Falluja and November 2nd

[acmavm]

http://www.tompaine.com/archives/the_dreyfuss_report.php

October 18, 2004

<SNIP>
The question that we ought to be asking about the current bloody offensive in Fallujah is: Was this offensive ordered with the November 2 vote in mind? Are hundreds of Iraqis dying just to give Bush a PR victory?

Of course, the offensive may backfire, leading to a debacle for the Bush administration. But it seems clear that the attack was ordered to undermine the arguments of anti-war critics (in advance of Nov. 2) that Iraq is out of control and that the January elections can’t be held. It is a completely unnecessary attack, since the terrorist-minded Islamists in the city were increasingly isolated from the nationalist, mostly secular resistance groups there. Had the Bush administration followed the Franco-German lead, and told the Iraqi government to make a deal with the Baathist-tribal leadership coalition in Fallujah, the whole crisis could have been resolved peacefully.

Instead, innocent civilians are being slaughtered. Over the weekend, one family of 11 was killed, then a family of five, in their vehicles, and dead children are being dragged out of collapsed buildings. The carnage is creating more hatred, more resistance and more terrorists.

The United States is demanding that Zarqawi be handed over, yet the representatives of the city say he isn’t there. The demand, of course, scuttles any possibility of resolving the standoff in the city of 300,000 without an invasion. The Post reports :

Representatives of the insurgents suspended negotiations with the government last week, saying the demand to turn over Zarqawi was unreasonable because he was not in Fallujah. Although some representatives indicated Sunday that they were open to further talks, the violence continued.
-MORE-

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. more dead Iraqis will definitely constitute a PR victory

...verily, in that is a lesson to those endowed with sight.


Koran 24:44