U.S. Forces Push Into Heart of Fallujah

[thedrifter]

U.S. Forces Push Into Heart of Fallujah

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Army and Marine units thrust into the heart of the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on Tuesday, fighting fierce street battles and conducting house-to-house searches on the second day of a major assault to retake the city from Islamic militants.


Also Tuesday, Iraqi authorities imposed the first nighttime curfew in more than a year on Baghdad and surrounding areas under powers granted by an emergency decree announced last weekend, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's office announced.


The U.S. military said three troops had been killed and another 14 wounded in and around Fallujah during the past 12 hours. A total of five U.S. troops have died since the offensive began.


The military reported lighter-than-expected resistance in Jolan, a Sunni-militant held warren of alleyways in northeastern Fallujah where the assault began.


But heavy street clashes were raging in other northern sectors of Fallujah amid fierce bursts of gunfire, residents said. At least two American tanks were engulfed in flames, witnesses said. There was no confirmation of casualties.


A Kiowa helicopter flying over southeast Fallujah took groundfire Tuesday, injuring the pilot, but he managed to return to the U.S. base. By midday, U.S. armored units had made their way to the central highway in the heart of the city, crossing over into the southern part of Fallujah, a major milestone.


The once constant thunder of artillery barrages has been halted with so many troops moving inside the city's narrow alleys. U.S. and Iraqi forces have surrounded a mosque inside the city that was used as arms depot and insurgent meeting point, the BBC reported.


Col. Michael Formica, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade, said Tuesday that a security cordon around the city will be tightened to insure insurgents dressed in civilian clothing don't slip out.


"My concern now is only one — not to allow any enemy to escape. As we tighten the noose around him, he will move to escape to fight another day. I do not want these guys to get out of here. I want them killed or captured as they flee," he said.


Overnight the skies over Fallujah lit up with flashes of air and artillery barrages as American forces laid siege to the city that had become the major sanctuary for Islamic extremists who fought Marines to a standstill last April.


A U.S. military spokesman estimated that 42 insurgents were killed across the city in bombardment and skirmishes before the main assault began Monday. Two Marines were killed when their bulldozer flipped over into the Euphrates near Fallujah.


The initial ground assault into Fallujah's northeastern Askari neighborhood and Jolan neighborhood was made by U.S. Army tanks and Humvees. U.S. Marines went up to the edge of the city, secured the area and then armored vehicles crushed the barriers and pushed into the city, with the Marines following.


This reporter, located at a U.S. camp near the city, saw orange explosions lighting up the district's palm trees, minarets and dusty roofs, and a fire burning on the city's edge.


A U.S. jet fired an air-to-ground missile at a building late Monday from which U.S. and Iraqi forces had taken fire, the U.S. command said. The building was destroyed.


U.S. troops cut off electricity to the city, and most private generators were not working — either because their owners wanted to conserve fuel or the wires had been damaged by explosions.


Residents said they were without running water and were worried about food shortages because most shops in the city have been closed for the past two days.


By nightfall, a civilian living in the center of Fallujah said hundreds of houses had been destroyed.





The top U.S. commander in Iraq (news - web sites), Gen. George Casey, told reporters in Washington that 10,000 to 15,000 U.S. troops along with a smaller number of Iraqi forces were encircling the city. The offensive is considered the most important military effort to re-establish government control over Sunni strongholds west of Baghdad before elections in January.

"There aren't going to be large numbers of civilians killed and certainly not by U.S. forces," said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

"Innocent civilians in that city have all the guidance they need as to how they can avoid getting into trouble," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon (news - web sites) news conference Monday. He referred to a round-the-clock curfew and other emergency measures announced by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

On Monday, a doctor at a clinic in Fallujah, Mohammed Amer, reported 12 people were killed. Seventeen others, including a 5-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, were wounded, he said.

About 3,000 insurgents were barricaded in Fallujah, U.S. commanders have estimated. Casey said some insurgents slipped away but others "have moved in." U.S. military officials believe 20 percent of Fallujah's fighters are foreigners, who are believed to be followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Casey said 50 to 70 percent of the city's 200,000 residents have fled. The numbers are in dispute, however, with some putting the population at 300,000. Residents said about half that number left in October, but many drifted back.

On Monday, Allawi, who gave the green light for the offensive, also announced a round-the-clock curfew in Fallujah and the nearby insurgent stronghold of Ramadi.

In Britain, Iraq's deputy prime minister on Tuesday defended the controversial operation, saying that the overwhelming majority of Iraqis wanted order to be restored to the insurgent stronghold.

"The terrorists are mindless, they are killing our children and trying to destroy our lives and take us back to tyranny," Barham Saleh, who is responsible for national security, told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "The overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people want this situation to end."

But the drive to retake Fallujah risked alienating further many Iraqis. A prominent Sunni party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, announced it was pulling out its single Cabinet member, Industry Minister Hajim Al-Hassani, from the Iraqi government in protest against the Fallujah assault.

"We are protesting the attack on Fallujah and the injustice that is inflicted on the innocent people of the city," said Mohsen Abdel-Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party.

U.S. commanders have avoided any public estimate on how long it may take to capture Fallujah, where insurgents fought the Marines to a standstill last April in a three-week siege.

On Tuesday, more violence was reported across the country as militants with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed two police stations near the central Iraqi town of Baqouba.

Police returned fire, killing one attacker and wounding 10 other rebels. Hospital officials said 11 policemen and one civilian were wounded in the attacks.

Two Iraqi construction workers were killed and four others injured when a car bomb detonated Tuesday near an Iraqi army camp in northern Iraq, Iraqi officials said.

As the main assault began in Fallujah Monday night, militants in Baghdad attacked two churches with car bombs and set off blasts at a hospital, killing at least nine people and injuring about 80 others, officials said.

A U.S. soldier was killed when his patrol was fired on in Baghdad, the military said. Southwest of the capital, a British soldier died in an apparent roadside bombing.

In Ramadi, five U.S. troops were wounded when Marines shot at and destroyed two suspected car bombs on Monday. Seven insurgents were killed in the clash.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press correspondents Edward Harris in Fallujah; and Tini Tran, Mariam Fam, Katarina Kratovac and Maggie Michael in Baghdad.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041109/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine Doubted Prisoner Was Sick <br />
Associated Press <br />
November 9, 2004 <br />
<br />
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine Major implicated in the death of an Iraqi prisoner testified at his court-martial Monday...

[thedrifter]

U.S. Tests New Urban Warfare Tactics
Christian Science Monitor
November 9, 2004

FORT POLK, LA. - In recent years the U.S. military has devoted much money and effort to preparing for 21st-century urban warfare - and this preparation may be facing its fiercest test yet in the Euphrates city of Fallujah, as the initial offensive began Monday.

Fallujah's narrow streets, mosques, and ancient neighborhoods make the city an archetype of an insurgents' redoubt. Defenders will try to use their knowledge of the terrain to gain advantage over the better armed and trained Americans. U.S. forces will likely tighten a noose around contested areas, while attacking from unexpected directions in an attempt to confuse the enemy.

