Shades of Falluja - Part 2

Fallujah Revisited: Bush, Petraeus Prepare 'Cleansing' of Sadr City - Friday, 09 May 2008

Shades of Falluja

Iraqi soldiers for the first time warned residents in the embattled Sadr City district to leave their houses Thursday, signaling a new push by the U.S.-backed forces against Shiite extremist who have been waging street battles for seven weeks.

  TPM

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Falluja- Now a Model City

The U.S. military showcases Fallujah as a model city where U.S. policies are finally paying off and is spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the region to promote the rule of law and a variety of nation-building efforts.

[...]

Fallujah today is sealed off with blast walls and checkpoints. Residents are given permits to enter the city. All visitors and their weapons are registered, and police check every car. The U.S. military has divided the city into nine gated communities, each with its own joint security station staffed by U.S. troops and Iraqi police. It also has been buying the loyalties of former Sunni insurgents, paying them $180 a month to join a neighborhood force that works with the police.

[...]

But the security that has been achieved here is fragile, the result of harsh tactics recalling the rule of Saddam Hussein, who was overthrown five years ago. Even as they work alongside U.S. forces, [Fallujah’s police chief, ex-Sunni insurgent fighting against the U.S., Col. Faisal Ismail al-]Zobaie's men admit they have beaten and tortured suspects to force confessions and exact revenge.

In Zobaie's world, to show mercy is to show weakness. In a land where men burn other men alive, harsh tactics are a small price to pay for imposing order, he said.

"We never tortured anybody," he said. "Sometimes we beat them during the first hours of capture."

[...]

"The city is like a big jail," said Abu Ahmed, a well-known doctor who asked that his nickname be used because he has treated people who were brutalized by Zobaie's men.

[...]

The story of Zobaie and his police force opens a window onto the Iraq that is emerging after five years of war. American ideals that were among the justifications for the 2003 invasion, such as promoting democracy and human rights, are giving way to values drawn from Iraq's traditions and tribal culture, such as respect, fear and brutality.

[...]

"Since Saddam Hussein until now, Iraq obeys only the force," [Cpt. Mohammed] Yousef said. "We are practicing the same old procedures."

Abu Rahma, 43, a taxi driver and father of four, was a victim of that approach. He was taken into custody last March and tortured in Fallujah's jail. "They kept beating me to force me to confess," he said. "I told them I am not with al-Qaeda, and neither is my brother. They beat me everywhere on my body. . . . Some of my nails were taken out."

[...]

Once a member of Hussein's elite Republican Guard, Zobaie is driven by allegiance neither to the United States nor to Iraq's Shiite-run central government. He wants U.S. troops to leave Iraq. But for now, he needs the United States to bolster him with military muscle and funds. And the U.S. military today depends on men such as Zobaie to help bring about the order and security in Iraq that could eventually lead to the end of the American occupation.

"I have realized that Americans love the strong guy," Zobaie said.

  WaPo

Same values?

Zobaie has asked the U.S. officers to help obtain more aid for the city from the regional and central governments. Already, the U.S. military is employing street cleaners, building schools and putting up $9 million worth of solar street lights. But some U.S. officers question why insurgents once determined to kill them have so quickly embraced them.

"Every time they talk to you there's an agenda," said Miller, the captain who works closely with Zobaie. "You have to figure out what they want right now. If it is this easy, it begs the question: What are we giving them that we don't know that we're giving them?"

What Zobaie wants is for the U.S. military to hand over full control of Fallujah. He believes Iraq's current leaders are not strong enough. Asked whether democracy could ever bloom here, he replied: "No democracy in Iraq. Ever."

"When the Americans leave the city," he said, "I'll be tougher with the people."

Model city.

If you like, you can read all the background on Falluja from previous YWA posts here (always available from a link in the sidebar), and some other collected links here (with apologies for maintenance neglect).

P.S. I wonder what has become of these two little girls, from my blog post November 14, 2004.

