The fog of war is dense over Fallujah. Until more information becomes available, here are a couple of informative posts on the Fallujah situation:
Noah Schachtman : Who Are Iraq’s 36th?
John Robb: Target: The Fallujah TAZ
Doctors Liberated from the Fallujah Resistance!
In case you were wondering why the hospital at Fallujah is a “legitimate military target”, this is how the US military justifies it:
The US military said insurgents had been in control of Fallujah General Hospital – located on the west bank of the Euphrates – and were “forcing the doctors there to release propaganda and false information”.
It underlined in a statement that when hospitals “are used for military purposes they lose … protected status”.
So, you see, the doctors of Fallujah hospital are now liberated and no longer have to release “propaganda and false information” like civilian casualty numbers. Undoubtedly, the Liberated Doctors of Fallujah will now release statements of gratitude and we’ll hear harrowing tales of their captivity while in the clutches of the Resistance.
On this topic, see Rahul Mahajan and Under the Same Sun for commentary and photos.
UPDATE:The US forces have taken possession of the hospital, leaving the incursion into the hospital to be carried out by Iraqi soldiers. The hospital, the largest in the city, is located on the western side of the banks of the Euphrates rivers, which separates it from the centre, leaving just small clinics to deal with any local wounded or dead if full-scale fighting erupts. According to Salih al-Isawi, the hospital director, the building had been surrounded and “they are telling us over loud speakers that if we leave the building we will be shot at”, reporting that an ambulance that tried to exit the facility was fired upon.
link via Raed Jarrar
Why North Korea needs Nukes
Drudge has linked to a story in the Washington Times, picking up a rather interesting UPI report:
“Newly declassified documents revealed the United States planned as recently as 1998 to drop nuclear bombs on North Korea if the country attacked South Korea.
As part of “scenario 5027,” 24 F15-E bombers flew simulation missions at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina to drop mock nuclear bombs on a firing range between January and June 1998…”
Indeed! Swell thing it is for the people of NK that Jong-Il decided not to invade. Instead, he decided to develop nukes himself. Some random, probably useless thoughts:
Hasn’t the US nuked enough people in that region? Why does the plan use the annoying word “scenario”? Why would those F-15E “Strike Eagles” need bombing runs? What with the awesome destructive power of the modern nuke, you’re going to destroy the entire civilian population anyway, no matter where the damn things land. Who cares if you miss the mark by a few dozen feet? I’m no scientist, but wouldn’t the fallout from those bombs damage South Korea significantly as well? (Including the 30,000 US troops along the border with the North)
The UPI report goes on to say:
“The declassified documents also said the U.S. had kept nuclear weaponry in South Korea until at least 1998, despite officially claiming it had withdrawn all nuclear warheads in 1991.”
Yet another reason the “crazy” Kim Jong-Il would want nukes of his own. So, in a very significant way I guess, the US, in its tireless efforts to “protect” the South, is actually responsible for creating a good deal of the danger that exists in the region. How about that!
you know, come to think of it, as long as you’re trying to protect those poor bastards, given the situation as it stands now, there are only two choices.
1. Disarm and remove all trace of American presence in the region. Renounce any responsibility for protecting South Korea.
2. Nuke those Northern bastards right now. Don’t pass go, don’t collect $200, right frickin’ now. And, for God’s sake, make damn sure none of them are left alive, because that can become a problem down the road (when they repopulate the region and decide they have a problem with you wiping out their ancestors and all). This option would have the added bonus effect of giving the rest of the world a demonstration that the US is still willing, in this day and age, to use these weapons against anyone, at any time, for any reason, or come to think of it, for no reason at all.
Chemical weapons in Fallujah?
Isn’t it odd that although the resistance in Fallujah has allegedly vowed to use chemical weapons against the Americans that we hear none of the hullabaloo over chemical weapons suits or gas masks or anything that we heard before the invasion? Are the assaulting troops in chem gear or not? If not, why not?
Duelfer’s report actually says that chemical weapons under UN seal were looted, so it is within the realm of possibility that the resistance has some.
Assault on Fallujah
US troops take over Fallujah’s main hospital along with the bridge over the Euphrates.
The Osiraq Myth
Rodger Payne has an interesting post up about the Israeli bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osiraq in 1981:
The 1981 Israeli aerial striike on Iraqi nuclear facilities at Osiraq is frequently cited as a successful use of preventive military force, and may be used to justify similar attacks in the future. However, closer examination of the Osiraq attack reveals that it did not substantially delay the Iraqi nuclear program, and may have even hastened it. Attempts to replicate the “success” at Osiraq are likely to do even worse, as proliferating states are now routinely dispersing and concealing their nuclear, biological, and chemical programs to decrease their vulnerability to air strikes. Given the poor track record of preventive attacks in controlling the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, American interests will be best served in the future by embracing other tools of counterproliferation.