In the long run, the central question may be whether physical control of Fallujah equates to its eventual pacification. In the short run, there's little doubt that U.S. forces will eventually gain control of the city, say military officials and outside experts. New training, tactics, and equipment - plus the weight of American firepower - will see to that.

U.S. commanders hope Fallujah will prove an opportunity to weaken the insurgency, but they don't count on it. Fallujah "has the potential of being a very intense fight, even for a matter of weeks, but I don't think it's a center of gravity," says Maj. Gen. William Webster, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, whose forces are undergoing a final urban-training exercise at Fort Polk, in preparation for deployment to Iraq. It would be a center of gravity only if the enemy concentrates there, he says. Hidden enemies and quick decisions

In many respects, the fight for Fallujah - dubbed Operation Phantom Fury - epitomizes the urbanization of conflict in Iraq and around the world, as insurgents and terrorist groups increasingly operate concealed in sprawling population centers in a bid to survive against militarily superior government forces.


As the world's urban population has multiplied from roughly half a billion in 1950 to more than 3 billion today, while the size of the U.S. military has fallen sharply, cities such as Fallujah are posing daunting demands on the resources of U.S. commanders, who must carefully pick and choose where to allocate forces to "make manageable the chaos," writes Russell Glenn, an expert in urban warfare, in a 2004 RAND briefing. He likens the challenge of urban combat to the parable of blind men "visualizing the elephant."

"Moving into urban terrain is the one way our adversaries can level the playing field," says Col. Randy Gangle (Ret.), director of the Marines Corps Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities at Quantico, Va. "It's the most complex battle space you can find yourself in, the way buildings conceal and channelize your movement and give your enemy cover, and the civilians that compact the problem."

The clutter of buildings creates unlimited fighting positions for enemy forces, while making it harder for U.S. forces to see and communicate.

The close combat requires quick movement and decisions, even while it raises the risk of fratricide and killing innocent civilians. Historically, civilians have suffered several times the casualties of U.S. forces in urban battles such as the cases of Hue in Vietnam in 1968, Panama in 1989, and Mogadishu in 1993.

The challenge of defeating insurgents while avoiding civilian deaths requires a far greater emphasis by U.S. forces on intelligence gathering, sleuthing out patterns of enemy behavior, and winning over local populations, says Brig. Gen. Mike Barbero, commander of the premier U.S. Army urban-training facility, the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, La.

"Intelligence is the coin of the realm on this battlefield," says General Barbero, who served as assistant division commander of the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq until this summer. Soldiers pay a price for not acting quickly on intelligence - ideally within two hours, he says. "You have to be very agile ... because [if you are not], the meeting will be over, the guy paying for improvised explosive devices will be gone, or the guy on the cellphone will move to the next town."

Even if American troops rout the insurgents, rebels who have left can come back to sow the seeds of a fresh rebellion. The swift evolution of urban training

Over the past two years, the Army has dramatically altered urban training at JRTC to prepare soldiers for the complexities of the counterinsurgency in Iraq.

The number of mock villages in the base's expanse of woods and swamps has been increased from four to 18, while 200 Arabic-speaking role players impersonating Iraqi tribesmen, police, and civilians have replaced many of the Louisiana locals.

"Before, the role players were all local guys with Southern accents who would say 'You ran over my goat'; now you go into a Kurdish village, and the mayor is from northern Iraq," says Barbero.

At the same time, U.S. troops are undergoing urban-warfare training for longer periods in greater numbers, with support units as well as infantry. This year, for example, 16 brigades will rotate through JRTC for month-long mission rehearsals, compared with 10 brigades last year, Barbero says.

New enemy tactics used in Iraq are tracked daily, and immediately incorporated into training scenarios here. Moreover, training anticipates the specific priorities that units will face in Iraq. For example, a brigade from the 3rd Infantry Division currently at JRTC preparing to deploy to Iraq is supporting elections in various mock villages and conducting operations together with local security forces - just as it will in Iraq.

In Fallujah and in Iraq overall, the U.S. faces one of its toughest urban toughest urban foes yet, commanders say. It is composed of highly unpredictable, loosely networked, and chaotic groups of fighters who come together to strike and then disperse. They also quickly spread lessons on the Internet.

"It is very different and very difficult, beyond what we've ever had to do," General Webster says. "This puts infinitely more demand on our young soldiers and leaders, because in urban operations you have to be very decentralized."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Injured Marine Back Home, Sees Babies <br />
Associated Press <br />
November 9, 2004 <br />
<br />
CHICAGO - A Marine badly wounded in Iraq just days before his wife gave birth to quintuplets has been reunited with his...

[thedrifter]

US-led forces unleash 'Phantom Fury' to regain Fallujah
AFP: 11/8/2004
FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - US and Iraqi forces unleashed an all-out offensive to seize Fallujah from the hands of rebels, with marines advancing on the city`s heart following massive strikes by artillery and warplanes.

The skies above Fallujah burned red as operation Phantom Fury began with an aerial bombardment and a major ground offensive, after a go-ahead from Iraq`s Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, said an AFP journalist embedded with the military.

US marines stormed the Jolan district in the northwest of Fallujah -- a notorious stronghold of rebels holed-up in the city -- while another unit took the Iraqi city`s train station, a marine officer said.

A large-scale operation to retake Fallujah itself will begin Tuesday, Iraqi Defence Minister Sheikh Hazem Shaalan said. "We`ve called it Operation Dawn. God willing, it`s going to be a new, happy dawn for the people of Fallujah."

Allawi gave the formal green light to launch the offensive and also visited some of the 12,000 troops taking part ahead of the battle at a US camp just outside the city, west of Baghdad.

"The people of Fallujah have been taken hostage just like the people of Samarra and you need to free them from their (the insurgents`) grip," he told the soldiers.

"Your job is to arrest the killers but if you kill them then let it be," he said, warning the soldiers not to harm civilians.

Allawi earlier announced a stringent package of security measures to protect Iraq during the attempt to recapture the city, including a curfew in Fallujah and the closure of Baghdad`s international airport.

In earlier skirmishes, multinational forces seized a hospital and two bridges on the western edge of the city.

Clashes with the insurgents holed up in Fallujah were fierce, with a barrage of rocket, mortar and gunfire raining down as they tried to raise the new Iraqi flag above the hospital.

The Pentagon said US forces seized the hospital first to provide medical care but also in the expectation that the presence of embedded reporters at the hospital would prevent inflated reporting of civilian casualties.

Allawi said that 38 insurgents had been killed in the initial clashes and four foreign fighters detained, including two Moroccans.

The battle could prove the most intense since last year`s war to topple Saddam Hussein, with 2,000 to 2,500 fighters, some loyal to Iraq`s most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, inside the city and prepared for brutal street fighting.

"The predictions are that they are going to stay and fight us here," said Major Todd Desgrosseilliers. A combined force of some 10,000 US and 2,000 Iraqi troops are involved in the offensive.

The action came one day after Allawi declared a 60-day state of emergency across most of the country in a bid to control an escalating insurgency ahead of elections promised by January.

US troops forbade men aged from 15 to 50 from entering or leaving Fallujah and the surrounding areas, saying that anyone else who wanted to leave would not be allowed to return until order is restored.

"Attention, attention! All men aged between 15 and 50 are forbidden from entering or exiting (the area)," loudspeakers on top of US vehicles declared in Arabic as they drove around the outskirts of the city.