Little Fallujan girls
Photo courtesyAljazeera

Christmas in Fallujah

Christmas In Fallujah - Cass Dillon

It's evening in the desert
I'm tired and I'm cold
But I am just a soldier
I do what I am told
We came with the crusaders
To save the Holy Land

It's Christmas in Fallujah
And no one gives a damn

And I just got your letter
And this what I read
You said I'm fading from your memory
So I'm just as good as dead
We are the Armies of the Empire
We are the Legionnaires of Rome

It's Christmas in Fallujah
And we ain't never coming home

We came to bring these people Freedom
We came to fight the Infidel
There is no justice in the desert
Because there is no God in Hell
They say Osama's in the Mountains
Deep in a cave near Pakistan
But there's a sea of blood in Baghdad
A sea of oil in the sand
Between the Tigris and Euphrates
Another day comes to an end

It's Christmas In Fallujah
Peace on Earth Goodwill to Men
It's Christmas In Fallujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
It's Christmas In Fallujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
It's Christmas In Fallujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
It's Christmas In Fallujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Merry Christmas from Fallujah
Merry Christmas from Fallujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
OO-RA!

Written by Billy Joel, based on phrases from soldiers' letters. Video at Fox.

Falluja - A War Crime of Epic Proportions

Incident Reports Fault Blackwater in Fallujah Ambush

You shouldn't need background, but if you do...it's all here.

An Opportunity to Spread Democracy

YANGON, Myanmar—Myanmar's government unexpectedly allowed the country's leading opposition figure, Aung San Suu Kyi, to leave house arrest briefly on Sunday and meet with a U.N. envoy trying to persuade the junta to ease its crackdown against a pro-democracy uprising.

But thousands of troops locked down Myanmar's largest cities, and scores of people were arrested overnight, further weakening the flagging movement. And Ibrahim Gambari, the U.N.'s special envoy to Myanmar, failed to see either the junta leader or his deputy in his scheduled meetings. The diplomat was returning late Sunday to the military government's headquarters for a possible third meeting.

  Mercury News

Too bad. If they had oil, we could help, spreading democracy being so important to us and all. And I know a lot of fundamentalist Christians who would jump at the chance to take their Bibles to Burma to convert Buddhists, because, to quote one of them, “You can’t get to heaven through the Buddha.”

Unfortunately, all Bush can offer at the moment is words.

"Every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand up for people suffering under a brutal military regime," Bush said in a statement yesterday. "By its own account, the junta has already killed at least nine non-violent demonstrators."

  Bloomberg

And, in fact, I don’t think the kettle will welcome condemnation from the pot.

At least 10 dead as US soldiers fire on school protest
By Phil Reeves in Fallujah, Iraq - 30 April 2003

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Falluja

The families of the four Blackwater contractors who were ambushed in Falluja have sued the company for information, and the company has filed a countersuit. We now have a little information on the totally unnecessary and outrageous screwup that created one of Iraq's first and worst disasters.

Blackwater, based in North Carolina, sent two squads through Fallujah without maps, according to memos obtained by The News & Observer. Both of the six-man teams, named Bravo 2 and November 1, were sent out two men short, leaving them more vulnerable to ambush.

The Bravo 2 team members had protested that they were not ready for the mission and had not had time to prepare their weapons, but they were commanded to go, according to memos written by team members. The team disregarded directions to drive through Fallujah and instead drove around it and returned safely to Baghdad that evening.

The November 1 team went into Fallujah and was massacred.

The Bravo 2 team memos, in emotional, coarse and damning language, placed the blame squarely on Blackwater's Baghdad site manager, Tom Powell.

Read about the memos here.

Falluja Redux

If you don't remember what an unmitigated disaster the attempt to take Falluja was, you can check the YWA blogs on it here (a permanent link is in the sidebar).

Now, it appears we are about to go after Sadr City, proving I can sometimes still be surprised...

Commanders say they intend to use political negotiations to gain peaceful entry into the district, bringing with them Iraqi forces and reconstruction projects. U.S. officials hope "to take Sadr City without a shot fired," said Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., the senior U.S. general overseeing Baghdad.

But negotiations have had setbacks, with key players shot or intimidated.

[...]

If political avenues are exhausted, the U.S. military has formulated other options, including plans for a wholesale clearing operation in Sadr City that would require a much larger force, but commanders stress that this is a last resort.

