This should put that excuse to rest...
Iraqi Official Says U.S. Raid Aimed to Kill Foreign Rebels
By FOOAD AL SHEIKHLY and JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: June 21, 2004
ALLUJA, Iraq, June 20 — A day after an American airstrike destroyed six homes in this flash-point city, a senior Iraqi official said Sunday that 23 of 26 people killed in the attack were foreign terrorists, including men from Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
American officials had justified the strike on Saturday, the first major military action in Falluja since American forces pulled out of the city in early May, by saying that the homes that were singled out were being used by agents of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq and the suspected mastermind of dozens of suicide attacks.
On Saturday, people pulling bodies out of the debris had said women and children were among the victims. The Iraqi official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that three Iraqis had been killed and that two Iraqis had been wounded, but did not provide further details.
He said it was not clear whether Mr. Zarqawi was inside one of the small concrete-block homes when they were smashed to rubble by three 500-pound bombs dropped from an American warplane. But he said that American intelligence was accurate and that the homes did not house civilians but terrorists.
"The Americans had very good information," the official said. "It was like trying to catch a sparrow. They had a small moment to catch the fighters in those houses and they did."
The official said one reason Falluja was relatively calm Sunday, despite the potential for revenge killings or other strife, was that the city's residents had little love for the foreign terrorists.
Several residents agreed Sunday. Their actions, or inactions, spoke even louder.
On Sunday, there were no serious mortar attacks against American forces, no fiery sermons at the mosques, no marches in the street. Instead, Falluja, a battered city that just weeks ago was the scene of some of the most intense urban combat in Iraq since the occupation began, was functioning normally, with police officers at checkpoints, traffic flowing smoothly and boys selling roasted cashews on the sidewalk.
"Fallujans are in no mood to fight," said Mahmood Shaker al-Falahee, a retired government official. "We know people come from the outside to try to raise a conflict between us and the Americans. They come here because our borders are so open."
As for the bombing, Mr. Falahee was almost dismissive.
"Something like this," he said, "will be passed and soon forgotten."
To be sure, Falluja remains a volatile spot, the single city in occupied Iraq that is essentially unoccupied, thanks to a truce last month when Marine forces withdrew from the city and transferred authority to an all-Iraqi force called the Falluja Brigade. The brigade was hastily formed by former members of Saddam Hussein's army and Republican Guard and even included insurgents the marines had just been battling.
Under the agreement, the Falluja Brigade promised to establish security within the city, which is 35 miles west of Baghdad, and the marines promised to stay out.
On Sunday, some Falluja residents said the American airstrike broke the truce. "They gave us their word and they violated it," said Qasim Muhammad Abdul Satar, who sits on Falluja's shura council, a body of town elders. "In spite of this, the people of Falluja won't breach the truce. But more trouble may come to the surface. We'll see."
Falluja has been rife with mixed signals the past several weeks. Masked insurgents continue to operate openly in some quarters of town, even dispensing their own brand of Islamic justice, including an episode last month when four whiskey sellers were lashed with whips and paraded through the streets.
At the same time, Marine commanders say that there have been fewer attacks around the area and that a semblance of security is returning. Marine officers point to a successful three-hour meeting they held in the center of town last week with Falluja's leaders, including some imams who had previously shunned them.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen in Falluja, or for that matter, the rest of Iraq," said Col. Larry Brown, in a recent interview. "With the range of options being Jeffersonian democracy on one end and civil war on the other, we're probably going to end up somewhere in the middle."
On Sunday, a roadside bomb killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded eight near the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, American military officials said.
In central Baghdad, a mortar attack wounded six Iraqi police officers. And in western Iraq, a United States marine was killed on Saturday, the military announced Sunday.
Hmm sounds like this kind of puts this issue to rest. IMHO I think it was a very good tactical strike that hit its target. Good job to the pilot and his resources.