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| Iraq-Jordan | ||
| Kimmitt: Marines Not Leaving Fallujah | ||
| 2004-04-30 | ||
| BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Marines will maintain a strong presence in and around Fallujah despite an agreement to hand over security to a new Iraqi force largely made up of former Iraqi soldiers, a senior U.S. officer said Friday. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt made his remarks as U.S. officials in Iraq and Washington said an agreement had been reached to establish an Iraqi unit to assume security and end the monthlong siege of Fallujah. Witnesses saw Marines withdrawing from positions in the southeastern part of the city on Friday and handing them over to the Iraqis. However, Kimmitt told reporters that the new Iraqi force will be "completely integrated" with Marines, who will retain strong presence "in and around" the city. He insisted that the Marines were not "withdrawing" but were "repositioning" their forces.
Kimmitt said he had no information on the background of the reported new commander of the Fallujah force, former Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh. But Kimmitt said the commander had been vetted by the Marines who had full confidence in him.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 The most dangerous typical American assumption is that the Falluja investment is like an hour-long TV drama. That is, that the Marines are like actors, performing a "figure it out as you go along" script. These are highly-educated, highly-trained personnel with college educated officers who have received a great deal of tactical, strategic and historical education. Every battle they are *going* to fight is looked at ahead of time from the perspective of every battle listed in Dupuy and Dupuy. Everything they do is calculated. The enemy is left no advantage. Every mistake is exploited to the full. And it doesn't stop. Every evaluation of their situation fine tunes their activities. The logistics are there, the intelligence is there, the discipline and morale are there, and the will is there. Practically speaking, it would take a well-armed force with perhaps 10-20 times their number to be a serious threat. These Marines are deadly, and again, they do not stop for commercials. Their mission is clear, with or without friendly Iraqis: with minimum loss of civilian life, they will go through the entire city and systematically and thoroughly capture or kill every opponent and disarm the populace. Everything else, including the diplomatic side, is just hogwash. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-04-30 5:36:56 PM |
| #5 Lucky, you have it right. What percentage of radical Islamist jihadists, who think it is cool to sacrifice their children or themselves for the cause, will just change their minds and become responsible citizens if there are Iraqi faces in the uniforms that oppose them. Aren't the new Iraqi soldiers infidels too? |
| Posted by: Sam 2004-04-30 3:06:10 PM |
| #4 The bad guys still need to be killed. An Iraqi face in the rest of the town should be good for the after action stuff. But make no mistake, the bad guys get whacked. If not it's Gaza. I also think the badies are suicide types who were to cause a Grozny type fight. If, as reported at Belmont Club (I love that name) the Marines have manuvered the enemy into a manageable kill zone, well I am impressed. But please Mr Custer, don't let the bad guys go. Don't let the guys who paid the price to have done it in vain. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-04-30 12:49:48 PM |
| #3 Read Belmont Club for background on General Saleh. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4690 2004-04-30 12:07:42 PM |
| #2 Wonder if he is one of Chief Wiggles generals? Would be interesting to know if he knows this guy. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2004-04-30 11:42:32 AM |
| #1 Didn't I hear about "helpful" military officials before the invasion? Could this Maj Gen Saleh be one of those? |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-04-30 11:42:08 AM |