hand and undermine the terrorists.

    No, there is no change of heart for the heartless, but evil can be driven to do good out of desperation.