Loose cannons

Expert opinion I

"I think the marines will enjoy working in Fallujah. But they'll be bloodied." — Lieutenant Colonel Brian Drinkwine, commander of US Army's 700-member 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, speaking to reporters after the March 24 handover of the occupation of Fallujah to the US marines.

Expert opinion II

"But none of this [armed resistance] was here when we got here. And six months from now, when the marines leave, they will have created much more. They will have captured or killed more enemy. But there will still be more out there that will pick up a gun and attack." — Drinkwine again.

April Fools Day joke

"Late in March, Falluja was put under the control of newly arrived US marines, who vowed to pacify the region at the same time as their military leaders repeated claims that they were on top of the insurgency and entering a mop-up phase ahead of the June 30 handover." — Sydney Morning Herald, April 1.

Innocent mercenaries

"Yesterday's attack on these innocent men only further illustrates the evil influence Saddam Hussein still has over so many Iraqis." — US Senator Elizabeth Dole (Republican, North Carolina), commenting on the April 1 killing in Fallujah of four employees of Blackwater Security Consulting, one of five subsidiaries of Blackwater USA based in North Carolina. According to the April 2 New York Times, "Blackwater ... is a private military firm that provides... the American government with soldiers for hire: former Green Berets, Army Rangers and Navy Seals".

From Green Left Weekly, April 7, 2004.

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From GLW issue 578