U.S. occupation forces send reinforcements to Falluja where anti-American sentiments are running high

BAGHDAD (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - One U.S. soldier was killed and five others wounded early on Thursday, June 5, in the Iraqi city of Falluja in a rocket-propelled grenade attack, as U.S. President George W. Bush promised to find weapons of mass destruction in the country two months after the end of invasion.

The U.S. forces was withholding names of the soldiers, who were assigned to the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, until their next-of-kin has been notified, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

Falluja, 45 miles west of Baghdad, has been the scene of several attacks on U.S. soldiers and of clashes between the troops and Iraqi demonstrators.

"The attack came shortly after a demonstration that was staged around the centre of the city, in which people reiterated calls on the U.S. forces to leave their country,” Al-Jazeera correspondent said on air near the scene of the attack.

It was the second deadly attack on U.S. soldiers in Fallujah in just nine days. On May 27, two soldiers were killed and nine wounded in another assault.

Tension has been boiling in the town since late April, when U.S. troops shot dead at least 16 protesters in two separate incidents. Anti-American sentiments were further frayed up with what the city inhabitants call the U.S. military provocations.

“People said they are furious at house-to-house searches, capturing or attacking civilians and even harassment of women in this conservative religious community as well as tough economic and social conditions,” said Al-Jazeera correspondent, with angry residents standing behind.

“We Do not want the Americans, the British, We want a national representative government here,” said one resident, with a loud disgruntling tone.

The U.S. forces suffered a spate of attacks in disparate areas of the war-torn country that left more than 25 of them dead since May 1, the day Bush said the invasion is over.

The U.S. occupation forces became terrifically cautious about escalating Iraqi resistance activity, as clearly demonstrated in the increase of patrols in Baghdad and other precautionary measures all over the country.

U.S. Deployments

U.S. ground forces commander Lieutenant General David McKiernan announced Wednesday, June 5, that he was deploying troop reinforcements to Fallujah and the towns of Ramadi and Hit further west which have also seen persistent clashes between Iraqis and U.S. troops.

McKiernan said units of the 3rd Infantry Division, which has been freed up in the capital by the arrival of additional U.S. troops, would be repositioned "so that they we will apply some extra military manpower to these hotspot areas".

"We are applying additional military resources and forces to enable us to identify and address these anti-coalition and, I might add, anti-Iraqi elements," he said.

The U.S. commander claimed the unrest was mainly the work of former elements of the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein, although he acknowledged that other groups might be involved.

But amid rising feelings of anger and dissatisfaction among the inhabitants, the attacks are not believed to be carried out by organized groups rather than individuals resisting what they see as a long-occupation of their country.

“The inhabitants have weapons in their hands, so attacking Americans is not such difficult a task,” said the correspondent. Iraqis had earlier rebuffed a U.S. administration’s call to hand over their arms last week. 

The U.S. had said that all of its forces would leave Iraq when a national government is represented. But as the U.S. administration dropped plans for convening a national conference, entrusted to select members of members of this government, and appoint a 25-handpicked member council instead, Iraqis grow more suspicious.

McKiernan said his forces were doing everything they could to address the cultural sensitivities which have inflamed anti-U.S. military sentiment in the deeply conservative region where attacks on U.S. troops have been widely hailed.

"We do have female military police we are trying to distribute among our checkpoint operations. We are sensitive to that situation," said McKiernan, adding nonetheless that "the search still has to take place."

Residents have complained that in the face of the persistent unrest, male soldiers have carried out body searches of women and night raids on private homes where women are sleeping, in violation of Islamic custom.

"Although there are times when male service members are required to search female civilians, every effort is made to ensure those searches are conducted in a professional manner with dignity and respect," Centcom said.

Bush Vows To find Saddam’s WMDs

"No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime because the Iraqi regime is no more," said Bush

Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush vowed Thursday to find Saddam Hussein's alleged arms of mass destruction, amid large accusations that the invasion was launched under a false “doctored” pretext.

At the Qatari base from where the coalition ran the invasion, Bush confidently vowed to find the weapons arsenal which the coalition partners used as justification for the conflict.

"Here's a man who spent decades hiding tools of mass murder," the president told some 2,500 cheering U.S. air force, navy and army troops, referring to Saddam.

"He's got a big country in which to hide 'em. Well, we'll look. We'll reveal the truth," said Bush.

"No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime because the Iraqi regime is no more," said Bush. "We made sure that Iraq’s not gonna serve as an arsenal for terrorist groups."

Meanwhile, the first members of a new team of 1,300 to 1,400 Australian, British and U.S. experts have arrived in Baghdad to begin a new search for evidence of banned weapons.

The team will remain in Iraq as long as it takes to uncover Saddam's secret weapons programs, McKiernan said, which could take some time.

The U.S.-British forces launched the invasion of Iraq on what they said certain intelligence that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. But no such banned weapons were found so far in the oil-rich country.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a key ally of the U.S. invasion, faced a sustained onslaught from all sides of the House of Commons on Wednesday since Downing Street was first accused of exaggerating or sexing up intelligence to strengthen the case against Iraq.