"Only women and children are allowed to leave on condition that they do not return until order is restored."

Rebels have transformed Fallujah into their fiefdom since a marine assault in April ended in stalemate and left hundreds dead. It is estimated now that 80 to 90 percent of the city`s 300,000 inhabitants have fled.

US and Iraqi troops have been massing around the city since mid-October, while the US military is doubling its manpower in Fallujah`s sister city of Ramadi to 2,000 amid expectations of a double-pronged assault to regain control.

As part of the security measures, Allawi said Iraq`s international airport would be closed to civilian flights for 48 hours and the country`s borders with both Jordan and Syria would be closed except for trucks carrying necessary food.

Allawi also declared a curfew from 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) would be imposed on the restive cities of Fallujah and neighbouring Ramadi along with other emergency measures.

With instability still rife elsewhere in the country, a US soldier was killed when gunmen fired on a military patrol in eastern Baghdad, the US military said.

And at least three people were killed and 45 wounded when two suspected car bombs exploded within minutes of each other outside two Christian churches in southern Baghdad.

Meanwhile, at least eight Iraqis were killed and more than a dozen people wounded, including an American soldier, in attacks Monday in central and northern Iraq, officials said.

In the restive Sunni city of Ramadi, at least four Iraqis were killed and one wounded in a car bomb attack as a US convoy was passing, said police.

Near the city of Samarra north of Baghdad, two Iraqi contractors working with the Americans were killed and two others were wounded when gunmen opened fire on their vehicle, a police spokesman said.

US and Iraqi forces, meanwhile, searched for suspects for a second day in Samarra amid reports of intermittent clashes there.

Police said Iraqi national guardsmen and US troops conducted sweeps in some parts of Samarra, two days after car bombs and attacks on police stations in the city left 36 dead and scores wounded.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=33204

Ellie

[thedrifter]

November 09, 2004

Marines storm Fallujah as street fighting begins
By Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor



AMERICAN forces launched a blistering onslaught against the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah last night in the largest battle since the downfall of Saddam Hussein 18 months ago.
Fifteen thousand US Marines and soldiers in armoured columns, backed by 3,000 newly trained Iraqi troops, penetrated the city in a two-pronged assault from the north. Other forces took up forward positions around the city.



The ground assault, codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, was ordered after a day-long artillery barrage and repeated airstrikes against targets that could be used as booby traps. The bombardment could be heard 40 miles away in Baghdad.

As night fell, American troops with night-vision goggles entered the built-up areas. One force of Marines stormed the railway station and moved into Jolan, a district of breeze-block homes and narrow unpaved streets where most of the 5,000 rebels are thought to be based. Another column moved into the northwestern Askari neighbourhood.

Another British soldier from The Black Watch, which moved from Basra to Camp Dogwood southwest of Baghdad to replace US soldiers taking part in the Fallujah operation, was killed yesterday when a roadside bomb exploded. The regiment has now lost five men since its move.

In the first day of fighting, the US claimed to have killed 42 insurgents. A doctor at one of the city’s hospitals said that 15 people had been killed. Two US Marines died when their bulldozer rolled into a river.

The Americans hope that most of Fallujah’s 300,000 civilians have fled. The US intends to use its superior numbers and heavy armour to force the insurgents into a fight. By seizing the rebel headquarters, the Americans hope to stabilise Iraq long enough for elections to take place in late January.

The primary focus is to eliminate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist whose suicide bombings have made Iraq ungovernable. His group yesterday admitted murdering 21 policemen at the weekend. The al-Qaeda ally has based his operations in Fallujah, where he has attracted hundreds of foreign fighters.

Iyad Allawi, the Iraqi interim Prime Minister, said: “We have seen more criminal acts committed by these terrorists who continue to use Fallujah as a base for their operations. We have no other option but to take necessary measures to protect the Iraqi people.”

The Iraqi Government imposed a curfew on Fallujah and the regional capital of Ramadi, starting at dusk last night. Roads were closed for all but emergency services. Dr Allawi also banned all weapons, closed the borders with Jordan and Syria and shut Baghdad airport.

When US forces attempted to take Fallujah in April, they were beaten off after heavy casualties on both sides. Now they are better prepared. Troops have been practising urban warfare techniques and hope to smash the city’s defences.

But the insurgents have also had time to organise themselves. Masked gunmen were spotted on the streets and occasional sniper fire and mortar rounds were directed towards the Americans. The city has been mined and booby-trapped and suicide bombers are waiting to take on the Americans at close quarters.

Iraqi politicians and clerics representing Fallujah’s dominant Sunni community, appealed for a halt to the offensive. “The attack on Fallujah is illegal and illegitimate,” Muhammad Bashar al-Faidhi, of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni group close to the insurgency, said.

But, during a visit to frontline troops at the main base outside Fallujah, Dr Allawi showed no signs of backing down.

“The people of Fallujah have been taken hostage . . . and you need to free them,” he told the Iraqi soldiers. “Your job is to arrest the killers but, if you kill them, so be it.”

The soldiers shouted: “May they go to hell.” Dr Allawi replied: “To hell they will go.”


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1350717,00.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Time for heroes, <br />
<br />
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - As U.S. forces prepared for what is expected to be the biggest Marine-led urban assault since Vietnam, U.S. commanders pumped up troops yesterday, saying...

[thedrifter]

Marines enter trip-wired Fallujah <br />
<br />
STREET FIGHT: Insurgents in Fallujah fired small arms and mortars at US forces Monday. The main assault on the city has started. <br />
BILAL HUSSEIN/AP <br />
<br />
<br />
...

[thedrifter]

Seven Generals speak about Iraq <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
By: Paul Alexander <br />
Rolling Stone Magazine <br />
<br />
The nineteen months since the war in...

[thedrifter]

Gen. Wesley Clark NATO supreme Allied commander for Europe, 1997-2000: Troop strength was not the only problem. We got into this mess because the Bush administration decided what they really wanted to do was to invade Iraq, and then the only question was, for what reason? They developed two or three different reasons. It wasn't until the last minute that they came up and said, "Hey, by the way, we are going to create a wave of democracy across the Middle East." That was February of 2003, and by that time they hadn't planned anything. In October of 2003, Donald Rumsfeld wrote a memo asking questions that should have been asked in 2001: Do we have an overall strategy to win the war on terror? Do we have the right organization to win the war on terror? How are we going to know if we are not winning the war on terror? As it has turned out, the guys on the ground are doing what they are told to do. But let's ask this question: Have you seen an American strategic blunder this large? The answer is: not in fifty years. I can't imagine when the last one was. And it's not just about troop strength. I mean, you will fail if you don't have enough troops, but simply adding troops won't make you succeed.

Adm. William Crowe Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1985-89: We screwed up. we were intent on a quick victory with smaller forces, and we felt if we had a military victory everything else would fall in place. We would be viewed not as occupiers but as victors. We would draw down to 30,000 people within the first sixty days.

