Fallujah turns in junk weapons

Marine commanders say some rebel fighters are turning in weapons as promised. But most of the weapons don’t work.

Did they say they had to turn in their good stuff?

Peace efforts in this besieged city ran into trouble Wednesday as guerrillas mounted a heavy attack on Marines in a battle that killed 20 insurgents, and Marines said almost all the weapons turned in so far in a crucial disarmament were in such bad shape they were already useless.

In response, Marines halted the return of some of the 70,000 residents — more than a third of Fallujah’s population — who fled during this month’s bloody fighting. Crowds massed behind concertina wire, with women and crying children pressing forward demanding to be let in. Nearby trucks were stacked high with the families’ belongings.

About 10 families re-entered the city in the morning before Marines announced to some 600 Iraqis waiting at the checkpoint that no more would be allowed in.
[…]
Marine commanders said some weapons were handed over during the day, but 95 percent were in such bad shape they were useless. They would not say how many weapons were turned in.

“These may be early indications that the insurgents may not be living up to the requirements of the agreement,” Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne said earlier in the day, when Marines reported no weapons had been surrendered.

I’m so surprised. I thought everyone in Fallujah would rush to disarm themselves.


UPDATE

This is too funny. A guy who calls himself “Conservative Observer” says that the rebels turning in their useless weapons is like “the annual no-questions, gun buy-backs the Democrats have forced on so many city governments in the US.” It just gets funnier from there.