My thoughts on Fallujah...
Were the months of inaction preceding this week's climactic street battle in Fallujah a conscious part of a larger strategy designed to quell the country's insurgency? A Blackhawk operator serving in Iraq thinks so:
What if the Coalition planners decided to let them set up a "safe" operations center that would, over time, develop such an appeal to all enemies of the coalition, that local insurgents and foreign extremists alike would come running from all parts of Iraq to "consolidate and organize?" Sort of like grabbing a megaphone and shouting "Attention all ye Ba'athists and Islamofascists!!! Safe area in Fallujah!!! Bring your friends!!! Anyone interested in killing children and/or driving car bombs welcome!!!!"My comments:Now, instead of having them spread throughout the country, we have the bulk of them holed up in one "popular" spot. Like a roach motel. Insurgents check in, but they don't check out.
Thanks for making my point, Bill. Sheesh I'm tired of the Mainstream media reporting things like, "The Marines' foward progress has ground to a dead halt in what the troops have nicknamed The Mother Of All Sandstorms" and then just leaving that out there, confident the public will translate it into, "hopeless, bloody quagmire."
I was in that sandstorm. Yes it was a bad one. It's true that I was not able to do much. My Humvee just sat there on the side of the road all night. What I learned later was that while OUR column couldn't move, foward scouts reported back the positions of similarly pinned enemy to artillary units parked across the road from me. Trust me, they were gettin' shit done all night... I 've got the (slight) hearing loss to prove it.
Our expertly trained, highly advanced military is in the bussiness of turning lemons into lemonade. And they do it very well.
I'd caution people to not dismiss this pilot's assesment of the situation in Fallujah. It's very plausible.
PS: When I learn to use trackbacks (I'm trying!) I'll use them.