All of this was sheer nonsense.They thought that once Iraq fell we'd have a similar effect throughout the Middle East and terrorism would evaporate, blah, blah, blah. All of these were terrible assumptions. A State Department study advising otherwise was sent to Rumsfeld, but he threw it in the wastebasket. He overrode the military and was just plain stubborn on numbers. Finally the military said OK, and they totally underestimated the impact the desert had on our equipment and the kind of troops we would need for peacekeeping. They ignored Shinseki. The Marines were advising the same way. But the military can only go so far. Once the civilian leadership decides otherwise, the military is obliged.

There is not a very good answer for what to do next. We've pulled out of several places without achieving our objectives, and every time we predicted the end of Western civilization, which it was not. We left Korea after not achieving anything we wanted to do, and it didn't hurt us very much. We left Vietnam -- took us ten years to come around to doing it -- but we didn't achieve what we wanted. Everyone said it would set back our foreign policy in East Asia for ten years. It set it back about two months. Our allies thought we were crazy to be in Vietnam.

We could have the same thing happen this time in Iraq. If we walk away, we are still the number-one superpower in the world. There will be turmoil in Iraq, and how that will affect our oil supply, I don't know. But the question to ask is: Is what we are achieving in Iraq worth what we're paying? Weighing the good against the bad, we have got to get out.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Sunni Clerics Call for Elections Boycott

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A powerful group of Sunni Muslim clerics called Tuesday for a boycott of national elections set for late January to protest the U.S.-led attack against the Sunni insurgent stronghold Fallujah.


The group's director, Harith al-Dhari, said the election was being held "over the corpses of those killed in Fallujah and the blood of the wounded."


In the past weeks, al-Dhari's Association of Muslim Scholars has been warning it would call such a boycott if a Fallujah offensive took place.


U.S. and Iraqi government forces launched a full-scale assault Monday night and punched their way Tuesday into the center of the city.


The association is influential among Iraq (news - web sites)'s Sunni Muslim minority, and U.S. and Iraqi officials have expressed concern that a lack of Sunni participation would raise question about the legitimacy of the vote.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=3&u=/ap/20041109/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_boycott

Ellie

[thedrifter]

November 05, 2004

Tales from the sandbox



Military Times senior staff writer Gordon Trowbridge and photographer Lloyd Francis Jr. will spend the next three months in the Middle East, covering U.S. military operations in advance of scheduled Iraqi national elections in January.
Gordon and Lloyd hope to spend time with members of all the U.S. service branches, and are filing occasional updates to this Weblog.

Please feel free to e-mail them with your thoughts or ideas.


‘They’re getting pounded up there’

Gordon, 4:20 p.m. Nov. 1

The closer Lloyd and I got to Balad, the more dire the warnings grew.

The excruciating nature of the trip — it took us nearly three full days to make the trip from Kuwait City — gave plenty of people plenty of opportunity to issue warnings. As we waited on Friday for our flight from Kuwait to Baghdad, one of the small army of private contractors the military has brought here cocked his head in concern. “Isn’t it pretty dangerous up there?” he asked.

After a canceled helicopter flight in Baghdad kept us grounded for a night, a number of soldiers at the passenger terminal said they’d heard Balad was bad news. “They’re getting pounded up there, man,” said a reservist from Washington state.

We spent Saturday night in Taji, where, demonstrating why the military originated terms such as snafu, we were unloaded from a Chinook one stop too soon. As he loaded us onto another helicopter Sunday night The amazingly helpful Army sergeant who ran the landing pad, patted Lloyd on the solider and said, “Careful up there in Mortaritaville.”

So, I’ve been just short of amazed at the reaction of the airmen we’ve met here at Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad. There is no doubt we’re in the Sunni Triangle here, and by no means do you get the sense that people don’t take the threat seriously. But this is hardly a base under siege. The fairly regular rocket and mortar attacks are discussed in the same tones as Iraq’s weather. Everybody complains about it, but there is little anyone – or at least anyone not standing on the fenceline with a rifle – can do about it.

In fact, at the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing’s Air Force Theater Hospital here, doctors and technicians treat the occasional Alarm Red as more nuisance than danger. “What bugs me,” said a physical therapist, “is that it keeps me from doing my job.”

Hopefully we can work with that same determination.

• • • • •

To readers kind enough to spend a few minutes here, this Internet diary, Weblog, whatever you care to call it, is something of an experiment. Some of what you’ll read, like the paragraphs above, are my personal observations, or Lloyd’s. But I’d like it to be largely about you readers — many of whom will have family, friends and co-workers deployed at the locations we’ll visit. We want to hear from you about story ideas, questions we can help answer, concerns you have. Drop us a line at the e-mail addresses above, and help us experiment in interactive, Internet-based reporting.


The places no one wants to go

Gordon, 1:30 p.m. Nov. 3

We’ve spent most of the past three days visiting the places troops here never want to go — hospitals, air evacuation staging areas, places where you generally only end up if something bad happens. Lloyd spent a good part of the afternoon in the operating room of the Air Force Theater Hospital here, photographing an operation on an Iraqi struck by some sort of blast, with shrapnel embedded in his lower body and shoulder.

Last night, we toured the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility — sort of a passenger terminal for the sick, injured and wounded. It’s unpleasant stuff, but amazingly, airmen with no medical training volunteer to come in and help. The CASF staff told us they have regular volunteers — folks who come in on time off (a precious commodity here) to carry litters, talk to patients, whatever is needed.

I found myself thinking that it all sounded a little too good to be true, but at dinner this evening, an Air Force first lieutenant sat down next to us and we started up a conversation — about the election, the rain, the dust, the usual. When the conversation turned to the dangers here in Balad, he began to tell stories of wounded troops he’d met at the CASF: A Marine who had yet to meet his two-month-old child, grateful to be alive after a rocket-propelled grenade took off one leg below the knee. A Marine badly burned by a blast, much more concerned about the four comrades he’d lost in the attack.

“It puts all my little concerns and complaints inside the wire in perspective,” he said.

Not the kind of dinner conversation we’re used to having.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-492149.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

November 08, 2004

The right stuff
Iraq vets let you know what gear works in combat

By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer


OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Let’s face it — you could spend a fortune on the little extras that make life easier in a combat zone. And once you’ve run yourself ragged trying to find all the gear you think you need, you have to find space for it in a sea bag already packed tight with your standard-issue equipment.
So to help you figure out what gear you might want for your next deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, we went to the experts: Marines who just came back from Iraq.

In interviews with more than two dozen combat veterans, we pulled together a list of what the majority said are must-haves. Then, we broke it down by price, to give you an idea of exactly how far an extra $25 will take you, or an extra $500 for that matter.

Cpl. Travis Box, a gunner with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, spent more than $200 on new boots, combat gloves and Oakley polarized glasses to replace his battalion-issued goggles. Now he’s eyeing a new drop holster for his pistol.

But Sgt. Sven Hestrand spent his extra money on a moisture-wicking Under Armour T-shirt. For his M4 carbine, he paid about $90 on a SureFire Z2 light. Hestrand, who served with a I Marine Expeditionary Force security detail at Camp Fallujah, said he won’t deploy again without several pairs of Nomex gloves, comfortable athletic socks and lots of insoles for his boots.

Every Marine has different requirements, so don’t take this as the be-all, end-all list.

