US suspends all offensive operations in Fallujah - CNN

[Wonk]

Breaking on TV. Some kind of truce or cease-fire.

edit: CNN is now saying "Not exactly a cease-fire, but it is an opportunity for talks between all parties involved."

I guess we'll know more in awhile... feel free to post updates to this thread.

edit:
BBC link here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3613299.stm

thanks to Spider Jerusalem for the link.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x474818

[Judi Lynn]

1. Thanks, Wonk. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

2. Omigosh. Check this article from earlier tonight.

Looks as if they miscalculated:

Last modified Thursday, April 8, 2004 11:09 PM PDT


Marines deploy heavy firepower in Fallujah

By: DARRIN MORTENSON - Staff Writer

FALLUJAH, Iraq ---- American tanks blasted their way through the streets, and jets pounded neighborhoods with 500-pound bombs in Fallujah on Thursday as Marines continued for a fourth day fighting Iraqi insurgents who have made a determined stand in the city.

Insurgents fought back with mortars and rockets that narrowly missed U.S. positions. They also deployed snipers with scopes and high-powered rifles that had Marines keeping their heads down all day and sometimes pinned them down.

Troops in the fight say they have a green light for such heavy firepower because most residents have evacuated the area and because the insurgents are so well dug in and prepared for a showdown that blasting them out is the only way to hunt them without suffering heavy U.S. casualties.


"So much for hearts and minds!" yelled a young Marine officer as a 500-pound bomb exploded on a cluster of buildings, throwing concrete and dirt hundreds of feet in the air and silencing a squad of insurgent riflemen who had fired at Marine helicopters and harassed ground troops with sniper fire all morning.
(snip/...)

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/04/09/military/iraq/20_46_584_8_04.txt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just heard on CBS news radio: Paul Bremer calls for 24 hour ceasefire!

[Occulus]

9. nope.

nevermind.

[MikeG]

3. Just like Vietnam. Bombing halts. Cease fires. Only helps the enemy.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

32. Maybe the Marines themselves are in bad need of reinforcements...

...they've taken quite a few casualties in the last few days. Rule Number One...never go into a heavily-armed hostile urban environment with rookie troops. Even experienced troops are going to suffer casualties at a pretty good clip in that kind of situation.

There's another problem, too...for every "bad guy" that you kill or incapacitate in a building and/or town that's still inhabited by the locals, you also kill or incapacitate innocent women and children because they are not being allowed to leave. That just makes more enemies out of people that may not have wanted to fight in the first place. They begin to think that our intention is to kill them all and level the city...what are they seeing with their own eyes that would cause them NOT to think that way? Not a very good move from a public relations standpoint.

IMHO, sealing off Fallujah and trying to go after the "bad guys" that killed the four mercenaries was a brain-dead move from the word "go".

[mouse7]

4. We "re-took" Kut?!? I didn't know we were driven out!

Jesus, this is like the descriptions I've heard from Germans civilians in WWII that only heard war news from Nazi media. They commented on how Germany kept saying they were winning all the battles, but figured out the con being played when they realized the battles that Germans were "winning" kept getting closer to German soil.

[leftchick]

20. That is exactly what I thought as I listened to cnn...

They were saying the US retook Kut with some video. All I saw were Iraqis with weapons running around, not a single US soldier. The newsreader seemed confused also.

[smallprint]

5. article from houston chronicle

U.S. halts offensive operations in Fallujah

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- U.S. Marines halted offensive operations in Fallujah today to allow talks with a delegation of sheiks from the city, a stronghold of Sunni insurgents that has been besieged by American forces this week, a commander said.

"I would not describe this as a cease-fire. We are still aggressively defending our positions. However we have ceased offensive operations for now," said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment.

...

Bremer said U.S. forces would also allow the relevant Iraqi ministries to deliver aid and other supplies and permit residents of Falluja to attend to their wounded and dead.

He did not say how long the cessation would last in the town, west of Baghdad. A member of Iraq's U.S.-backed Governing Council said it would be in force for 24 hours.


more: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/2495672

[Judi Lynn]

7. Oh, wow! Now we've got Bushies "parsing their words."

"I would not describe this as a cease-fire."

It all depends on what "cease-fire" means, then?


Parser of the Day Award Winner

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. interesting

Bremer said U.S. forces would also allow the relevant Iraqi ministries to deliver aid and other supplies and permit residents of Falluja to attend to their wounded and dead.

Good. Draw a sharp dividing line between military and the civilian Iraqi government. Better yet, make it look like the Iraqi government talked the US military down.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

35. This is also a VERY telling quote....

"We are still aggressively defending our positions. However we have ceased offensive operations for now".

