Marine-led campaign killed friends and foes, Iraqi leaders say

[Barrett808]

Marine-led campaign killed friends and foes, Iraqi leaders say
By Hannah Allam and Mohammed al Dulaimy
Knight Ridder Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - When foreign fighters poured into villages with jihad on their minds and weapons in their hands, some Iraqi tribesmen in western desert towns fought back.

They set up checkpoints to filter out the foreigners. They burned down suspected insurgent safe houses. They called their fellow tribesmen in Baghdad and other urban areas for backup.

And when they still couldn't uproot the terrorists streaming in from Syria, tribal leaders said, they took a most unusual step: They asked the Americans for help.

...

"The Americans were bombing whole villages and saying they were only after the foreigners," said Fasal al Goud, a former governor of Anbar province who said he asked U.S. forces for help on behalf of the tribes. "An AK-47 can't distinguish between a terrorist and a tribesman, so how could a missile or tank?"

(more)

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11662321.htm

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. "uproot the terrorists streaming in from Syria"

Although the article knocks the US pretty hard for being heavy handed, they make sure to drive this Syrian connection hard don't they?

[beam me up scottie]

2. christ.

"Bruska Nouri Shaways, Iraq's deputy defense minister, at first couldn't believe the request for help from the traditionally rebellious province. Shaways, who took several calls from tribal sheiks, said he immediately alerted the U.S military about their willingness to share information on Zarqawi followers.

"They said, `We are citizens of Qaim and we are now being attacked by non-Iraqi people coming from Syria,'" Shaways said. "Until this time, they had never asked the Iraqi or the American forces to help them. It's a good sign."

so they sent in the marines...

***
Capt. Jeff Pool, a Marine spokesman in Iraq, confirmed that Iraqi informants contributed to intelligence gathering for Matador but said there was no effort by the U.S. military to incorporate local tribes in its assault plans. He said he couldn't verify that al Goud or others had contacted Marine officers at Camp Fallujah.

"We have no knowledge of any local efforts" to reach out to the military before the operation, he said in an e-mail response to questions.

Pool also said in his e-mail that American officers were aware of fighting among local forces before the Marines moved in.

"Three days before Operation Matador kicked off, Marines in Qaim observed 57 mortar rounds exchanged between two groups," he wrote. "None of the mortars were directed at the Marines or any other coalition force. We don't know who was firing at who or why."
***

we will never be able to right this.