Foreign fighters left Fallujah before assault: Centcom

[Barrett808]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Most foreign fighters battling alongside Iraqi "insurgents" in Fallujah left the city before or in the early stages of the assault by US and Iraqi forces, Centcom said.

"A lot of the foreign fighters left Fallujah in the early days," said Lieutenant-general Lance Smith, deputy commander of Centcom, noting it had been a "well advertised campaign."

"A lot of them moved out of there. Some suicidal types stayed behind, but others moved out. Some went back home, others went to Ramdi, Mosul and most likely Baghdad to fight another day," he added.

Of the some 1,000 people detained by the US military after fighting in Fallujah fewer than two percent are of foreign origin, Smith said. But he said they were much more numerous across Iraq (news - web sites).

"Up to 1,000 (in Iraq) could be foreign fighters," he said, noting that "suicide jihad is not particular to the Iraqi way."

He acknowledged that it was difficult to nail down the figure adding that "they don't always carry ID cards."

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20041118/pl_afp/iraq_us_military

[daleo]

1. In other words, they didn't achieve their objective

Assuming it was Zarquawi, foreign fighters, terrorists, etc. If the objective was to teach a recalcitrant Iraqi city a lesson, they may have achieved their objective, at considerable cost to U.S. military lives and reputation though. The jury is still out on that, though.

[bowens43]

2. When are these idiot's going to admit that the insurgents

are for the most part Iraqis? This has little to do with 'suicide jihad', it is about patriots defending their nation against an invading/occupying force. It's about nationalism.

[Ducks In A Row]

3. How do they know? Where they watching and counting?

Did the foreign fighers leave change of address cards?

Or is it really that there weren't any, and so it's easy to say they left?

[drdtroit]

4. But we decided that it was best for freedom

to SLAUGHTER everyone left.

[maddezmom]

5. yup, they slipped away right after it was announced for weeks

that the military was going into Fallujah to take the militants down.