Hi all; Decision on Falloujah assault nears:
Decision on Possible Attack on Iraqi Town Seems Near
Sanger and Shanker, NY Times, April 25, 2004
Facing one of the grimmest choices of the Iraq war, President Bush and his senior national security and military advisers are expected to decide this weekend whether to order an invasion of Falluja, even if a battle there runs the risk of uprisings in the city and perhaps elsewhere around Iraq.
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On Saturday, as a blinding sandstorm swept across a sprawling former Iraqi Army base near Falluja, Marine commanders were getting assignments for potential targets, studying maps and planning lines of attack for a battle that they expect could come in the next few days. The Marines have encircled the city, awaiting Mr. Bush's decision.
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Mr. Bush is described by many officials as convinced that if the insurgents hold off American forces there, they will try to do the same in other Iraqi cities.
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Another person involved in the talks is the mayor of Falluja, Mahmoud Ibrahim. But it is unclear how much power he wields. Marine officers who have dealt with him say he is roundly disliked by many of the residents. He had been the mayor for several years under Saddam Hussein's rule. The political situation has been somewhat murky, with rival city councils appointed by American civilian and military officials, and it is unclear how Mr. Ibrahim remained mayor.
In any event, he told Marine officers earlier this week that he had no control over three sections of the city — Jolan, Hayal Askeri and Shuhada — which make up about half its area.
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Hundreds of other people were fleeing the city. The rule was that only families were being allowed out. At several points, young, military-age men were seen grabbing protesting children by the hand to make their way out past the checkpoints.
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Senior American commanders in the Middle East, in a parallel to officials in Washington, seemed to be exceedingly concerned about possible casualties in Falluja — and how the operation to quell the insurgency would be played throughout the Arab world, as well.
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nytimes.com
-- Carl
P.S. Anyone remember how back in Vietnam, the US president would exercise control over the details of the war? Looks like Bush is getting sucked in to the same temptation. |