But if you’re just not sure you’ve got the right stuff, here’s what your fellow leathernecks recommend

Got a spare $25?

E-mail. Internet cafes in the field are a popular way to stay in touch with friends and family back home. You can get a free Web-based e-mail account through www.hotmail.com and www.yahoo.com. Free e-mail accounts offer limited storage space, but provide additional space for a fee; Yahoo, for example, will bump up your storage from 100 megabytes to 2 gigabytes for $19.95 a year.


Hot chow. Tired of MREs and tray rations? A portable stove breaks the monotony and expands the menu. A group of 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion crewmen used theirs to make seasoned potatoes in the dusty expanse near the Iraq-Syria border one day this spring. Coleman’s line of butane and propane stoves sell for $30 to $50 online at www.coleman.com, as well as at camping and sporting goods stores.


Protect your trigger finger. Your hands will take a beating, so invest in a good pair of gloves. Fire-resistant gloves include Nomex tanker or flight gloves ($31.37 at www.specialforces.com; $34.95 at www.rstacticalgear.com); or BlackHawk Industries’ HellStorm Nomex gloves ($36.95, www.blackhawkindustries.com).


Tactical rifle slings. Don’t leave home without one. The Giles Tactical Sling for M16 and M4 rifles sells for $20 to $25 online through Wilderness Tactical Products at www.thewilderness.com. Specter Gear — formerly CQB Solutions — has three-point slings to fit different weapons for $30 to $34.25 (M16) and $35 to $39.25 (M4), although an online surplus site, www.StubbyGear.com, sells them for $22.95 to $28.50.

When he landed in Iraq, Lance Cpl. Mitchell Aquila, 23, had a three-point sling his father bought for him.

“It was comfortable and easy to maneuver with your rifle,” said Aquila, an avionics technician from Chico, Calif., who deployed with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466 from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Light up your life. A mini-light is a must-have and they’re cheap, so take a bunch when you deploy. Inova Tactical Lithium Microlight is a clip-on red LED light that sells for $8.25 at www.rstacticalgear.com. Maglite mini-lights are a mainstay and cost about $12.99 at electronics stores; learn more about them online at www.maglite.com.


Portable showers. Baby wipes are a godsend, but nothing beats a real shower, and a portable shower bag is the next best thing. Coleman sells a 5-gallon bag for $11, online at www.coleman.com. Cabela’s sells a 2 1/2-gallon solar shower for $12.99 and a 4-gallon solar shower for $19.99. Buy online at www.cabelas.com, or at local sporting goods, camping or hunting stores.


Handyman. You can’t go wrong with a multitool. So pocket a Swiss Army Knife, which retails from $11 to $95 (www.victorinox.com). Leatherman tools (www.leatherman.com) run $20 to $60 at sporting goods stores and online sellers. Gerber (www.gerbertools.com) offers a range of minitools and others running $50 to $65.


Shock absorbers. A seven-month deployment can wear on your feet and boots. Don’t leave without several sets of insoles, from $10 to $20. Or you can go upscale and try Oregon Aero’s ShockBlocker insoles, from $39.95 to $59.95 a pair. You can buy online at www.oregonaero.com.


A better T-shirt. Under Armour’s line of moisture-wicking shirts and shorts, either loose-fit or form-fitting, cost $25 to $30. Buy online at www.underarmour.com, military exchanges, local retailers or military surplus shops. Shop around for savings — you can also find Under Armour online at www.ebay.com or www.amazon.com.

Head wraps. To keep sand out of your eyes and ears try the Spec Ops Gear Recon Wrap available at www.rstacticalgear.com. It’s a balaclava-gaiter sold in camouflage, solid black or green for $19.95. BlackHawk makes a fire-resistant balaclava in tan, black or olive drab that sells for $29.95 online.

Aquila said he won’t go back without an adequate wrap scarf. “I breathed in all the dust,” he said of his last deployment to Iraq. “I realized I could definitely use it.”

For $100 or less

Pistol holster. BlackHawk’s thigh holster will cost you about $65 on eBay. The Spec-Ops Tech Ground Pounder thigh holster costs $68.95 to $72 through several online shops, including R&S Tactical Gear.

Light up your target. A light for your weapon is key and one popular model is SureFire’s Z2 combat tactical light, which runs about $90 through various stores and Web sites, including www.knifeart.com. You can find them for a lower price, $60 to $70, on eBay.


Memory stick. Just about everyone in Iraq has one of these portable hard drives, if for nothing but to swap digital photos. Price depends on how much space you want. SanDisk USB 2.0 mini flash drives range in price from $35 for 128MB of memory to $110 for 512 MB. (Mail-in rebates are common, so keep your eye out for a cheaper price.)

For $100 to $250

Really light up your target. The latest trend in lighting: LED — light emitting diodes — that last far longer than conventional bulbs. For $125 to $265, SureFire’s LumaMax lights use LEDs, a three-watt bulb that will burn for 50 hours on a low-beam setting, two hours on its highest setting. Don’t forget the filters — red or blue for $8 apiece — and Lithium batteries ($15 for a dozen).


Light-headed. Is your helmet crushing your head? Ease your pain with some extra padding. The BLSS kit available through Oregon Aero and other online sellers (which includes a ballistic liner and suspension system) is popular. The kit runs about $127.


Music in your ears. Forget the portable CD player; invest in a digital music player. Light and durable models can be purchased for $99 to $299, depending on the brand and memory capacity.

For $250 to $500

Nice shots. Don’t forget a digital camera, said Cpl. Jake Poling, 21, a field radio operator from Birmingham, Iowa. Disposable cameras work well, said Poling, who was assigned to 1st Marine Division in Ramadi, Iraq, but he prefers digital cameras since photos can be quickly sent home.Your best bet is a camera that takes images of at least 2.0 megapixels in size. Cost is about $200 for Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Fuji and other brands. Don’t forget batteries and a memory card of at least 128MB, which run between $30 and $50.

Gidget Fuentes is the San Diego bureau chief for Marine Corps Times. She can be reached at (760) 677-6145 or gfuentes@marinecorpstimes.com. Gordon Lubold contributed to this report.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-474229.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Network Supports Families of Marines in Fallujah
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2004 -- With offensive operations under way in Fallujah, Iraq, the families of the Marines involved in the effort are relying on their base's extensive family-support network and each other as they watch news events unfold thousands of miles away.

At Camp Pendleton, Calif., home of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Maj. Scott MacFarland, director of the base's Marine Corps Family Team Building program, reports no big spike in requests for support in the past weeks.

This was the time period during which news reports provided heavy coverage of the Marines' movement toward Fallujah to prepare for an offensive against insurgent strongholds.

MacFarland attributes this phenomenon to a comprehensive family-support program that successfully prepares families for upcoming deployments, and then provides services, activities and information throughout and even after the deployment.

The program begins in the operational units, where commanders are responsible for family readiness and deployment support, MacFarland explained. Helping the commanders carry out this mission -- and supporting families directly as well - - are the wide range of programs and services offered through the branches of Marine and Family Services programs.

The Marine Family Team Building program is the deployment readiness part of this effort.

