FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) — More than 280 Iraqis have been killed and 400 wounded this week in the U.S. Marines' siege of insurgents in this city west of Baghdad, the director of Fallujah's hospital said Thursday.
Taher Al-Issawi told The Associated Press that the toll was likely higher.

"We also know of dead and wounded in various places buried under rubble, but we cannot reach them," because of fighting, he said.

The helpless victims of the seige of Falluja ... the children!!

"Iraq in flames" say the Italian press headlines, and they're dead right.

Full-scale insurgency now - Sunni AND Shia!!... and as every Iraqi death ultimately brings new recruits to the radicalized militia, vicious-circle escalation guaranteed throughout coming months. The coalition's hold had been essentially dependent on Shia tolerance, but now that's blow sky-high!! ...although Sistani is still trying to control the conflagration by calling on HIS followers to stay calm. But as/if the Shia death-toll rises, this will become harder and harder to do.

Apart from Baghdad area, Shia zones are mostly under non-US control (UK, Italy, Spain...) but if this tension continues (and I don't see how the cork can be put back in the bottle now), wonder which if ANY of these these countries will really be prepared to keep their troops in the front line in murderous day-to-day clashes against mass civilian armed revolt. Which would make the "UN/Nato alternative" totally impracticable.

Plus have read US is already "casting doubts" on 30th June handover date due to ..."civil war" aka insurgency - which proves some US dems no less IDIOTIC than Neo-Cons - as any friggin' around with THAT date would automatically bring even the "moderate" Sistani and his followers into armed rebellion, seeing at that point there would be NO further reason to refrain.

Which would leave the US with what?

The Kurdish zones, duh! ...

"DarkMirror prophecy of the week":
US forces, if not withdrawn as per clear schedule rapidly agreed around time of handover, will be ultimately reduced to giving military support to Kurdish secessionist claims, defending Kirkuk oilfields from Shia and Sunni alike in full-blown Iraqi civil war....


Email contact address: parvati_roma@email.it

Despite the disingenuous reactions in US media, the horrors of the Falluja crowd's lynching of US private security agents didn't come "from nowhere"...

Here's a quick checklist of the sequence of US actions that have culminated in this brutal mass attack against US personnel.

How the US has been treating the people of Falluja:

Air bombardments in initial invasion period;

April 28th, 2003: US forces fire on crowd in Falluja protesting invasion, killing 17 people and wounding 70;

April 30th, 2003: US forces again fire on protesting crowd, killing 3 more people and wounding another 16:

In the first six months of occupation, US forces killed at least a further 40 civilians and police in and around Falluja.

November 2003: Operation "Ivy Cyclone" and "Operation Iron Hammer" targeted Falluja with 500 lb bombs... followed by attack helicopters and paratroopers in armoured vehicles blowing up civilian properties death and destruction toll "not available"..

January 2004: US troops again fire on protesters = at least 3 killed, 5 seriously wounded

March 28th 2004: marines swept into Falluja - US forces killed at least 6 Iraqi civilians including an 11-year-old boy, and a TV cameraman

...

No, the vicious-circle cycle of revenge-and-retaliation between occupiers and occupied populations is NOT pretty, anywhere - ugly in Israel/Palestine, in Chechenya... and in Falluja too.


For source links, see my posts in: http://groups.msn.com/whatreallyhappened/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=62911&LastModified=4675466284843437337