| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| Fallajuah May Mark the Turning Point in the War on Terrorism |
| 2004-11-14 |
| EFL and the conclusion. Read the whole thing. So has this battle been a waste of time and American blood? Not at all. It is as important in its way as was the routing of the Taliban from Kabul in 2001 or the taking of Baghdad in 2003. First of all, it is an act of liberation. Fallujah's roughly 300,000 residents had been living under the thumb of gangsters such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Now, if the Iraqi military can keep the terrorists from creeping back, the city will rejoin Iraq's wider political life and be able to participate in the nation's emerging democracy. Second, the insurgency has lost a key asset that will be hard to replace. Fallujah was one big safe house, complete with dens for making car bombs and killing hostages. The people living there were, in effect, human shields. Now the terrorists will have to try to re-create this infrastructure somewhere else. That may not be easy. They might look for shelter in other Sunni triangle towns, such as Ramadi, Tikrit, Baiji and Baquba. But if they couldn't stand up to U.S. and Iraqi forces in Fallujah, they won't be able to do so in those spots, either. They can run and they can even hide for a while, but not indefinitely. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #8 Matt, thanks for explaining to me why I'm walking around smiling and humming. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-14 7:58:05 PM |
| #7 In April, during the last Fallujah attack, Shiites joined with the Sunnis and formed aid convoys to help out. Najaf, after being under the thumb of al Sadr, has been quiet and has no truck with the Fallujans. The point being, after people have been under the control of the wackos, the Americans don't seem too bad. |
| Posted by: Jabba the Nutt 2004-11-14 7:31:22 PM |
| #6 If you look back at the last two weeks, the man who has become the symbol of the war on terror has been re-elected by a sizable majority of the American people, the world's most famous terrorist has finally croaked, the Marines have explained things to the jihadis in their former stronghold of Fallujah, the French have been embarrassed by the Ivory Cost Air Force, and the famously liberal Dutch appear to have realized that if you lie down with Jihadis you wake up with fleas. Not good days for the muj. |
| Posted by: Matt 2004-11-14 1:16:59 PM |
| #5 mhw, I disagree in the sense that the overthrow of the mularky would be a good starting point. The near final point would be when Islam would be recognized widely for what it is--a totalitarian death cult ideology. The good thing is that the doofuses are impatient. We would be really screwed if that were not the case. As it is, the odds are on our side, albeit things will not be settled for a couple of decades and there would be many days when things would look desperate. |
| Posted by: Cornīliës 2004-11-14 12:52:09 PM |
| #4 I think the WoT will have many turning points. The overthrow of the mularky will be the final or near-final one. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-11-14 12:34:47 PM |
| #3 The turning point in the war on terrorism was long before Fallujah, we've been kicking their ass since we won in Afghanistan. After the Iraqi elections there will be 2 former tyrannical regimes that will have been turned into free societies due to Bush's force of conviction. That's a powerful message to those that aspire to be free and those who call themselves our enemy. |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2004-11-14 12:01:04 PM |
| #2 Another quick add on the "patience" aspect. The fanatics all over Iraq, and the Iraqis who have been "hosting" them must also have noticed that one of the main reasons we had NOT hammered them until now was we were waiting for the election to be over. The election ended and the hammering started. I think the Iraqis in other cities will start re-considering their decision to "host" some of the fanatics, making it harder and harder for Zarkawi, et al, to gain a foothold anywhere. The long overdue English lesson is now in full swing..."Now Class, who remembers what the word 'FUTILITY' means?" |
| Posted by: Justrand 2004-11-14 11:25:16 AM |
| #1 The way the American troops conducted this assault should be done in everyone of those mentioned towns in the next few weeks |
| Posted by: smokeysinse 2004-11-14 11:18:47 AM |