Falluja: Dire Results..... Recap

[IllegalArgument]

I wanted to revive this thread again, and get people opinions on what effect this battle had on the war.

It seems to me that it had little effect, most of the insurgents , at least the important ones, avoided the hammer fall, and scattered to other cities.

There appears to be more attacks in the country as a whole, also more coordinated, than before Falluja.

Here's the original thread.

http://www.internationalskeptics.co...erpage=40&highlight=dire results&pagenumber=1

Search for "dire results" if for some reason this link doesn't work.

 

[AtheistArchon]

- Hm. I find it hard to believe that Bush's military folks didn't realize that a strike in Fallujah would simply smash a nest of roaches, not the roaches themselves. They will of course flee and regroup somewhere else, if not stay dispersed and conduct further ops from the middle ground.

- That's the real bitch about this Iraqi occupation thing: you can't win it, in the real sense of the word, without conquering the people as a whole. Winning their hearts and minds, so to speak. And while I'm sure every right-winger's favorite argument is technically true, that being that they're better off without Sadddam, they certainly aren't in a large rush towards small-town neighborhoods and green pastures.

 

[IllegalArgument]

I have strong doubts that the goverment really understands this war. They are fighting it like WWII or Korea.

There is one thing they could do to improve the security situation, put more troops on the ground, but that would require a draft.

 

[Hutch]

Well, logistically it may have hurt the insurgents some, but that's the problem with small, informal groups...they often find new ways to do things.

The big issue is still the 30 Jan 05 elections....since Pres. Bush has made them the centerpoint (by not compromising on the date elections are to be held and saying that valid and just elections will take place on that date) then if the insurgents/rebels/terrorists can effectively disrupt them or make them look less than valid (say only 20% of the electorate vote because of security fears) they will have "won", albeit in much the same style as the Vietcong "won" at Tet (by nearly getting wiped out, but yet making a fundamental political shift in the belief we were winning in Vietnam).

Nope, January 2005 culminating in 30 Jan elections will be a most decisive period, above and beyond any action in Falujjah.

We shall see......

 

[Mr Manifesto]

Donald Rumsfeld said
Success in Fallujah will deal a blow to the terrorists in the country and should move Iraq further away from a future of violence to one of freedom and opportunity for the Iraqi people.

19 US Soldiers Killed in Mosul

Wrong again, Rummy, wrong again. Better stock up on signature pens.