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| Iraq |
| Fear of Big Battle Panics Iraqi City |
| 2006-06-11 |
| Fears of an imminent offensive by the U.S. troops massed around the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi intensified Saturday, with residents pouring out of the city to escape what they describe as a mounting humanitarian crisis. The image pieced together from interviews with tribal leaders and fleeing families in recent weeks is one of a desperate population of 400,000 people trapped in the crossfire between insurgents and U.S. forces. Food and medical supplies are running low, prices for gas have soared because of shortages and municipal services have ground to a stop. U.S. and Iraqi forces had cordoned off the city by Saturday, residents and Iraqi officials said. Airstrikes on several residential areas picked up, and troops took to the streets with loudspeakers to warn civilians of a fierce impending attack, Ramadi police Capt. Tahseen Dulaimi said. U.S. military officials refused to confirm or deny reports that a Ramadi offensive was underway. Thousands of families remain trapped in the city, those who have fled say. Many can't afford to leave or lack transportation, whereas other families have decided to wait for their children to finish final examinations at school before escaping. "The situation is catastrophic. No services, no electricity, no water," said Sheik Fassal Gaood, the former governor of Al Anbar province, whose capital is Ramadi. "People in Ramadi are caught between two plagues: the vicious, armed insurgents and the American and Iraqi troops." Residents have been particularly unnerved by the recent arrival of 1,500 U.S. troops sent to reinforce the forces already stationed at the city. Street battles between troops and insurgents have been raging for months, but the troops' deployment left residents bracing for a mass offensive to take the town back from insurgents. "It is becoming hell up there," said Mohammed Fahdawi, a 42-year-old contractor who packed up his four children and fled to Baghdad two weeks ago. "It is unbelievable: The Americans seem to have brought all of their troops to Ramadi." The fearful city is haunted by memories of the battles that raged in nearby Fallouja in 2004. Determined to purge that city of insurgents, U.S. Marine and Army units lined up to the north and pushed south through the heart of Fallouja. They cleared one neighborhood after another in intense, constant street fighting. By the time the sweep was over, the town was largely destroyed. Military officials have insisted that the deployment of the additional troops did not presage a Fallouja-style offensive. "Moving this force will allow tribal leaders and government officials to go about the very difficult task of taking back their towns from the criminal elements," said Army Maj. J. Todd Breasseale, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. |
| Posted by:BrerRabbit |
| #13 The fearful city is haunted by memories of the battles that raged in nearby Fallouja in 2004. Determined to purge that city of insurgents, U.S. Marine and Army units lined up to the north and pushed south through the heart of Fallouja. They cleared one neighborhood after another in intense, constant street fighting. By the time the sweep was over, the town was largely destroyed. As it should be. The second battle of Falluja was meant to serve as an exmple - of what happens when a community capitulates to the Islamofascist hard boyz. "If you lie down with dogs, expect to get fleas." The officials in Ramadi are crying and whining - and will end up picking through the PEACEFUL ruins of their provincial capital - probably wishing that they had been more aggressive in expelling the bad guys before the shit hit the fan. Their city is ruins - all because the city leaders figured that the safest course was to allow the bad guys to have free reign in their city. Well - bad idea. Now, Ramadi gets to be this years "poster city" to demonstrate to the other urban centers of Iraq what happens to cities that harbor major concentrations of bad guys. Somewhere out there is the "likely 2007 poster city" that should be paying attention - and making its calculations about the wisdom of giving safe haven to the insurgents. Eventually - after enough cities get rubbled - the bad guys may find the welcome mats disappearing as they approach new havens. Wiping out a violent insurgeny is never pretty and antiseptic. It's brutal. The only other consderation here is that the insurgents are so extremist that "peace" under their regime isn't much better than outright warfare - so, bitter as the "medicine" is, the patient is going to endure it, and eventually pull through. I certainly hope that the US and Irai military forces are painstakingly establishing a VERY effective cordon around this city - to ensure that once the end game is played out, there is nowhere for the cockroaches to escape to. I suspect that coalition forces must be getting pretty good at this sort of operation. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2006-06-11 23:13 |
| #12 Whahahaha.... Yes, a good Hakka, a few pints and chips would be swell! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-06-11 17:46 |
| #11 unnerved by the recent arrival of 1,500 U.S. troops We've just gotta get our own US Army Hakka |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-11 17:44 |
| #10 Thousands of families remain trapped in the city, those who have fled say. Many can't afford to leave or lack transportation... Hell, it sounds like New Orleans in hurricane season. |
| Posted by: TwistedSister 2006-06-11 17:43 |
| #9 LA Slimes thinks the Iraqi and U.S. of A. Troops are bad guys causing this all to happen. Like the Paleos the LAT have no concept of cause and effect. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-06-11 16:29 |
| #8 I suspect that this will be a thorough door-to-door prior to permanently garrisoning a major Iraqi unit there. Then they will set up using the (old style) Mexican method of having two policemen and two soldiers on every block. The soldiers protect the street and the police spend the whole day going from door-to-door talking with residents of that block, until they know everybody there like family. Any stranger who even walks down the sidewalk has a minimum of four sets of eyes on him. Really puts a crimp in troublemaking. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-06-11 13:57 |
| #7 Article: Thousands of families remain trapped in the city, those who have fled say. Many can't afford to leave or lack transportation, whereas other families have decided to wait for their children to finish final examinations at school before escaping. "The situation is catastrophic. No services, no electricity, no water," said Sheik Fassal Gaood, the former governor of Al Anbar province, whose capital is Ramadi. It can't be that catastrophic if they're not leaving. Catastrophic is - if they don't leave, they'll be killed. These guys are such drama queens. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-06-11 13:53 |
| #6 Does anyone else wonder what the hell "chieftains" are doing in a developing parlimentary democracy? (Unless there's an Irish music tour in town, of course ;^) |
| Posted by: AlanC 2006-06-11 13:40 |
| #5 One gets the feeling the battle is the "final exam". |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-06-11 13:10 |
| #4 "As chieftains, we have been helpless," said Sheik Ali Abed Alaa, a tribal leader in Al Anbar. "The most we can do is condemn and denounce, but who is there to listen to us?" not much of a Chief then, are you, asshat? Falluja, the sequel, and you get the possession of all rubble left behind. When you allow AQ and foreign fighters to own your town, you have no claim to sovereignty |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-06-11 12:47 |
| #3 "other families have decided to wait for their children to finish final examinations at school before escaping." Wow! Those schools must really be tough and the exams must really be important!! In the U.S. we let the kids out because the air conditioning can't keep it cool enough inside. |
| Posted by: SamL 2006-06-11 10:54 |
| #2 "Fears of an imminent offensive by the U.S. troops massed around the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi intensified Saturday, with residents pouring out of the city to escape what they describe as a mounting humanitarian crisis." That's the intro. It's an "insurgent" stronghold, Megan and Louise. Your words. It will eventually be cleaned out, just like the others. Thanks to the support shown to the "insurgents", they hang out there. Cause => Effect. Grab the handrail and hang on. El Lay Times. It was a dark and stormy night... |
| Posted by: flyover 2006-06-11 10:52 |
| #1 --"People in Ramadi are caught between two plagues: the vicious, armed insurgents and the American and Iraqi troops."-- The Iraqi army is a plague? Get over your tribalism, bud. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-06-11 10:48 |