Eric Umansky

Fallujah Update

The latest, sad news, from the Pentagon:

Lance Cpl. Robert T. Mininger, 21, of Sellersville, Pa., died June 6 from wounds received as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Fallujah, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team-8, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

[...]

Lance Cpl. Jonathan L. Smith, 22, of Eva, Ala., died June 6 from wounds received as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Fallujah, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, Regimental Combat Team-8, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Another Marine killed in Fallujah?

This, just released from the Pentagon:

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

           Sgt. Thomas E. Houser, 22, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, died Jan. 3 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.  He was assigned to 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Any reason why the Marines can't release the name of the town where the KIA happened? I'd believe it's an issue of operational security, except I assume the Army cares about that kind of thing too (and it releases town names).

P.S. Sorry for the lack of posts, I've had  an annoying cold. And [insert other lame excuse here.]

Dept. of Silver Linings

From IWPR's Iraqi Press Monitor:

CRIME FALLS IN FALLUJAH

 

(Al-Taakhi) – Prime Minister Iyad Allawi last Monday said the crime rate had fallen after the last offensive launched by US and Iraqi forces on Fallujah. "The crime rate is still decreasing. Although cleaning up the city continues, we are taking steps to bring Fallujans back," he added. Large parts of Fallujah have been described as an arsenal and an underground camp where explosives were hidden.
(Al-Taakhi is issued daily by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.)

Actually, I assume Allawi is referring (tre euphemistically) to insurgent attacks. But who knows.

Kevin Sites speaks

He's the one who filmed last week's shooting of a wounded, unarmed insurgent in Fallujah. He's been getting death threats.  And hasn't spoken the press. But yesterday he posted his side of the story on his blog.

Marines: 0.1 percent of Fallujah detainees are foreign

The following is from a DoD briefing today with one Colonel Micahel Regner, Operations Officer  for I Marine Expeditionary Force, which has been fighting  in Fallujah:

The next question, before I continue on to the tactical lay down because I brought up detainees, is yes, there are some foreign fighters in that element. Predominantly, however, most of the 1,052 are in fact Iraqis. 

[...]

We can't really identify all of those, but some of our Iraqi brethren which are helping out in this joint effort are saying this guy is clearly from -- let's just say Syria; this individual here is from another country.  And so they're helping out.  But at this time, out of 1,052 [detainees] most likely about 1,040  or 1,030 are Iraqis.

Math Correction! -  A reader points out that the numbers above  add up to one or two percent, not .1 percent as I said in the headline. My apologies, especially to Greta, my 8th grade math-teacher. (I went to a crunchy school; we were all on a first-name basis.)   

Civilian Stories in Fallujah

Clearly, most civilians  left before the assault. It's unclear how many stayed behind. And it's unclear how many of those were wounded.  We may never know. But here are two reports from civilians inside the town. The first is from an A.P. reporter who fled:

     ``I decided to swim ... but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river.''

     He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he ``helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands.''

     ``I kept walking along the river for two hours and I could still see some U.S. snipers ready to shoot anyone who might swim. I quit the idea of crossing the river and walked for about five hours through orchards.''

The second is from a local doctor, as recounted by the LAT:

Late Tuesday, a bomb struck one side of the makeshift medical center. Ghanim ran out.

A second bomb hit, crashing through the roof and destroying most of the facility. Ghanim believes it killed at least two of the young resident doctors working there and most of the patients.

"At that moment I wished to die," he said. "It was a catastrophe."

Afterward, he said, he half-ran, half-wandered through Fallouja, dodging explosions that seemed to be everywhere. He took shelter in an empty house and did not move.

"Time stopped. I don't know how long I was there," he said. "The tanks hit anything that moved.

"I saw the injured people on the street, covered in blood, staggering, screaming, shouting, 'Help me! Help me!' but we could not get out and help them because we would be killed."

Marines not letting men out of Fallujah

From the NYT:

Rights Lawyers See Possibility of a War Crime

By MICHAEL JANOFSKY

 

   

ASHINGTON, Nov. 12 - Human rights experts said Friday that American soldiers might have committed a war crime on Thursday when they sent fleeing Iraqi civilians back into Falluja.

Citing several articles of the Geneva Conventions, the experts said recognized laws of war require military forces to protect civilians as refugees and forbid returning them to a combat zone.

"This is highly problematical conduct in terms of exposing people to grave danger by returning them to an area where fighting is going on," said Jordan Paust, a law professor at the University of Houston and a former Army prosecutor.

James Ross, senior legal adviser to Human Rights Watch, said, "If that's what happened, it would be a war crime."

A stream of refugees, about 300 men, women and children, were detained by American soldiers as they left southern Falluja by car and on foot. The women and children were allowed to proceed. The men were tested for any residues left by the handling of explosives. All tested negative, but they were sent back.

