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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Fox News: Death of 64 gunmen increases holiness of Najaf |
| 2004-04-28 |
| Edited full article to concentrate on Najaf. Elsewhere, troops killed 64 insurgent gunmen and destroyed an anti-aircraft system in the holy Shiite city of Najaf (search), U.S. military officials said Tuesday. The violence began after a U.S. military patrol came under attack and an M1 tank was hit by rocket-propelled grenades in separate incidents, officials said. Night television news footage — taken from a road between Najaf and the nearby town of Kufa —showed U.S. Army helicopters flying low over plumes of smoke rising from a green area and sparks of flashes, likely from gunfire. The fighting came as U.S. troops moved into a base that Spanish troops are vacating, about three miles from holy shrines near where anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is holed up. U.S. commanders have said they will not move against the shrines in order to capture al-Sadr, whose armed supporters have launched attacks against the U.S.-led forces. Under the Geneva Conventions (search), firing upon mosques or other holy sites is prohibited unless the structures are being used in battle. Enemy forces in Fallujah and elsewhere have been using holy sites for shelter as they fire upon the U.S. military. Attempts to capture al-Sadr have been put on hold while negotiators try to resolve the standoff. The U.S. says it’s aware that moving against the shrines could turn the cleric’s limited revolt into a wider anti-U.S. uprising by Iraq’s Shiite majority. The battles in the south Monday evening took place on the east side of the Euphrates River, across from Kufa and Najaf, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said. The first fight came in the afternoon, when Shiite militiamen opened fire on a U.S. patrol. In the ensuing firefight, seven insurgents were killed. Hours later, a M1 tank was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades. A heavy battle erupted, during which warplanes destroyed an anti-aircraft gun belonging to the militia and 57 gunmen were killed, Kimmitt said. Kimmitt told Fox News Tuesday that insurgents in Najaf number in the "hundreds, certainly not thousands" and that the reason more Iraqis are not turning them in is that they are afraid of them. "I think most of it has to do with the fact that the citizens have been intimidated for years and years 
that’s probably the reason that they’re [enemy fighters] not being expelled by their own people," Kimmitt said. When asked if the U.S.-led coalition can get rid of enough guerrillas to decrease the terror threat, Kimmitt said yes, adding that "we certainly have done that to Sadr’s militia. We’ve taken some decisive military operations against them, we’ve reduced them in almost all the locations where they tried to hijack the [democratic] process 
the media networks, the government buildings; we’re gonna continue to hunt down these Sadr militia types until they’re no longer a threat to Iraq." |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #12 Rumsfeld's comment should make the rounds of the conservative radio shows today (I hope). It is so absolutely correct and such a damming illustration of media bias that it can't be ignored. |
| Posted by: remote man 2004-04-28 3:09:26 PM |
| #11 biged In Najaf that would be the Army, NOT the Marines. Lets give credit where credit is due. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-04-28 3:07:51 PM |
| #10 Bless you, Rummy. Give 'em hell! |
| Posted by: docob 2004-04-28 2:56:38 PM |
#9 Right, SH. The following thanks to CPT Patti via Instapundit:"There are two ways, I suppose, one could inform readers of the Geneva Convention stipulation against using places of worship to conduct military attacks. One might be to headline saying that Terrorists Attack Coalition Forces From Mosques. That would be one way to present the information.As they say, Q.E.D. |
| Posted by: Old Grouch 2004-04-28 2:19:55 PM |
| #8 No matter what the enemy does, the press acts to hold you to the letter of the Geneva Convention. The Russians are not encumbered by the free press as we have seen in Grozny. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-28 2:00:34 PM |
| #7 flash91 The beauty of the Geneva convention is that you don't have to respect it if the enemy doesn't follow it. You aren't supposed to fire on a hospital or on a religious building but the enemy isn't supposed to fire you from it/take cover in it/call artillery strikes from it. If he does not only you are allowed to fire on hospital and do what the enemy has done but you can shoot him for warcrime. The Geneva conventions were made to make war a bit less cruel not to give an advantage to bad guys. This is its main strength: you gain nothing by not respecting it and you lose nothing by adhering to it: if the enemy doesn't play by the rules you are allowed to not respect them. |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-04-28 1:42:04 PM |
| #6 Death of 64 gunmen increases holiness of Najaf . . . Under the Geneva Conventions, firing upon mosques or other holy sites is prohibited unless the structures are being used in battle. The Marines just found employment for 4,608 vestial virgins in paradise. How is that against the Geneva convention? |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-04-28 1:18:25 PM |
| #5 "I think most of it has to do with the fact that the citizens have been intimidated for years and years … that’s probably the reason that they’re [enemy fighters] not being expelled by their own people," Kimmitt said. What I'm curious about is how much "intimidation" do Iraqis feel they have to take? At what point are they going to decide enough is enough and stand up to the thugs that are standing in the way between them and a possibly better future? If the majority of the population that doesn't support Sadr is unwilling to stand against him, the alternative is more of the same servitude towards whoever has the most armed militia members. I find it rather difficult to fathom that their breaking point hasn't as yet been achieved, unless their natural state is to be groveling at the feet of a strongman... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-04-28 1:02:31 PM |
| #4 I have a problem with the geneva convention. We are being held to it, the enemy is not. To me a deal is only valid when both sides adhere - I say turn the mosques inside out, and be thankful we arent your fellow moslems. |
| Posted by: flash91 2004-04-28 1:00:27 PM |
| #3 Let's make it the holiest spot in Islam! |
| Posted by: Infidel Bob 2004-04-28 9:35:31 AM |
| #2 If this wasn't a bloody mosque we would have already leveled the building and Sadr. Damn world politics to hell! |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-04-28 8:50:05 AM |
| #1 This God firsaken Kitty litter box is not sacred to me. Not in the least |
| Posted by: an delusian dog 2004-04-28 4:15:44 AM |