That tells me that they have decided that the human cost to take the town has grown too high and that the townspeople have been launching offensive operations of their own.

Not good. Not good at all.

[Dhalgren]

38. I guess all those gas trucks destroyed on the road

to Fallujah had something to do with the "ceasefire" that isn't a "ceasefire". Also, according to that same story, the insurgents had taken control of the highway between Baghdad and Fallujah. This "ceasefire" that is not a "ceasefire" may be more about the US running out of supplies than anything else. And didn't the Reichsmarshal say something about how he was going to relentlessly pursue and kill the insurgents? Well, maybe not...

[Quetzal]

6. Talks between the parties involved?

Who would be the mediator of these talks? It can't just be anybody - it must be someone who can be trusted by by ALL sides.

[Skip Intro]

8. "opportunity for talks"

have the Iraqis called for talks, or is it just our leaders calling for talks?

And is "cessation of military operations" the same as withdrawing? Have the Iraqis decided they are going to "cease" fighting?

Sounds like tons of spin and makes me think the situation is deteriorating rapidly.

[Stella_Artois]

10. How about Saddam ?

He's known to both sides, speaks the language and while not trusted as such at least he distrusted the same amount by both sides.

[Quetzal]

15. Funny

There are also multiple parties involved that have their own interests. Maybe the will split Iraq up into three???

[DoYouEverWonder]

34. Maybe we should just let the Iraqi people

decide what they want to do with Iraq. If they wish to split up the country fine, if they decide to stay together, that would probably be better. But it is not up to the US to decide for them.

[Dhalgren]

39. Absolutely right! The only intelligent approach!

[aneerkoinos]

11. Yep, the Marines said

The Marines said that they are stuck after advancing only mile or two and can't make further progress without reinforcements.

So far the brave fighters of Fallujah have been victorious and expelled the Marines from taking over their city.

Get it. Victorious. Against U.S. Marines.



Military defeat was the first reason, second is political, If Bremer does not obey Sistani (and follow Sadr's example) and halt military offencive against Iraqi people, there will be no Iraqi Governing Counsil, and great risk of Sistani being forced to declare Jihad. We'll see how this playes out, Eastern will be interesting...

Bremer is given one last chance. Sadly, I don't think has the wisdom to take it, but in foolish pride he will bring the ruin for US and her allies.

[Stella_Artois]

12. So now we know they are not terrorists

The US does not negotiate with terrorists right ?

So these cannot be terrorists then can they ?

What are they then ?

[pinniped]

14. I was gonna post the exact same thing.

I thought insurgents and terrorists were the same thing.:think:

All resisting the bu$h imperialists have been branded one or the other.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

18. semantics

Notice the subtle differences in the way that we refer to our opponents. We have "supporters of the former regime." We have "Supporters of the former regime who engage in or support terror." Then we have the real "terrorists."

It seems to me that they're playing word games in order to keep their options open. Not necessarily a bad thing, but worthy of note.

[daleo]

16. So, to go forward, the marines would either have to take huge casualties

or cause massive death and destruction to the civilian population. Perhaps this has something to do with Bush phoning up Pootie Poot earlier today. He may be either trying to cut a political deal to get the U.N. to bail him out, or else is letting Russia know that something very bad will be happening in Fallujah soon.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Odd stories, Fallujah:

US Fighters Downed in Fallujah


Politics: 9 April 2004, Friday.
US fighters F-15 resumed bombings in the northern and eastern parts of the embattled Iraqi town of Fallujah amid reports that two were downed.

Al-Jazeera reports that the Americans are throwing a type of bombs, banned by international conventions.

At least 300 people were killed and another 500 injured in battles in Fallujah so far.

U.S. Marines and Iraqi insurgents fought battles Thursday for control of Fallujah, and Spanish troops reportedly battled a Muslim militia group in Najaf as the anti-coalition uprising stretched into its fifth day.
(snip/...)

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=33209

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First Published 2004-04-09, Last Updated 2004-04-09 10:40:27


Residents start to flee besieged Fallujah


Ferocious street fighting between US forces and insurgents in western town of Iraq enters fifth day.


FALLUJAH, Iraq - Residents started to flee the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah Friday on the fifth day of ferocious street fighting between US forces and insurgents in the western town, a correspondent witnessed.

Men, women and children were fleeing on foot through backstreets and paths that cut through fields, carrying small bags, food and medicines.

Most were seen heading toward the nearby village of Naimiyah, south of Fallujah, which has been under effective US siege since Monday.

The US marines were allowing residents to flee the town.
(snip/...)