A key part of the family-support effort is a network of hundreds of volunteers throughout the base who help ensure that families know what resources are available to them if they need help. But just as importantly, MacFarland said, these volunteers quickly circulate unit-related information through phone trees and emails, while providing a vital support network of other family members in the same situation.

Multiple deployments by Camp Pendleton Marines during the past three years have given the base's family-services staff and volunteers an opportunity to refine their program and better target families' needs, MacFarland said.

"Camp Pendleton has always deployed a lot, but combat deployments are different," he said. "And we've come a long way in fine-tuning our programs since that initial deployment (in 2002)."

At the same time, many of the affected families have become "combat veterans" in their own right, girded for the rigors of family separation due to combat deployments, he acknowledged.

"This isn't new for them. These families have been living with this for two years," he said.

But while most of the affected families may now be more capable of enduring combat deployments than they once were, MacFarland was quick to point out that they never get easy.

"Deployments are always hard on families," he said. "But by giving families the tools and support they need to help them through this difficult time, we can at least help make the deployments bearable for them."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Some excellent photos of our invasion of Fallujah

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1275301/posts


Ellie

[thedrifter]

November 05, 2004

Reservists likely headed to Iraq by spring

By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer


More than 3,400 reservists have been issued warning orders to prepare for a deployment to Iraq this spring.
They will be part of a force of about 20,000 Marines, primarily from II Marine Expeditionary Force, headed for a seven-month stint in Iraq beginning in March.

The warning order came in late October and gives reservists several weeks to get their affairs in order before they are formally activated and have to leave their civilian jobs or school, Reserve officials say.

The new activation will include 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, the only Reserve infantry battalion to not be mobilized since the war on terrorism began in fall 2001.

Previously, more than 8,000 reservists have been deployed to Iraq for security operations since the fall of Baghdad in May 2003.

The last group of 4,500 reservists deployed for a seven-month hitch that is expected to end in March.

Many of the units activating for the next rotation will be serving in “provisional” units, pulling duty outside their typical military occupational specialties.

Nearly three companies from the San Diego-based 4th Tank Battalion — including Headquarters, Alpha and Bravo companies — will leave their M1A1 Abrams tanks behind and pick up night sticks and flex-cuffs for work as military police companies in Iraq.

The Marine Corps recently has been forced to deploy units for provisional duty in military police, security, civil affairs and convoy roles as the demands of the Iraq occupation create a greater need for such troops.

In June, reserve officials mobilized 250 volunteers from the 8th Tank Battalion to deploy to Djibouti as security forces for the U.S. base at Camp Lemonier — an early sign that Marine reservists should be prepared for some unconventional deployments.

Reservists from Delta Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines also will deploy to Iraq in March as a military police unit, continuing a pattern of using Reserve artillerymen for such pinch-hitter roles. This spring, more than 40 artillerymen from the 14th Marines volunteered to join the 3rd Civil Affairs Group for reconstruction work in Iraq.

In another role shake-up, the Jackson, Miss.-based Echo Battery and Grand Prairie, Texas-based Headquarters Battery, 2/14, will deploy for work as provisional motor transport units.


http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-292925-490262.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

November 04, 2004

Ceremony bestows citizenship upon active-duty immigrants

By Laura Bailey
Times staff writer


As a set of auditorium doors swung open at Quantico, Va., Sgt. Jacqueline Vita strode out into the autumn sun a different Marine than the one she was earlier that morning.
After an hour-long ceremony and six years in the Corps, the Peruvian-born supply sergeant was finally an American citizen.

And so too were dozens of active-duty immigrants that day.

Vita was among about 40 non-citizen service members who took the oath of citizenship at a naturalization ceremony held Wednesday at Quantico’s Marine Corps University.

Members of every branch of the service, including 14 Marines, took the oath. They came from dozens of countries, from Afghanistan to Antigua, and represented ranks from private to gunnery sergeant.

“It’s a relief. Citizenship opens so many doors for us … It’s something less you have to worry about,” said Vita shortly after the ceremony. The 25-year-old immigrated to Texas when she was a teenager.

Like others at the ceremony, her only regret was that the ceremony happened just one day after the presidential election — too late for her to vote.

Speakers at the ceremony included Brig. Gen. William D. Catto, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command, and Col. Leo A. Mercado, the chief of staff for Marine Corps University and a naturalized citizen himself.

On hand to deliver the oath was Michael Petrucelli, deputy director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the country’s new immigration agency under the Homeland Security Department.

He told the group their service was “greatly recognized” at the department’s highest levels.

“Years ago, you came to our country as immigrants. Today you will receive the highest title our government can bestow on anyone, that of ‘United States citizen,’” he told the service members. “Relish your success, for you have truly earned it.”

Others at the ceremony talked about the importance of citizenship for stability.

“Not having to worry about being sent back to our country is important … It also opens jobs opportunities,” said Sgt. Jose Valle, 22, an immigrant from Nicaragua. Valle, who does administration work for The Basic School at Quantico, said his new status will help him become an officer once he elects to go that route.

The new citizens are among 8,000 military members who have become naturalized citizens in the past year, according to the BCIS. A total of 38,000 non-citizens currently serve in the military.

As with other immigrants who serve in uniform, the Marine Corps requires only that immigrants be legal U.S. residents.

Each branch treats the number of allowed enlistments differently but generally non-citizen status can limit service members to occupations that don’t require a security clearance.

Before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, military members had to wait three years after getting a residency “green card” to become citizens, two years fewer than civilian immigrants. But now many are fast-tracking their way to citizenship after President Bush enacted laws that waive waiting periods for those in uniform. Now anyone can apply for citizenship if they serve in the military.

Immigrant service members are also finding it easier to apply for citizenship from overseas posts. Before this fall, naturalization interviews and ceremonies took place only in the United States. But as of Oct. 1, ceremonies are starting to be authorized for overseas. In October naturalization ceremonies took place in Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany.


http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-489736.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Arraf: Falluja 'has been breached'
Tuesday, November 9, 2004 Posted: 5:16 AM EST (1016 GMT)


FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- About 10,000 U.S. and 2,000 Iraqi forces began an assault on Falluja on Monday, aimed at driving insurgents from the city.

CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf is embedded with the U.S. Army there; she spoke with "Anderson Cooper 360°" guest host Heidi Collins on Monday night by telephone.

ARRAF: At this point, the offensive has been going on for hours. And -- I'm not sure if you hear those thuds in the background -- the sky just lit up over the city of Falluja. There are continued airstrikes and ground strikes.

Quite a heavy bombardment as forces here ... try to soften up the insurgents to move further into the city. We started out on the northeast corner, where they found what they had expected and feared, which was a string of improvised explosive devices -- booby-trapped -- waiting for the troops to come in.

In that sector, [there were] very few civilians. And we had been told that they had not been allowed in that sector by the insurgents who have been rigging these homemade bombs around the city. The battle continues, and is expected to continue for some time. All the soldiers going into this -- and this is a massive effort -- have been told that this is a historic battle; this is their chance to rid the country of the insurgency.

COLLINS: You talk about the resistance, you talk about the foreign fighters. Any more you can tell us about that, as far as characterizing the size of it and how intense it is?

ARRAF: Military officials are putting varying figures on how many men they believe they're fighting ... and they vary from 1,200 to 3,000.

