Fighting in Falluja as truce falters

[Robbien]

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi guerrillas and U.S. Marines are fighting in the city of Falluja overnight as an informal truce faltered, residents say.

The sound of explosions and gunfire echoed from one area of Falluja on Monday and U.S. helicopters were overhead. Iraqi fighters accused U.S. forces of breaking the truce. The U.S. military says its soldiers in Falluja are only fighting in self defence.

The U.S. military has laid siege to Falluja for a week, blocking roads in and out and sending battalions into the city. Several Marines and hundreds of Iraqis have been killed.

U.S. forces announced a unilateral suspension of hostilities on Friday and suggested a bilateral ceasefire on Saturday, but neither move halted the fighting. An informal truce was agreed on Sunday, which halted most fighting during the day.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=492071§ion=news

[SilasSoule]

1. Errrr Uhhhh.......

The U.S. military says its soldiers in Falluja are only fighting in self defence.


The U.S. military has laid siege to Falluja for a week, blocking roads in and out and sending battalions into the city


Does anyone else see a confilct between these two statments?

[Eye and Monkey]

3. There's also a conflict between the facts - (link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=479332


The post reads:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq.html

U.S. Reinforces Marine Siege of Fallujah
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 11, 2004
Filed at 12:49 a.m. ET

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- Insurgents and U.S.-allied Iraqi officials agreed in principle for a cease-fire in Fallujah starting Sunday, but the deal depends on the doubtful prospect of American soldiers withdrawing from the city, a member of Iraq's Governing Council told The Associated Press.

The comments late Saturday by Mahmoud Othman came as Marines, backed by hundreds of reinforcements, encircled the besieged city, which the U.S. military threatened to take by force if negotiations failed.

Early Sunday, the Arab TV station Al-Arabiya reported that a Fallujah cease-fire would start a 6 a.m. A few hours later, the station Al-Jazeera quoted an unidentified insurgent leader as saying the deal would last 12 hours, and that forces would respect it.

But the American side had no immediate comment on any truce reached in talks between insurgents and Governing Council members that started Saturday, and Othman questioned the prospects for a deal given the demand by both sides. ``Fighters in the city say they want the Americans to withdraw, but I don't know how likely that is,'' he told AP.

[Aidoneus]

8. I can resolve that discordant conflict

the military leaders are a pack of lying shitheads, up to their eyeballs in corpses--some of which used to serve under them..

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Marines won't rest until everybody is dead in Falluja

They will kill them all for their own good.

[Union Thug]

4. yeah...

..and liberate them from their own bodies.

[alittlelark]

6. They will kill them all because they have been told (brainwashed)

to do so........they will pay for *'s genocidal sins psychologically for the rest of their lives.

They are horribly misguided, but not the ones to bear the brunt of the blame.

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. True, the mission for the marines is to kill the enemy

Why the marines are being used to "Keep the Peace" in a civilian population after the invasion and during an occupation is way beyond me.

[modaya]

5. Is Bush saving Osama to sell his election propaganda?

HMMMMMMM

[tkmorris]

7. Not seeing the connection to this

But welcome to DU!