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=9579

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

US marines in Iraq clash with Fallujah relief convoy

A joint relief column, organised by both Sunni and Shi'ite clerics in Baghdad, has forced its way through US military checkpoints, and into the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah.

Fallujah has been the scene of heavy fighting between US marines and Sunni militants, as the US attempts to find and punish those responsible for the murder and mutilation of four American civilian security contractors last week.

Chanting "no Sunnis, no Shi'ites", thousands of Muslims set out in cars and trucks carrying food, medical supplies and blood and headed for Fallujah, 50 kilometres to the West.

Our correspondent in Baghdad, Peter Cave, says US troops with machine guns and armoured vehicles, who tried to block the way, were pelted with stones and eventually retreated and let the convoy through.
(snip/...)

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_1084544.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Please excuse if this article is a repeat of one already posted in this thread. Hope not:

U.S. forces reassert control over southern Iraqi city on anniversary of fall of Baghdad
By Lourdes Navarro, Associated Press, 4/9/2004 05:33

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) U.S. forces on Friday regained control of a southern city seized this week by a rebellious Shiite militia, the military said, while Marines halted offensive operations in Fallujah to allow negotiations as the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad was marked by more violence.

U.S. troops fanned out across Kut, southeast of Baghdad, after meeting little resistance in the city, witnesses said, in a major foray by the American military into the south, where U.S. allies have struggled to deal with the uprising by the al-Mahdi Army, led by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

In Fallujah, Marines stopped offensive operations at noon, while a delegation of sheiks from the city met with Marine commanders, said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment.

''I would not describe this as a cease-fire. We are still aggressively defending our positions. However we have ceased offensive operations for now,'' Byrne said.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/100/world/U_S_forces_reassert_control_ov:.shtml

[JCMach1]

19. Just WTF is going on?

:wtf:

Check the news here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x474845

[Judi Lynn]

21. Al Jazeera: US attack belies Bremer's Falluja 'truce'

US attack belies Bremer's Falluja 'truce'


Friday 09 April 2004, 12:17 Makka Time, 9:17 GMT

Fierce fighting in Falluja has left over 300 dead


US occupation forces have bombed the Iraqi city of Falluja belying administrator Paul Bremer's announcement that his forces were suspending military operations in the town.

"As of noon today coalition forces have initiated a unilateral suspension of offensive operations in Falluja," Paul Bremer told reporters on Friday.

But, the US-led occupation's deputy director of operations, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, denied the reports of a ceasefire.

Minutes after Bremer's announcement, US forces carried out a fresh offensive on Falluja bombing the town from the air. Scores of residents were injured in the attack, reported our correspondent.
(snip/...)

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C1FC177A-9A9F-4933-9F33-73CD512990A0.htm

[0007]

22. This is how the people "Under One God" does the brotherhood thingie?

Or do we save those words just for Sunday and special days?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

36. "Yer either wit' us, or agin us, pardner!", shouted the Crawford Cowboy.

[RoyGBiv]

23. US ends suspension of Fallujah offensive: field commander

US ends suspension of Fallujah offensive: field commander

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - A US field commander said that his troops had ended their suspension of a six-day-old offensive in the Sunni Muslim rebel bastion of Fallujah after just 90 minutes.

<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040409/ts_afp/iraq_fallujah_ceasefire_over>

Thought I'd post this in an existing thread, since the situation seems so fluid.

[NeoConsSuck]

24. They're finding out..

urbane warfare isn't as easy as carpet bombing with B-52's.

[CaptainClark23]

43. Urbane Warfare?

how droll!

[Judi Lynn]

25. More info. for the mix from MyrtleBeachOnline's Wash. Bureau

"We're inside Fallujah, not everywhere, but inside," Maj. T.V. Johnson said at Camp Fallujah, a Marine encampment about five miles from the city. "We're digging in, hoping to entice the enemy to attack our positions, and hoping that the citizens will start pointing out the bad guys to us."

Other reports said that Iraqi gunmen retook a mosque Marines had captured Wednesday and that the Marines returned to the mosque Thursday and routed them after morning-long fighting.

The fighting continued into the early hours today. Artillery fire could be heard in the city from Camp Fallujah, and helicopters were a constant presence in the sky.

In Najaf, one of two cities now under control of Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Arabic TV reporters said that seven Spanish soldiers had been killed and that Mahdi Army fighters were digging in positions in the center of the city, which is home to one of Iraq's most holy Shiite shrines.

In Washington, two U.S. officials said that John Negroponte, the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is expected to be the first American ambassador to post-Saddam Iraq.
(snip/...)