On the lowest tier -- although a lot of these probably would have fled the city by now -- it's people who are doing it just for the money. They are unemployed, perhaps angry, young men, and they get a few dollars for shooting a rocket-propelled grenade.

There are extreme religious fundamentalists, who are doing it because they believe that it is their religious duty. ...

There are former Baath Party elements, which are a large part of this -- this is a Sunni stronghold and a very conservative city. And there are the foreign fighters, probably fewer than had first been believed, but this city, over the past few months -- since the end of the war, in fact -- has become a magnet for insurgents of all sorts, a breeding ground for different cells. And many military officials believe that it has become a command-and-control center for the entire insurgency in Iraq.

COLLINS: We know that earlier in the day the troops were able to take over one hospital and two key bridges. Again, in talking about this resistance, are they able to take over more positions of importance, or would you say they are at a standby or a standstill as of late?

ARRAF: They're not at a standstill so much. They are certainly going forward. ... We're not entirely clear as to what targets they may have taken in other sectors of the city. Certainly, they had a lot of objectives. And the Iraqi security forces are playing a large part in that.

Those are the people -- we are with, for instance, Iraqi commandos -- and the Iraqi security forces, the intervention forces, are the ones who are going into places like mosques and schools, where U.S. forces say they've been targeted from.

As for the major targets that they have, most of those [involve] access to the city, and the city has, indeed, been breached.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/08/arraf.otsc/index.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S., Iraqi troops move into Fallujah's center
Pentagon: 10 U.S. troops killed, 22 wounded
Tuesday, November 9, 2004 Posted: 3:03 PM EST (2003 GMT)



FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi troops reached the heart of Falluja on Tuesday as the second day of battles continued in the militant-controlled city west of Baghdad.

The Pentagon reported 10 U.S. troops were killed in the fighting and 22 wounded.

Nevertheless, U.S. and Iraqi forces have faced less resistance than expected, said Lt. Col. Pete Newell with Task Force 2-2 of the 1st Infantry Division.

Soldiers have dodged sniper fire and destroyed booby traps, but not as many as anticipated.

Insurgent casualty numbers have mounted. Newell said his Army unit has killed or wounded 85 to 90 insurgents.

"Thirty hours into the fighting, Task Force 2-2 and the attached Iraqi intervention force have sustained minimal casualties," Newell said.

Military sources said they were unsure whether they had intercepted the core of the insurgency.

Falluja is considered an insurgent command-and-control center for the rest of the country and a base for Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network. (Map of Falluja)

Military officials have said 3,000 to 5,000 insurgents may have been inside the city, but they acknowledge many may have slipped away amid widespread reports that an offensive was coming.

"We believe most of the al-Zarqawi senior leadership has departed," one military source said.

Michael Ware, Time magazine's Baghdad bureau chief embedded with Army Task Force 2-2, described the fighting as street-to-street battles, with sporadic resistance and no signs of organization among the insurgents. Most of the insurgents are in small groups, he said, with the most being 25 in one place.

CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf, also embedded with the same Army unit, watched from an armored vehicle as a firefight broke out.

Arraf reported buildings crumbling from explosions and sheet metal flying like paper but said no one was in sight.

U.S. Central Command described as "unsubstantiated" a report by the Arabic-language news organization Al-Jazeera that American-led forces bombed a hospital clinic in Falluja.

"Insurgents have used allegations of civilian deaths as part of disinformation efforts in the past," said Air Force 1st Lt. Marcella Hopp in a written statement.

"This same Al-Jazeera story also reported a U.S. helicopter shot down in Falluja, which is false."

Newell said that his troops continue to clear the city of suspected weapons caches and insurgents and that they have found several booby-trapped areas.

In one area, the Army uncovered a weapons cache with two rocket-propelled grenades and 100 pounds of TNT explosive.

In another place, soldiers found mortar systems, and in a building they discovered more rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition rounds and a bullet-proof vest.

In southern Falluja, soldiers found a notebook with photos believed to be of foreign fighters.

The assault on Falluja has not received unanimous support from Iraqis.

In a key political development, the Iraqi Islamic Party withdrew from the 100-person interim National Council in protest of the offensive.

"Military action against any city is the wrong answer and will not solve anything," said Mohsen Abdul Hamid, head of the group.

While attention is focused on Falluja, insurgents continued attacks in other cities.

On Tuesday, insurgents attacked two police stations near Baquba, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Baghdad, killing four people, while 15 people have died in separate incidents in the capital within the last 24 hours. (Full story)

In Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi imposed a citywide curfew that will run from 10:30 p.m. until 4 a.m. (2:30 to 8 p.m. ET). The curfew will continue indefinitely, Allawi's office said.

Meanwhile in northern Iraq, at least three people died and several others were wounded in a suicide car bomb attack targeting an Iraqi national guard base north of Kirkuk, police said.

Third attempt on the city
By Monday, U.S. and Iraqi troops had surrounded Falluja as they awaited the order for a full attack in the third attempt to subdue the city this year. (Gallery: Scenes from the field)

The assault on Falluja involves some 10,000 U.S. forces and more than 2,000 Iraqi troops, Pentagon officials said.

In April, Marines attacked Falluja after four U.S. private security contractors were killed and mutilated. The ensuing battles led to many deaths.

The U.S.-led forces established an indigenous Falluja brigade to restore peace to the city, but in the summer, the brigade fell apart and insurgents solidified control there.

Falluja's population was estimated to be 250,000 to 300,000 before warfare escalated in the city this year. Now, it is thought that 50,000 civilians remain.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters Monday that the battle for Falluja was critical for the success of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

Other developments

A U.S. soldier died in a gunbattle Monday in eastern Baghdad, the Combined Press Information Center said. On Monday night, six people died and 22 were wounded in a car bomb attack against Al-Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad. Most of the victims were police. Police said they believe the hospital was targeted because Iraqi national guard troops were being treated inside.


Two Marines died Monday near Falluja when their bulldozer flipped into the Euphrates River in an apparent noncombat incident, military sources said. There were no further details.

CNN's Jane Arraf, Arwa Damon, Kevin Flower, Jamie McIntyre, Bessem Muhy, Karl Penhaul, Cal Perry, Barbara Starr and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/09/iraq.main/index.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Casualties Rise Quickly in Iraq

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - American casualties in Iraq (news - web sites) are mounting as the U.S.-led offensive in Fallujah unfolds. Monday's death toll of 11 was among the highest for a single day in Iraq since last spring, though most were killed elsewhere in the country.


As of Tuesday, the U.S. toll in Fallujah had been relatively light for urban combat.


There was no firm official death toll covering the period since the Fallujah fighting began on Sunday, but on Monday there were at least 11 U.S. deaths across the country, including two in Fallujah. The day's loss was among the highest for a single day in Iraq since last spring when the insurgency escalated and American authorities pulled Marines out of Fallujah.


Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, the senior American commander for the Fallujah operation, said he was pleased that U.S. casualties so far were limited to about a dozen. He would not be more specific, saying any number he gave would be quickly out of date, and did not say whether the dozen included wounded as well as killed in action.


Metz said insurgent casualties were "significantly higher than I expected." Most of the rebel force, estimated to number between 2,000 and 3,000, was "fighting hard but not to the death," he said.


Casualty reports, particularly in a combat zone like Fallujah, sometimes are slow and imprecise because of the chaotic conditions. Metz said casualty counts were in flux and could be higher than the estimated one dozen he knew of by late Tuesday.


The death toll for Iraqi soldiers with the Americans has been higher, as it has been through much of the war.


Dan Goure, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute think tank, said Iraqis present an easier target for the insurgents, and he expects them to continue to bear the brunt of the violence.


Goure said the relatively light American casualties in the opening days of the Fallujah offensive may not hold as the fighting escalates. But he noted that so far the toll is less severe than last April when 135 U.S. troops died, the worst month of the war.


"If casualties in November start approaching that number, then there's some significant reason to worry," Goure said.


After a decline in U.S. deaths in May and June, the toll began rising again. There were 54 in July, 65 in August, 80 in September and 63 in October. By the Pentagon (news - web sites)'s count, 1,139 Americans have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.


Metz said it was remained unclear whether insurgents were consolidating in parts of the city that U.S. forces had not yet reached. In any case he foresaw "several more days of tough urban fighting."


U.S. officials have been predicting for weeks that violence in Iraq would escalate as national elections scheduled for January drew closer. They believe the rebels' main goal is to prevent the elections.


The U.S.-led assault on Fallujah, while risking a spike in casualties, is intended to stabilize that city so that a major population center is not excluded from the January voting.


The insurgents remain a problem in several other cities in the "Sunni Triangle" that runs north and west from Baghdad, where deposed President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) grew up and had his strongest support. These include Ramadi, Baqubah, Samarra and the Iraqi capital.


The Fallujah fighting is among the most dangerous for U.S. troops, who are battling bands of guerrillas in the city's streets. Among the threats they face are hidden roadside bombs and car bombs, in addition to small arms like AK-47 assault rifles and machine guns.


There also is an increased risk of "friendly fire" casualties in urban warfare, although there was no indication Tuesday that this had happened.





U.S. military officers on Tuesday reported lighter-than-expected resistance in a section of Fallujah where guerillas were believed to have been at their strongest. It was not yet clear whether this meant most insurgents had left the city before the fighting began or whether U.S. forces had not yet reached the toughest areas.

Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, told reporters on Monday that as many as 100,000 people may have remained in Fallujah when the fighting began Sunday.

___

On the Net:

Pentagon's war site: http://www.defendamerica.mil/


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041109/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq_casualties


Ellie


Sending My Prayers.....

[thedrifter]

Bush Visits With Soldiers Wounded in Iraq

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites), paying a bedside visit to soldiers wounded in Iraq (news - web sites), said Tuesday that U.S. troops leading the assault against insurgents in Fallujah were doing "the hard work necessary for a free Iraq to emerge."


The president and his wife, Laura Bush, spent about two hours at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, visiting with more than 50 troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites). He offered his best wishes and prayers for the forces he said were still "in harm's way" in Fallujah.


"Coalition forces are now moving into Fallujah to bring to justice those who are willing to kill the innocent, those who are trying to terrorize the Iraqi people and our coalition, those who want to stop democracy," he said. "They are not going to succeed and we wish our troops all the best."


The U.S. toll in Iraq has surpassed 1,100, and 11 Americans died on Monday alone. Three more were killed Tuesday in Fallujah. "We are forever grateful to the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "They are serving for an important cause and a free Iraq will help transform a dangerous region of the world and make America more secure. We mourn the loss of all of our fallen."


Bush reviewed developments in Iraq in a meeting Monday with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. The secretary later would not say whether he wants to continue in his job in Bush's second term and said the matter hasn't been discussed in postelection meetings.


Rumsfeld aides said they expect him to remain for the start of Bush's new term, although whether he aims to stay the full four years is unclear. Other possibilities for the top Pentagon (news - web sites) job include Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record), R-Va.; national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), who has told associates she plans to resign; and John Lehman, a former Navy secretary and Republican member of the Sept. 11 commission.


In the only major decision announced for Bush's second term, the president will keep Andy Card as White House chief of staff. An unflappable veteran of the Reagan and first Bush presidencies, Card is admired for his work ethic, steady hand and open-door policy.


Keeping Card aboard is "a real pin strike for the president," said Nick Calio, Bush's former liaison to Capitol Hill. "He is a very, very solid leader; he is one of the most capable people I have ever met or worked for in my entire life; and he manages without ego and solely on behalf of the president," Calio said.


Another former staff adviser, Jay Lefkowitz, said Card "makes sure the president gets perspective from all relevant people on staff on any particular issue."


"The Chief," as Card is known at the White House, was appointed four years ago this month, even before the 2000 recount was resolved. He told The Associated Press in a February 2001 interview that he normally arrived at work at 5:30 a.m. and stayed until the president had retired for the night. Aides say Card, 57, continues that schedule nearly four years later.


"There's a certain comfort walking into the West Wing when it's still dark out, and seeing the light in Andy's office on," said Adam Levine, a former assistant White House press secretary.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=544&e=1&u=/ap/20041109/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Sears Supports Deployed Troops, Families
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2004 -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. is proving to be a friend of military families -- from making up lost pay for its employees called to active duty in the National Guard and reserve, to donating $2 million to the National Military Family Association for military family programs.

The Chicago-based retailer announced in September that it is extending its military pay differential and benefits coverage to five years. This is the second extension this year. In January, Sears extended its military pay differential to three years, from 30 months.

The announcement, which affects about 200 full-time Sears employees, also means they can continue participating in the company's life insurance, medical and dental programs, if they choose.

By law, companies are required to provide deployed employees access to 18 months of continued medical coverage at the employees' expense. But Sears' policy, which provides these benefits up to five years, goes far beyond the law's requirements.

Sears spokesman Chris Brathwaite said the policy isn't new for Sears, which he said has extended the pay differential many times in the past for its employees, including those who served on military duty in Operation Desert Storm and, more recently, in Croatia.

In fact, he said, Sears always has supported its employees' military service, and store records show the retailer helped make up lost pay for its employees who served during World War I.

"Sears regards service to our country as one of the greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make," Brathwaite said. "We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time."

The retailer has demonstrated its support for the military in a variety of other ways, including a $2 million donation made earlier this year to the National Military Family Association. The donation, the largest in the association's history, is helping develop and enhance programs that address challenges faced by military families.

Part of the funding went to Operation Purple, a summer camp program held this summer for children of deployed servicemembers.

Sears and the National Military Family Association also co-published a book, "A Tribute to Military Families: Letters of Thanks from Our Nation's Children." The book is designed to increase awareness about the importance of military families and is used as a fundraiser for the association's programs.

Sears also partners with the Army and 12 other companies in the Army Spouse Employment Partnership, to help military spouses find jobs nationwide.

The company participates in the Partnership for Youth Success program, which helps servicemembers leaving the military find work and a military exchange program in which active-duty servicemembers with logistics expertise work for the company for a year.

Sears' support for deployed servicemembers and their families earned the company the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences' 21st Century Community Champion Award in July.

In presenting the award, association president Virginia Vincenti said Sears helps "support the families of these men and women, and consequently, support the communities in which they live."


Ellie