A Defense Department spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, defended the actions of American troops in Iraq, saying: "Our forces over there are not haphazardly operating indiscriminately, targeting individuals or civilians. The rules of engagement are researched and vetted, and our forces closely follow them."

It'd be interesting to get more context: How common is that tactic? What do non-advocate JAG-types think of it? etc.

(Small amount of) Sarin Found in Fallujah

From this morning's Christian Science Monitor:

In the course of locating seven weapons caches in a single block around a mosque in northeast Fallujah, an Iraqi platoon Wednesday found a suitcase full of vials labeled "Sarin," a deadly nerve agent.

While further analysis determined that the find was probably part of a Soviet test kit with samples, its discovery in a room with mortar shells appeared to indicate an intent to weaponize the material.

As I noted a few days ago, the Marines went into the city with gas masks, specifically because of their concern about sarin.  And then there's the reason why they may have been concerned. Buried in the NYT a few weeks ago:

Looters overran an Iraqi complex last year where a bunker holding old chemical weapons was sealed by United Nations monitors, American arms inspectors have reported. Iraq said 2,500 sarin-filled artillery rockets had been stored there.

Bling (not blind) in Fallujah

IWPR, which just pumps  out interesting material from Iraq, has a pre-assualt  dispatch from Fallujah written by one of IWPR's trainees.  Echoing previous reports, the guerrillas seem to have plenty of cash (and, the article says, money can't buy them love):

INSURGENTS BOUGHT HOMES OF FLEEING FALLUJANS

Arab and foreign fighters in Fallujah have been paying many times the market
rate to rent and buy property.

By Hussein Ali and Ali Marzook in Baghdad

Ahmed al-Dulaimi, who owns a grocery store in Fallujah, left shortly before
the US-led assault began, because he was concerned his home might be
targeted.

"We'd been really afraid the Americans would attack our house because our
neighbours had rented theirs out to a group of Arab fighters.

"They used the house mainly as a weapons dump. Since the city is full of
informants we were really afraid they would tell the Americans to attack
it."

There have been a number of reports of insurgents battling US-led forces
renting or buying property from people who've left the city. Evidently, some
of the latter aren't aware that they're doing business with militants while
others are.

Tens of thousands of Fallujans have fled their homes in recent months to
escape US bombing. "I lived in the city's al-Joolan district. In September,
jetfighters bombed a house where the Mujahedin used to gather," said taxi
driver Waleed Khalid. "The attack destroyed two other homes as well and
killed seven civilians." 

Some have also said the radicals created a climate of fear and imposed a
number of restrictions on what they regarded as un-Islamic practices.

"The insurgents made things really difficult for everyone here, but no one
dared to say anything because we were afraid of them. The city was full of
Baathists, Islamists and gangs of thugs," said al-Dulaimi.

"We couldn't even buy movies or CDs anymore. The only things on sale were
CDs of the fighters with songs glorifying them. Now we just hope the
campaign against Falluja ends without too many civilian casualties."

Pensioner Salman Majhool said the deteriorating security situation in the
city forced him to sell up and move to Baghdad, but, at the time, he had no
idea his house was passing into the hands of foreign fighters.

"I sold my house in al-Shuhadaa district to an Iraqi, but when I spoke to
one of my old neighbours, he said Syrians were living there not Iraqis. He
told me the other neighbours had complained they might be targeted by the
Americans, but the men in the house replied, 'Don't worry. We are Mujahedin.
God will protect us all,'" said Majhool.

"Now I know why they paid more than the house was worth. I asked for 80,000
US dollars but they gave me 100,000. I wasn't going to argue."

As well as offering high rental and purchase prices for properties in the
city, Arab and foreign fighters have also been guaranteeing owners
compensation, should the buildings be damaged.

One native Fallujan, who moved to Baghdad five months ago, and would only
speak to IWPR on condition of anonymity, said,  "We got fed up living in
Fallujah. It was completely lawless so we came to Baghdad. I rented my house
to foreigners for 700 dollars a month. They gave me 7,000 upfront for a 10
month lease.

"They also said they would compensate me if there was any damage to the
house. I really want to go back to Fallujah - my relatives are there and my
life is there - but I'm staying here until the situation has stabilised.
Then we can rebuild our city and live like normal people again."

Hussein Ali and Ali Marzook are IWPR trainees.

AWOL: GI casualty numbers for Fallujah

 I was just watching a press conference with the U.S. deputy commander in Baghdad,  General Thomas Metz, who was asked about the number of dead or wounded Americans and declined to answer.  "How can you keep the numbers from the American people?" asked the feisty AP man (as I recall).  Metz responded roughly, "We're getting updates from the field all the time  and they take a bit to flow up the chain of command."

P.S. Reuters talks to one wounded soldier who said, "A buddy of mine and another soldier were killed and I have seen about 50 other wounded ." The reporter writes that he saw five GIs being med-evaced out.