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/8392230.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listening to ABC radio news which just said that the truce lasted only about an hour and a half, and gave time for women and children to get out of town, but men of adult age were kept from leaving.

For what it's worth. This sounds bad.

[RoyGBiv]

27. Military age

men of adult age

The phrase I heard was "military age" but these are the talking heads, and who knows if they have a clue what they're talking about.

The line between an adult and someone of military age is quite cloudy in Iraq.

[kentuck]

26. What they are really saying :

We are short on ammo and munitions...we need to reload and restock. Unfortunately, a convoy was hit that was taking fuel and/or supplies somplace??

[Judi Lynn]

28. Marines given orders to resume offensive operations in Fallujah after brie

Marines given orders to resume offensive operations in Fallujah after brief halt
By Associated Press, 4/9/2004 06:24


FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) U.S. Marines briefly halted offensive operations in Fallujah on Friday, but the suspension ended after only 90 minutes, a Marine commander said, apparently after negotiations with a city delegation fell through.

Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, said his forces were given the go-ahead to resume offensive operations.

The halt was called at noon to allow a delegation from the city to meet with U.S. commanders, let humanitarian aid into the city and give city residents a chance to tend to their dead.

Byrne did not know why the suspension was called off but believed the negotiations with the delegation never took place.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/100/world/Marines_given_orders_to_resume:.shtml

[CaptainClark23]

44. love the headline

resuming operations after "brie"...goes with the Urbane Warfare post above.

Not being snarky...suppose I'm just looking for some ray of light amongst these dark horrors.

[Judi Lynn]

29. Marines methodically move through Fallujah

Posted on Fri, Apr. 09, 2004

Marines methodically move through Fallujah
By Eric Schmitt


More than 1,200 U.S. Marines, backed by helicopter gunships and fighter-bombers, battled insurgents Thursday in fierce block-by-block fighting for the fourth straight day in Fallujah, the epicenter of the Sunni resistance west of Baghdad, U.S. military officials said.

Several companies of Marines and Iraqi civil defense forces pressed closer to the city center, dashing through smoke-filled streets and across rooftops to root out masked guerrillas holed up in houses and buildings, who blasted at allied forces with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. U.S. military officials said.

U.S. warplanes dropped two laser-guided bombs on houses in Fallujah where the Marines said insurgents had taken cover, according to a Marine statement issued in Iraq and distributed electronically in the United States. Attack helicopters and an AC-130 gunship strafed insurgent positions on both sides of the Euphrates River with heavy machine guns and rockets. Southwest of the city, Marines reported killing 10 insurgents who attacked the U.S. forces with machine guns and grenades.

The fighting swirling around Fallujah and Ramadi, 30 miles to the west, has left at least 18 Marines dead and many more wounded in the last four days in some of the heaviest assaults since President Bush declared an end to major combat last May. Even as senior U.S. commanders signaled progress in the fight for Fallujah, they also acknowledged that it could be days, or longer, before allied troops regained control of the restive city of 300,000 people.
(snip/...)

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8392940.htm

[Cooley Hurd]

30. Locking

Cease-fire's already over... :grr:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x474923

[Cooley Hurd]

31. Unlocking

As per Gen. Kimmitt on CNN - cease-fire's back in effect... :crazy:

[kentuck]

33. He just got word his convoy was hit ?

Confusion is the word of the day in Fallujah....

[htuttle]

40. I think the 1200-2000 Marines 'surrounding' Fallujah...

...Have realized that it is they who are now surrounded.

[yelladawg]

42. US is getting it's butt kicked

Plain and simple. Someone brought it on.

[Zech Marquis]

41. methinks they were expecting that convey to arrive

for new supplies of fuel,ammo, food, etc. uh-oh :scared:

Trying to follow what's going on in Fallujah now is like trying to listen to one of *'s slurred speeches (which would be ALL of them!) :crazy:

[CaptainClark23]

45. wow, four minutes.

I guess they gotta reload sometime.

[Cooley Hurd]

37. We know why coalition forces called a time-out...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x474859

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2004/April/focusoniraq_April78.xml§ion=focusoniraq

BAGHDAD - Insurgents attacked a US convoy carrying fuel west of Baghdad on Friday, killing at least nine people, witnesses said.

A Reuters photographer on the scene said he saw bodies burning inside the vehicles, which were still on fire near Abu Ghraib. He said the convoy included US military vehicles and fuel tankers.

Huge clouds of black smoke hung over the area, visible from several kilometres away. There was heavy fighting between US troops and guerrillas in Abu Ghraib on Thursday.

This might've been heading to Fallujah to resupply our troops... :shrug: