To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Monday, November 08, 2004
Operation Phantom Fury
Disclaimer: I'm not a military analyst. I've never played one on tv. This is just my psycho-babble about things I may or may not know about. If you have a different/better theory, feel free to tell it in the comments section.
Operation Phantom Fury is now hitting Fallujah with full force. The response from the VRWC segment of the blogosphere? " 'Bout time!"
Evidently, since March when insurgents took over the Iraqi town of Fallujah, they set up their own Taliban-style world. Yup, all the "best" parts of Afghanistan were being replicated in Iraq. Lovely.
Coallition Forces surrounded the city, gave women and children plenty of time to get out (but, under a Taliban-like system, could they really leave?) and then waited. And waited.
What in the world were they waiting for? Popular opinion would tell you they were waiting until after the US election (because any offensive would be taken as political pandering by the MSM and the Left.) After listening to some of the coverage of Phantom Fury this morning, I came up with an additional reason for the delay.
Yesterday, Coallition Forces took control of the main hospital in Fallujah (where there had been reports of injured civilians that were blatant misreporting.) Among the CF that took the hospital were members of the Iraqi Special Forces. Yup, Iraq now has a functioning (and if reporting is accurate, kick-butt) Special Forces unit. While that is cool and and of itself, it brings up another issue.
The US military has made a REALLY big deal that PM Allawi was in charge, and he was to give the command to take Fallujah. They want the Iraqi people to feel that one of their own has the power (and he does- he could tell us to get out. He wouldn't, but he could.) Wouldn't it be just as important to have Iraqi forces (with Coallition help) take the town? Then it would be viewed as a true liberation and not an occupation.
So (and I'm totally guessing here), US military forces (who were chomping at the bit to level the insurgent stronghold) sat back and waited while we trained the Iraqi army and their Special Forces unit. Now, once they were ready (and the election was over), the Iraqis (with the help of their Coallition friends and partners) can take back their city, then take back their nation. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Hey, wait! Wouldn't this be part of the whole "winning the peace" thing that the Dems kept whining about during the campaign? That's what I thought...
Godspeed to our coallition fighters. Kick butt and take names. No matter what the MSM says, we are behind you 110%. You're all in our thoughts and prayers.
Oh, yeah... one more thing... props to FoxNews for hiring Scott Rutter as an imbedded journalist. For those of you who don't know him, he's a retired Lt. Colonel, and he was part of the team that took control of the Baghdad airport in '03. He provides a very real, very accurate look into the units he reports on.
Operation Phantom Fury is now hitting Fallujah with full force. The response from the VRWC segment of the blogosphere? " 'Bout time!"
Evidently, since March when insurgents took over the Iraqi town of Fallujah, they set up their own Taliban-style world. Yup, all the "best" parts of Afghanistan were being replicated in Iraq. Lovely.
Coallition Forces surrounded the city, gave women and children plenty of time to get out (but, under a Taliban-like system, could they really leave?) and then waited. And waited.
What in the world were they waiting for? Popular opinion would tell you they were waiting until after the US election (because any offensive would be taken as political pandering by the MSM and the Left.) After listening to some of the coverage of Phantom Fury this morning, I came up with an additional reason for the delay.
Yesterday, Coallition Forces took control of the main hospital in Fallujah (where there had been reports of injured civilians that were blatant misreporting.) Among the CF that took the hospital were members of the Iraqi Special Forces. Yup, Iraq now has a functioning (and if reporting is accurate, kick-butt) Special Forces unit. While that is cool and and of itself, it brings up another issue.
The US military has made a REALLY big deal that PM Allawi was in charge, and he was to give the command to take Fallujah. They want the Iraqi people to feel that one of their own has the power (and he does- he could tell us to get out. He wouldn't, but he could.) Wouldn't it be just as important to have Iraqi forces (with Coallition help) take the town? Then it would be viewed as a true liberation and not an occupation.
So (and I'm totally guessing here), US military forces (who were chomping at the bit to level the insurgent stronghold) sat back and waited while we trained the Iraqi army and their Special Forces unit. Now, once they were ready (and the election was over), the Iraqis (with the help of their Coallition friends and partners) can take back their city, then take back their nation. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Hey, wait! Wouldn't this be part of the whole "winning the peace" thing that the Dems kept whining about during the campaign? That's what I thought...
Godspeed to our coallition fighters. Kick butt and take names. No matter what the MSM says, we are behind you 110%. You're all in our thoughts and prayers.
Oh, yeah... one more thing... props to FoxNews for hiring Scott Rutter as an imbedded journalist. For those of you who don't know him, he's a retired Lt. Colonel, and he was part of the team that took control of the Baghdad airport in '03. He provides a very real, very accurate look into the units he reports on.
