Fallujah

The boys are back in town

Published on May 1, 2004 By InfoGeek In Current Events

OK, we went into Iraq to get Saddam and other secondary reasons. Cool. In order to do this we had to destroy a lot of the Iraqi landscape and infrastructure, which we are now in the process of repairing and rebuilding. Understood.

We will be in Iraq for a long time.

Also, we are in control of a majority of Iraq. Terrorists, armed US resistance set up shop in Fallujah. The US could not truly retake the city without massive loss of civilian life. We could not (to paraphrase Aliens: “Leave the city and nuke it from the air”). It is not what most soldiers are trained to do. So we turned over control of the city to Iraqi troops. The idea being that Iraqis can police Iraqis better then the US can. This I get. If we can turn control of the cities to a standing Iraqi army or security force, this will aid in the transfer of power on June 30th.

But, who controls the Iraqi army in Fallujah? A new forward thinking man, well versed in police procedure? A student of democracy and basic civil and personal rights? A man with either ties to the US, sympathy to the US interest in a stable and democratic Iraq?

NO! His name is Jassim Mohammed Saleh. He is a former Saddam Hussein General and a member of the Elite Republican Guard. A former leader of Saddam’s forces is now in control of a city with an armed force.

And the US is OK with this?

IG

Comments

pseudosoldier

on May 01, 2004

http://www.cpa-iraq.org/pressreleases/20040422_generals.html

So. Generals from the Iraqi Army from the former regime are being rehired. Ba'athists are going to be allowed to vote and hold office. Why would we possibly do this?
There are background checks in place. Obviously, anyone in the infamous deck of cards would be excluded from these sorts of initiatives. Saleh has been "checked by the Marines who have full confidence in him." ( http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-05/01/content_1450269.htm ) And they aren't the only ones.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/59D0FB50-77CE-4EF8-BCD2-C65D9D6851E0.htm

Granted, the source might be slanted ; ) but if the Iraqis are truly happy to see a Saddam regime era General show up, that says one (or both) of two things:
1) The Iraqis think they can get a fair shake from this man. He must not have been one of the worse leaders in the Iraqi army. Honestly, the Republican Guards were infamous not for their cruelty, but for being the elite troops. They got the best equipment, and probably the best treatment of any troops in Iraq.
2) The Iraqis want him regardless of his background because they think they can get a fairer shake out of an Arab than out of the Kufr Americans.

I also suppose there could be a third option, where he turns on us and leads an uprising of the Fallujah militias... I think this is unlikely. An interesting excerpt from the al-Jazeera article:
"Asked what limits would be placed on Salih's group, Conway said: "We don't see any extremism in any fashion in this group of Iraqi general officers. We are not overly concerned about it at this point."
That, and that General Salih reportedly offered to take on security in Fallujah.

Basically, we have to trust that the people in charge of making sure things run smoothly are doing their jobs. That the background checks on these people were done properly. If it was completed satisfactorily, I don't have a problem with putting this General in charge. After all, we're working hand-in-hand with Iraqi police already, and have been for quite some time. If there is *no one* over there that we can trust... we'll be much worse off than we think we are.

Mr_Frog

on May 02, 2004

We certainly cannot appoint Americans for these positions. In this case, as pseudosoldier pointed out, it is probably better to put the "less evil" military people in charge, considering their background checks. It's kind of like voting for the lesser of two evils for a public office here in the states.

-- B

SundaysLost23

on May 02, 2004

Just a wee bit disturbing. I've got a few friends over there, I hate knowing where their fate lies.

couchman

on May 02, 2004

The same sort of thing to an extent was done in post ww2 japan/germany......especially during the cold war...where former nazis were used ...with some success against the soviets....as for this new iraqi unit in falluja, they fall under the command of the marines there..and whatever unit follows them in the rotation....just because one belonged to the Baathis party doesnt neccessaryily equate into a blood thirsty bastard...same was true in both japan/germany in post ww2...anyhow..i'm reserving judgement over this former regime general and the new unit till later....no matter what position anyone takes on it....at this point its only pure speculation

pseudosoldier

on May 03, 2004

While I'd like to abide by Godwin (and boy did I have to try hard to avoid it in my post), it looks like I have to eat some crow, at least in this specific indicident:

Link

I still stand by my comments in general. We will have to trust someone, right? Of course, it would help if we actually checked out their background first...

Link

6969jimbo6969

on May 03, 2004

Hello.
Don't forget that Mr. Hitler, excuse me I meant to say, Hussein, was our darling boy psycho Fyears and years and years. We picked him out, groomed him(with help from BP and MI5, admittedly), gave him money and data to do his dirty deeds, until he was determined to be Persona Non Grata all of a sudden. It should surprise no one that one of his top thugs should end up being the man in Bagdhad who was our go-to guy.

If you are interested in a bibliography of the Baathists, U.S. involvement in Iraq(and Iran and the rest of the region, of course, the prerogative of a super-power to lay waste whatever is in the way of it's 'supremacy', eh?), let me know, and I'll send you some citations. You might try any number of articles from the "New York Review of Books," as a start, and in general the writings of Edward Said, if you want a starting place.

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