Days ahead of the handover of power to a new Iraqi government on Wednesday, tension is rising again in Fallujah. U.S. forces have mounted three airstrikes against suspected terrorist hideouts in the past week.
...On Saturday, Abdel-Azeem and a handful of other mujahedeen - or holy Muslim warriors, the phrase Fallujah fighters prefer - mused to a reporter on the occupation, Iraq's future and whether Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is truly behind a series of horrific bombings as the Americans claim - or whether he exists at all.
..."Does al-Zarqawi really exist? Or do they just use the name to bomb our homes?" asked Baha'a, the turbaned fighter.
...They stopped and thoroughly searched the car that brought the reporter to their spot, a few yards away from a house destroyed Friday in a U.S. airstrike. The military said the strike hit a hideout of al-Zarqawi.
The fighters later apologized for the search and offered the reporter and his companion ice water served in metal cups from a clay pot kept in the shade.
Speaking with zeal as intense as the midday heat - 110 degrees - they cited their faith as the main motivator for fighting the Americans and dismissed claims by the U.S. military that al-Zarqawi or members of his group are in Fallujah.
...The area's mukhtar, or mayor, later took the reporter on a tour of the destroyed house that the Americans said was an al-Zarqawi safehouse.
The U.S. military said Saturday that 15 people were killed in Friday's airstrike, but the area's mayor, Hussein Ali, said the house was empty. Its owner, Youssef Kanash, his wife and seven children vacated the house the previous day to move into a safer part of the city, said Ali.
"If this animal is a member of the al-Zarqawi group, then I congratulate the Americans on their victory," said Ali, pointing at the Kanash family pet, a black rabbit lying dead in the front yard.
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...On Saturday, Abdel-Azeem and a handful of other mujahedeen - or holy Muslim warriors, the phrase Fallujah fighters prefer - mused to a reporter on the occupation, Iraq's future and whether Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is truly behind a series of horrific bombings as the Americans claim - or whether he exists at all.
..."Does al-Zarqawi really exist? Or do they just use the name to bomb our homes?" asked Baha'a, the turbaned fighter.
...They stopped and thoroughly searched the car that brought the reporter to their spot, a few yards away from a house destroyed Friday in a U.S. airstrike. The military said the strike hit a hideout of al-Zarqawi.
The fighters later apologized for the search and offered the reporter and his companion ice water served in metal cups from a clay pot kept in the shade.
Speaking with zeal as intense as the midday heat - 110 degrees - they cited their faith as the main motivator for fighting the Americans and dismissed claims by the U.S. military that al-Zarqawi or members of his group are in Fallujah.
...The area's mukhtar, or mayor, later took the reporter on a tour of the destroyed house that the Americans said was an al-Zarqawi safehouse.
The U.S. military said Saturday that 15 people were killed in Friday's airstrike, but the area's mayor, Hussein Ali, said the house was empty. Its owner, Youssef Kanash, his wife and seven children vacated the house the previous day to move into a safer part of the city, said Ali.
"If this animal is a member of the al-Zarqawi group, then I congratulate the Americans on their victory," said Ali, pointing at the Kanash family pet, a black rabbit lying dead in the front yard.
Yes, I was picturing just this morning the alliance of possibly dead or captured Izzat al-Douri and possibly dead or captured, not to mention one-legged, Zarqawi, taking on the United States – and apparently winning so far. (Where Saddam and his WMD failed.)
....but hey, think what you want....you will anyway.
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