US Holding 200 Iraqi Troops Who Mutinied -Comrades

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040416/wl_nm/iraq_mutiny_dc&cid=574&ncid=1480

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces have detained around 200 Iraqi paramilitary soldiers who refused to take part in a U.S. offensive against the Sunni Muslim city of Falluja, their former comrades said Friday.



The U.S. military declined to confirm whether the men were being held. Senior officers play down the significance of such incidents but, asked about reports of mutiny among Iraqi troops, have acknowledged a "command failure" took place during the Falluja offensive.


Soldiers from the Baghdad-based 36th Security Brigade, part of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, told Reuters that last week U.S. commanders took them at night to Falluja, west of the capital, where U.S. forces were massing to crush a growing insurgency.


"They told us to attack the city and we were astonished. How could an Iraqi fight an Iraqi like this? This meant that nothing had changed from the Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) days. We refused en masse," said Ali al-Shamari.

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