Backed by tanks and artillery fire, U.S. troops launched a major attack Saturday against insurgent holdouts in southern Fallujah, hoping to finish off resistance in what had been the major guerrilla bastion of central Iraq. An Iraqi official estimated that about 1,000 insurgents had been killed so far in the weeklong offensive.1,000 deaths? 14 arrests? Didn't we used to pride ourselves in doing just the opposite?
In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploded as an Iraqi National Guard convoy passed by, witnesses said. In recent days, an armed uprising in sympathy with Fallujah's insurgents has killed 10 Iraqi National Guards and one American soldier, the U.S. military said.
The region's governor blamed the uprising on "the betrayal of some police members" and said National Guard units arrived to help quell the violence. Also, a U.S. infantry battalion was diverted from Fallujah and sent back to Mosul.
Insurgents appeared to be taking advantage of the lessening of American troop strength around Fallujah as U.S. commanders report an increase in small-scale rebel attacks.
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U.S. officials confirmed the arrest of about 14 suspected foreign fighters, but Dawoud said Saturday that al-Zarqawi and Fallujah leader Abdullah al-Janabi "have escaped."
Oh, that was Old America. Sorry. This is the New USA. Kill, kill, kill and let God/Jesus/Yahweh sort 'em out.
