September 22, 2004

Negotiations in Fallujah?

The keen-eyed and reliable Eric Umansky sees some positive signs in Fallujah:

Eric Umansky: Negotiations in Fallujah: Apparently with the U.S. excluded. From IWPR's Iraqi Press Monitor:

FALLUJANS LAY DOWN CONDITIONS FOR PEACE (al-Sabah al-Jadeed) - Negotiators on behalf of Fallujah residents continued meetings with government officials aimed at ending the city's crisis. The delegation headed by Sheikh Khalid Mahmood al-Jumaili, imam of a mosque in Falluja, went to Baghdad to talk about the residents' requests. Fallujans want US forces barred from the city as a condition of handing over their weapons and ending military operations against the Americans. The Fallujans also asked for compensation to be paid to people affected by the recent US bombardment. The delegation expressed optimism over solving the crisis peacefully.
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed is an independent daily paper.)

Posted by DeLong at September 22, 2004 11:45 AM | TrackBack
Comments

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

Go Atrios!

Posted by: ogmb at September 22, 2004 01:15 PM

It's kinda sad, Adrian going around giving evidence of how badly he has fallen short of the normal standard of discourse. Staying on topic right here, for instance, might be a good effort toward meeting such a standard.

Posted by: kharris at September 22, 2004 01:21 PM


I agree, Adrian, the average rightwing blog parasite REALLY DOES believe that their posting problems on another site are more important than events that could move U.S. military casualties up or down by dozens and Iraqi casualties up or down by thousands.

Saddam is kaput. There are no WMDs in Iraq, nor was there any production capacity. There never was Iraqi state support for Al Qaeda and now there is no Iraqi state. Our presence is creating hatred for America and is polluting the political environment for moderates. Getting the hell out of Fallujah is a good first step.

Posted by: vote no on (almost) all CA propositions at September 22, 2004 01:58 PM

I'm afraid that if I were a Fallujan, I wouldn't hand in my gun until the Yanks were well out of the country. And even not then. There's just too many people, and nobody to trust.

Posted by: Lee A. at September 22, 2004 02:13 PM

Note that this supports the idea that the Iraqis have a bigger stake in peace and order than we give them credit for, as our host pointed out downpage:

"The people of Fallujah have, I believe, a much larger stake in figuring out how to get Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and company out of Fallujah than the U.S. Marines do."

For making what seems to me to be an obvious point, he drew scorn from many regular readers. Crow, anyone?

Posted by: masaccio at September 22, 2004 04:03 PM

If this comes to pass, it really *would* be good news. Here's hoping.

Posted by: RT at September 22, 2004 05:09 PM

Not a Chance! Bush is not their favorite, and no lessening of resistence until after the Election. Arabs have always closely followed American politics--especially Terrorists. lgl

Posted by: lgl at September 22, 2004 05:57 PM

Winning the peace in Iraq has always been in need of a political and not a military solution. However, political negotiations are anathema to the my way or the highway administration. For $200 Billion, we should have been able to bribe and buy the whole damn country. The US does not need the "Michigan Militia of Iraq" as much as we need an Iraqi Al Capone and an offer they can't refuse.

Posted by: bakho at September 22, 2004 07:38 PM