A delegation of Iraqi officials entered the besieged city of Fallujah on Saturday for talks on reducing the violence after a U.S. call for a bilateral ceasefire. Explosions and sporadic gunfire were heard as Marines moved into residential neighborhoods to prevent firing on their forces. Hundreds of women, children and elderly men fled the city for a second day, taking advantage of a relative lull in the fighting. They piled into pickups and clung to the outside of packed minivans. U.S. forces were not allowing "military-aged men" to leave.
The fighting Saturday was restricted to small pockets of the city. Some Marines moved a few blocks into the Nazzal residential suburb from an industrial zone in the city’s southeastern region that they’ve been using as a staging post for several days. The troops broke into homes in an attempt to clear out gunmen firing on them, witnesses said. "Today what we are seeking is a bilateral cease-fire on the battlefield so we can allow for discussions," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters in Baghdad. "This is an aspiration," he said. He added that he was "hoping to get this message to the enemy through this press conference" and the Arabic press "so they can join the cease-fire."
| I'd rather see them killed, each and every one. |
A Marine commander in Fallujah said he had no orders to stop fighting, and there was no immediate response from insurgents to Kimmitt’s call Saturday to join a cease-fire. "I’ve got no direction of any kind on a cease-fire, so I will continue to fight until I’m instructed to do different. I don’t know what the word is from Baghdad, but I’ve got word from my higher headquarters, and if they wanted me to hold up they would tell me," said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. Earlier Saturday, the Governing Council demanded an immediate ceasefire across the country and a halt to military operations that punish civilians.
The rest cut. Looks like Fallujah is still an object lesson. BTW I like not allowing miltary age men to leave a lot. |