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smooth · 11-26-2004, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by powerclown

Fallujah is a city of about 350,000 inhabitants.

Now show me a reliable link saying tens of thousands of civilians were killed in Fallujah.

This is from your own link, is that reliable enough for you?

Quote:

According to the British Independent Newspaper "Since the Anglo-American aggression began in March 2003, more than 16,000 Iraqis have been killed by the invaders in Fallujah, some 10,000 of whom were civilians, a large proportion of them women and children. It is in this context the hatred felt by the majority of Fallujah citizens against US forces must be looked at and calling them resistance fighters is justified."

The occupying force on April 9 allowed more than 70,000 women, children and elderly residents to leave the besieged city, reportedly also allowing males of military age to leave.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2004, the U.S. military conducted sporadic airstrikes on Fallujah, often on residential areas. U.S. forces claimed that these were targeted, intelligence-based strikes against houses used by the group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an insurgency leader linked to al-Qaida. Civilians were also killed in these attacks.

In October and early November, 2004, the U.S. military prepared for a major offensive against the rebel stronghold with stepped up daily aerial attacks using precision-guided munitions against alleged militant "safe houses," restaurants and meeting places in the city. U.S. Marines also engaged in firefights on a daily and nightly basis along the perimeter of the city. There were again conflicting reports of civilian casualties.

Embedded journalists who operate under the close physical supervision of the US army information units and are restricted to a strict censorship have reported the following:
On November 8, 2004, a force of over 10,000 U.S. and 2000 Iraqi troops began a concentrated assault on Fallujah with air strikes, artillery, armor, and infantry. They seized the rail yards North of the city, and pushed into the city simultaneously from the North, West and Southeast, taking control of the volatile Jolan and Askari districts. Rebel resistance was not as strong as expected, although some rebels fought very hard as they fell back. By nightfall on November 9, 2004, the U.S. troops had reached the heart of the city. U.S. military officials stated that 1,000 to 6,000 insurgents were believed to be in the city, but they did not appear to be well-organized, and fought in small groups, of three to 25. Many insurgents were believed to have slipped away amid widespread reports that the U.S. offensive was coming. During the assault, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers endured sniper fire and destroyed booby traps, but not as many as anticipated. Ten U.S. troops were killed in the fighting and 22 wounded in the first two days of fighting. Insurgent casualty numbers were estimated at 85 to 90 killed or wounded. Several more days of fighting were anticipated as U.S. and Iraqi troops conducted house-to-house searches for weapons, booby traps, and insurgents.
Reports by the Washington Post suggest that US armed forces used white phosphore granades, creating walls of fire in the city. Doctors working inside Fallujah report seeing melted corpses of suspected inssurgents.

On November 13, 2004 a Red Crescent convoy containing humanitarian aid was barred from entering Fallujah by the U.S. army.

So, the first problem is I asked you to check your math. You instead continued to post the population of the city ignoring the fact that hundreds of thousands of people have fled the city since that count. It was in this context that I type above regarding a growing humanitarian crisis as reported by international aid agencies.

So far, it appears as though your own link supports everything I've been talking about. I also posted above that the Lancet had just completed a study. Use google to find it. If you don't think that's reliable (btw, I already wrote that it's considered the most respected peer reviewed journal in the world), I don't feel the need to dig out more evidence. You are demonstrating that you would rather ignore these facts because they don't fit with your concept of what we are doing over there. So be it, but I'm glad you finally admitted you would rather just toss the evidence out.