  

Not particularly comforting when you stop and think about the chances of "political negotiations" gaining "peaceful entry". What? Al Sadr's group is just going to let the Americans waltz in and set up shop? We don't take hints very well, do we? What with "key players" being "shot or intimidated."

"A second Fallujah plan exists, but we don't want to execute it," a military officer in Baghdad said, referring to the U.S. military offensive in November 2004 to retake the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah in Iraq's western Anbar province. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with reporters.

Provide your own retort.

Mike at Born at the Crest of the Empire comments:

I'm not sure if this was "leaked" to pressure the folks in Sadr City, but if they're serious, they'd better look again. Fallujah had only 400,000 residents at the time, and the city is far more spread out.

Sadr City is 2 million people stacked into an apartment block slum.

"Clearing" Sadr City would be impossible with the forces currently available.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Actually, Falluja is still very much involved in the violence, even though the US tries to put a positive spin on it.

Progress in Fallujah is "phenomenal," he said, describing how although the 2004 Operation al-Fajr almost destroyed the city, with nearly all the residents being captured or killed, the city today has almost 4,000 residents.

"Fallujah today is an economically strong and flourishing city," Simcock said. "We're making great progress."

They never tire of spewing that bullshit, do they? I wouldn't call 4,000 "strong and flourishing." That may be a typo or a misquote. And then again, it may be exactly the kind of idiot logic we've come to expect. The Huntsville Times reports that Falluja has "well over" 350,000 people "and growing." I don't know what the real figure might be. Reports I've read say there were approximately 350,000 when we drove out most of them and tore it up. I read somewhere 36,000 out of its 50,000 homes were destroyed. I just don't know. But, here's another loose set of stats in light of a new British play:

The US attack on Fallujah in April 2004 convulsed the city – between 60 and 70 per cent of the buildings were flattened and even today the population stands at only 30-50 per cent of its pre-war level. Yet there is little public knowledge of what has been described as “one of the most extensive human rights violations of recent times”. Now a play at the Old Truman Brewery in London’s Brick Lane is trying to put it back on the map.

It’s an uphill task. A performance about a ruthless assault in a murderous war is not everyone’s choice of an evening out.

  OneWorld UK

Even so, I imagine it will play better in England than it would on this side of the pond.

P.P.S. While they may no longer be making headlines, those soldiers are still missing.

Update 5/25: Car bomb exploded at a funeral in Falluja.

Today in Iraq

In another attack on a top city official on Saturday, a roadside bomb killed the mayor of Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, and one of his bodyguards, police said.

Separately, one American soldier was killed and two were wounded by a roadside bomb southwest of Baghdad, the military said. A separate roadside bombing, in Diwaniyah about 80 miles south of the capital, killed a Polish soldier late Friday.

  Yahoo article

Well, at least one place we bombed to dust in order to drive out the "insurgents" has been gotten under control - Falluja.

The chairman of Fallujah's city council, an outspoken critic of al-Qaida who took the job in the former Sunni insurgent stronghold after his three predecessors were assassinated, was killed in a drive-by shooting on Saturday, police said.

And, about that wall....

"A few days ago, we met with the U.S. army unit in charge of Azamiyah and it asked us, as a local council, to sign a document to build a wall to reduce killing and attacks against Iraqi and U.S. forces," said Dawood al-Azami, the acting head of the Azamiyah council.

"I told the soldiers that I would not sign it unless I could talk to residents first. We told residents at Friday prayers, but our local council hasn't signed onto the project yet, and construction is already under way."

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Not flat enough

Americans begin new offensive in Fallujah

The US military has launched an operation against insurgents around Fallujah only six months after its officials proclaimed the city "the safest place in Iraq".

The initiative, launched on Thursday but publicised only at the weekend, involved hundreds of marines supported by 100 Iraqi soldiers sweeping through the fertile farmland and villages south of the city.

There is growing concern that the city's pacification has not proved as final as hoped for in November.

[...]

Two weeks ago four female marines were among six American personnel who died when their convoy was struck by a suicide car bomb just outside the city.

  Free Iraq

Previous Falluja posts
A Chronicle of Genocide