Posted on: Saturday, November 6, 2004
10,000 U.S. troops to retake city
By Jim Krane
Associated Press Writer
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq — Long convoys of American soldiers and Marines rolled onto a dust-blown base on the outskirts of Fallujah today and U.S. warplanes intensified attacks in preparation for a major assault on the city that has come to symbolize Iraqi resistance.
After months of negotiations, more than 10,000 American troops were massed for an expected offensive, and Iraq's prime minister warned the "window is closing" to avert an attack.
U.S. planes dropped five 500-pound bombs at several targets in Fallujah early today, as well as leaflets urging women and children to leave the city.
The U.S. military said the main highway into Fallujah has now been completely sealed off.
As pressure mounted on the guerrilla stronghold, the insurgents struck back, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding five in a rocket attack. Clashes were reported at other checkpoints around the city and in the east and north of Fallujah late in the day.
Among the massed American troops are about 1,000 Marines of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment from Kane'ohe. They lost seven of their own last weekend when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden SUV into their convoy, killing eight Marines and wounding nine.
"They're ready to go," Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict of Bravo Company, who suffered burns on his left arm in the attack, said on Wednesday. "I'm ready to get back in with them."
The assault is expected to be a bloody one, and the combat hospital on the chief U.S. base near Fallujah has set up a morgue and doubled its medical staff.
The hospital — a low concrete building announced by a sign saying "Cheaters of Death" — added a Marine Mortuary Affairs team last month, a unit charged with identifying dead troops, cataloguing their personal effects and preparing their bodies for the flight to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
In hospital parlance, those killed in action are known as angels. In last weekend's suicide bombing, the dead and wounded came to the hospital.
"We took care of angels and wounded on that one," said Commander Lach Noyes, a Navy surgeon.
The hospital's daily toil is grim. Patients arrive with devastating wounds. Common procedures include amputations or stabilizing broken bones or torn organs.
"The first patient I had was six hours after I got here," said Capt. Eric Lovell, a Navy doctor. "His heart was out of his chest."
Like Benedict, many of the Marines still recovering said they were eager to rejoin their units and hoped to fight in the assault on Fallujah.
"I'm nervous for them, but I know for a fact they're going to tear the place to pieces," Lance Cpl. Nicholas Peel said on Wednesday. "It's kind of a justice after what they did to us."
Dennis Astor, a Navy medic attached to Bravo Company, was thrown clear of the truck during the suicide bombing and knocked unconscious.
He suffered burns on his hands and face, and a shrapnel wound to his forehead.
"I don't think I'm really going to make it to the big battle because my wounds really aren't healing that fast," he said on Wednesday. "I'm kind of disappointed. Those are my friends."
If they fight, American troops will face an estimated 3,000 insurgents dug in behind defenses and booby traps. Military planners believe there are about 1,200 hardcore insurgents in Fallujah — at least half of them Iraqis. They are bolstered by cells with up to 2,000 fighters in the surrounding towns and countryside.
"A military operation is the last and only solution we have for the city of Fallujah," said Salih Kuzaie, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry yesterday. "The negotiations failed. ... It seemed like the Fallujah people are helping the terrorists. Thus, the military solution will end the crisis."
A source close to Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who was scheduled to return last night to Iraq from a diplomatic trip to Europe, said there is no longer any point to the negotiations.
Allawi must give the final go-ahead for the offensive, part of a campaign to curb the insurgency ahead of national elections planned for January.
Sunni clerics have threatened to boycott the election if Fallujah is attacked, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned U.S., British and Iraqi authorities that a military campaign and "increased insurgent violence" could put elections at risk.
Allawi has demanded Fallujah hand over foreign extremists, including Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers, and allow government troops to enter the city.
"We intend to liberate the people and to bring the rule of law to Fallujah," Allawi said in Brussels after meeting with European Union leaders. "The window really is closing for a peaceful settlement."
Allawi, a secular Shiite Muslim with strong ties to the CIA and State Department, urged Europeans leaders to forge a "close and strategic partnership" with Iraq and called on NATO to step up plans to train 1,000 officers a year for the Iraqi military.
EU leaders responded with a nearly $40 million offer to fund elections, including training for Iraqi vote monitors.
The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post contributed to this report.
