As death and destruction reign in Fallujah, violence continues across the rest of Iraq, meaning that the bloody pacification of that city won’t halt the attacks against U.S. forces or against the Iraq’s American-installed government. Several more U.S. soldiers were killed, along with British troops, Iraqi police, and civilians.
First casualty figures from the battle in Fallujah today indicate at least 48 dead, including three American Marines.
In Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed by small-arms fire.
In central Iraq, a roadside bomb killed a British soldier and wounded two others.
Car bombs hit a U.S. Marine installation in Ramadi, wounding five. Six people were killed in Ramadi in the past 24 hours, and 25 were wounded in clashes with insurgents.
In Zubayr, in southern Iraq, a roadside bomb killed two Western civilians, wounding others.
And in Baghdad, according to Reuters, car bombs at two churches and a hospital killed eight people and wounded dozens. “A few hours later,” reported Reuters, “A suicide car bomber plowed into four police cars parked outside the hospital entrance, killing at least five policemen, police said.”
Meanwhile, in Hilla, police disguised themselves as civilians to attack resistance forces there, reportedly killing 25.
All of this shows that occupying Fallujah won’t end the violence. It will only create another new symbol of the U.S. occupation.
