U.S. Must Leave Falluja, Iraq General Says

[Barrett808]

U.S. Must Leave Falluja, Iraq General Says
Thursday, May 06, 2004 8:17 a.m. ET
By Michael Georgy

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - The Iraqi former general entrusted with pacifying volatile Falluja said on Thursday U.S. Marines must withdraw quickly from around the troubled town and go home so stability can be restored.

"I want the American soldier to return to his camp. What I want more is that he returns to the United States," General Muhammad Latif told Reuters in an interview.

"They should leave very quickly, very quickly or there will be problems. If they stay it will hurt the confidence and we have built confidence. They should leave so that there will be more calm."

Latif and a group of generals offered to tame Falluja with their Falluja Brigade after the town was subject to a month-long siege in which hundreds of Iraqis died as U.S. air strikes and guerrilla mortars rocked the town.

(more)

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=860436&tw=wn_wire_story

[skooooo]

1. Umm...I think we lost this one.

ya think?

[Zero Gravitas]

9. of course

Fallujah was a lose/lose situation. We had to chose which way we lost, either lose this way or attack and take over the town but at the cost of many 100s more dead civilians. This way we don't kill any more people, but the resistance is emboldened by having "faced down" the US, the other way we would have greatly increased resentment against the occupation and recruited many more fighters to the resistance.

[psychopomp]

10. Absolutely, and forthcoming reprocussions will be global

Think about it: the battles of Fallujah showed that a group of 2000 or so could repel the best of the fighters the worlds' only superpower could muster. WTF will this do the NAC agenda? It's in the can, now. How will this embolden the second-tier powers? We are going to see the unipolar system completely fragment.

This will bring about more disorder than we saw with the fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc. As the U.S. goes through its last gasps in Iraq the rest of the world will be making new alliances, resulting in a quick reshaping of power. An overstretched imperial U.S. will be completely isolated, out-foxed and outnumbered.

The NAC didn't last very long, did it, assholes?? (not to DU'ers, obviously)

[rocktivity]

2. Well, duh.

No U.S. soldiers, nothing to shoot--I get it!

;)
rocknation

[Spentastic]

3. Bush needs to employ that Ali fella for this one

We have won a massive victory in fallujah!

[ugarte]

4. "Chemical Ali reporting for duty, Mr. President"

eom

[maddezmom]

5. how soon until Latif is replaced?

[grytpype]

6. Better question... who is going to tell Latif?

[4dsc]

7. General Muhammad Latif

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/04/international/middleeast/04IRAQ.html

The American commanders said they had chosen Muhammad Latif, a former intelligence officer, to lead the Iraqi security force. Unlike the man he is replacing, Jasim Muhammad Saleh, Mr. Latif appears to have been regarded as an opponent of Mr. Hussein.

According to a former Iraqi officer who served under him, Mr. Latif was imprisoned for seven years in the 1990's after he disobeyed an order from Mr. Hussein involving the movement of his troops.

[Dhalgren]

8. And "Mr. Latif" is absolutely right!

The americans do need "to go home". General Latif has shown the whole world that Iraq doesn't need the US - they can manage for themselves.

[rebellious woman]

11. uh oh this one won' t last