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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Harvey Allen who wrote (41323)	4/4/2004 2:38:53 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 89467

just don't see anything happening in Fallujah You may be right, but there is this: Troops prepare for Fallujah battle FALLUJAH, Iraq -- At the edge of this hostile city, units of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force set up checkpoints and camps this weekend in preparation for an eventual fight. The U.S. military activity outside the city yesterday offered no sign that a strike on Fallujah is imminent. But as they geared for an eventual battle, some Marines said they were eager to avenge Wednesday's killings of four American security guards. "I've got a lot of hate inside me, but I try to put that aside," said Sgt. Eric Nordwig, 29, of Riverside, Calif. The time has come to "clean up the town," he said Friday evening. "Fallujah is a barrier on the highway to progress," said Col. J.C. Coleman, chief of staff to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. "We're going to eliminate that barrier without damaging the highway." Many of Fallujah's estimated quarter-million people warned of further bloodshed if the Marines return. In an interview before Friday prayers, a senior Fallujah cleric made no apologies for the attack on the four Americans as they drove through the town Wednesday, but condemned the subsequent mutilation of corpses and dragging of the bodies through the streets. "The killing is legitimate," said Khalid Ahmed Salih, cleric at the Al-Badawi mosque. "But we do not accept the mutilation of the bodies. Islam orders us not to do that to a dog. No decent man will accept this." Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq a year ago, American troops have killed dozens of civilians in Fallujah, many in the course of firefights against guerrillas, but many others in murkier circumstances that have led people here to see the soldiers as unjust and brutal occupiers. Tensions between U.S. forces and Fallujah residents began even before the war's end. On April 28, when a crowd of protesters confronted troops, shots broke out, and 13 people were killed amid heavy U.S. fire. In this city's traditional, tribal culture, revenge is often seen as a tool of justice. "It is inevitable that the sons of Fallujah will kill the Americans and mutilate their corpses," said Fallujah resident Fadhil Badrani. "Though mutilation is not allowed in Islam, the grudge and malice in the hearts of the people led them to do this because of the repeated American provocation." U.S. officials have pressed Fallujah's clerics and city officials to condemn the attacks and help catch those who took part. An appeal to citizens for help in the case has yielded a few tips, Marine officials said. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a U.S. spokesman, said the city could avoid a crackdown if it handed over the attackers. "The question -- Is there going to be a fight? -- is one you should ask the insurgents ... and the mayor," he said. newsday.com lurqer