CAIRO,
September 13 (IslamOnline.net) – With the Iraqi city of Fallujah
coming under bloody US incursions day in and day out, the outgoing US
Marine Corps general in charge of western Iraq broke six months of
silence and launched a stinging criticism against top US military and
civilian leaders who ordered the onslaughts.
Lt.
Gen. James T. Conway, in an interview with the Washington Post
Sunday, September 12, shortly after he had stood down as the commander
of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, also hit out at the
indecisiveness of his superiors, which was culminated in the
withdrawal from Fallujah and relinquishing its security to Iraqi
forces.
Staunchly
opposing Marine assaults on the city, Conway said he resisted calls
for revenge following the killing and mutilation of four US
contractors in Fallujah and opted for dialogue and targeted
operations.
“We
felt like we had a method that we wanted to apply to Fallujah: that we
ought to probably let the situation settle before we appeared to be
attacking out of revenge,” he told the Post.
“Would
our system have been better? Would we have been able to bring over the
people of Fallujah with our methods? You'll never know that for sure,
but at the time we certainly thought so.”
Following
the April incident, the US military staged deadly raids into the
densely populated city and imposed a crippling siege on its citizens.
Since
April, Fallujah residents have been braving the US sophisticated
weapons and putting up relentless resistance, making their city a
no-go area for the US troops.
Increasing
Animosity
Conway
said the US air strikes and bombardment of Fallujah have increased
animosity towards the United States and “radicalized” the already
restive city.
“When
we were told to attack Fallujah, I think we certainly increased the
level of animosity that existed,” Conway said.
Asked
whey he pressed ahead with the attacks then, Conway said he was just
following orders from Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the then overall
commander of US forces in Iraq.
“We
follow our orders,” Conway said. “We had our say, and we
understood the rationale, and we saluted smartly, and we went about
the attack.”
He
continued: “When you order elements of a Marine division to attack a
city, you really need to understand what the consequences of that are
going to be and not perhaps vacillate in the middle of something like
that," he said. "Once you commit, you got to stay
committed.”
Indecisiveness
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A Fallujah resident inspects damage done to his house after the US raid Monday
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Conway
also hit out the indecisiveness of Sanchez who ordered him to cease
Fallujah patrols and give up security responsibilities to Iraqis, a
decision that led to the formation the Fallujah Brigade.
According
to other US Marine officers, the incessant US attacks into Fallujah
have turned away the 1000-strong Brigade, which was led by Iraq's
intelligence service, Mohammad Abdullah Shahwani.
Not
only did the brigade fail to combat “militants”, it actively aided
them, surrendering weapons, vehicles and radios they get from the US
military to the resistance fighters, the officers told the American
paper.
Some
brigade members even participated in attacks on Marines ringing the
city, the officers added.
“Eventually,
the 800 AK-47 assault rifles, 27 pickup trucks and 50 radios the
Marines gave the brigade wound up in the hands of the insurgents,”
the officers said.
That
security force, known as the Fallujah Brigade, was formally disbanded
last week, the paper said.
However,
with no security forces in Fallujah now, US troops do not patrol
inside the city limits.
The
Marine encirclement of Fallujah was highly controversial. Iraqi
political leaders and UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi accused US military
commanders of engaging in collective punishment of city residents.
