GNN's Iraq reports & "Live From Fallujah"

[Aidoneus]

March 18, 2004
Anthony, NYC
Live from Fallujah: GNN contributor Tara Sutton reporting for the BBC from the frontlines of the resistance.
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3458467.stm

March 17, 2004
Anthony, NYC
Boom: When we were in Baghdad we stayed at a hotel like the one that was blown up today - small, cheap, low-profile, with little or no security. My guess is there were a good number of freelance journalists who were killed in this bomb. We're hoping it's not someone we know. This bomb was timed to kick off the one- year anniversary of the invasion. It's going to be a bad three weeks. When a big bomb like this goes off it's easy to forget how much of a fluid situation it is over there. For every bomb that explodes, there's a GI that's been wounded or killed, and five other bombs they've found and defused - check out this smattering of what else went down in Iraq today:
--snip--

What Riverbend thinks: Of course polls don't tell you much about what life is really like for the people who are questioned. For that you have to actually go to the place, or read blogs written by Iraqis like "Riverbend." In her latest dispatch she tells the story of a man taken prisoner by the coalition forces, and only released when he paid up:

"Two days later, his three relatives came walking home after being dropped off on the side of the road. oing on a country. Basically, they paid a ransom for their freedom. Just one of the many stories about life in the 'New Iraq'- no wonder Chalabi was so jubilant while signing the Transitional Law document. The country is currently like an unguarded bank- especially for those who bear arms."

--snip--

http://www.guerrillanews.com/bunker/east/doc4119.html

[Aidoneus]

1. some excerpts from the "Live in Fallujah" BBC bit

--snip--

UNNAMED MAN:
What do you think that if you shoot someone in my family. What do you think that I will neglect this and forget this?

UNNAMED SOLDIER:
I think 98% of the country is good and 2% should be slaughtered.

UNNAMED WOMAN:
When I hear that today an American was killed, I feel happiness in my heart.

TARA SUTTON:
When you enter this city one of the first signs you see says, "Welcome to Fallujah - burial ground of the Americans."

--snip--

TARA SUTTON:
These soldiers had just put up posters asking people to inform on insurgents attacking US troops. They had barely left the scene before the locals tore the posters down. We're stuck in traffic and now there's huge explosions going off. It was a roadside bomb aimed at passing US soldiers. The explosion we heard was the soldiers detonating it. A crowd of men showed us what was left of the bomb. Explosions like this are now heard daily here. We spent three weeks in Fallujah talking to the people there and to the US soldiers to find out why there was so much antagonism. This is the Faydal family. They're typical of the poor farmers that live in the area. An extended family consisting of around 60 people, they all live next door to one another. For the grandmother Mensea Faydal, tribal allegiance is everything.

--snip--

SERGEANT JACK FOSTER: 82ND AIRBORNE, FALLUJAH:
We're sort of used to the kids throwing rocks at us so it kind of took a second to register that it wasn't a rock, it was a hand grenade. Luckily we got him cornered and we didn't have to shoot him because none of us want to shoot a kid. I mean he's eight-years-old. You're supposed to put him over your knee and spank him not shoot him. Of course an eight-year-old kid is not supposed to throw hand grenades at soldiers, but you'd be surprised at what these people will do.

--snip--

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3458467.stm

[enough]

2. Thank you, very interesting links here (nt)

.

[Aidoneus]

3. NP

You're welcome.

[leftchick]

4. there were several reports of a helicopter down south of Fallujah today..

they seem to have been yanked, any clues to the validity of those reports Aidoneus?
Thanks

[Aidoneus]

5. saw that earlier, don't see it now

I just looked around al-Jazeera & Yahoo, nothing at either about it. I'll check Nasr's report when it comes out in a few days.

[Aidoneus]

6. I take that back, Google News helped a bit

IslamOnline has a mention of it, as does The Independent and a local (not my local) NBC outlet.

--------------

Bloodshed, Insecurity Ahead Of Iraq Invasion Anniversary

--snip--

U.S. Helicopter Comes Down

Meanwhile, a U.S. helicopter came down on Thursday south of the flashpoint Iraqi city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, witnesses told Reuters.

A U.S. military spokeswoman in Baghdad said she had no immediate information on the incident.

--snip--

http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-03/18/article10.shtml

this IOL report is a good rundown of recent events, btw, might be interesting to read in full besides just this.

--------------

...snip...There were also reports that a US helicopter came down south of Fallujah. Eight American soldiers were wounded in a gun battle as US administrators were meeting local officials...snip...
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=502753

--------------


FALLUJAH -- IRAQ'S HOTBED OF RESISTANCE. FOUR IRAQIS DIED TODAY IN A FIREFIGHT WITH U-S TROOPS.

NOW, THERE ARE REPORTS OF AN AMERICAN MILITARY HELICOPTER DOWN THERE.

http://www.kpvi.com/index.cfm?page=nbcstories.cfm&ID=1652