[Marxism] "We did not sign up to fight Iraqis."

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

 Iraqi Battalion Refuses to 'Fight Iraqis'

By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 11, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD, April 10 -- A battalion of the new Iraqi army refused to go to
Fallujah earlier this week to support U.S. Marines battling for control of
the city, senior U.S. Army officers here said, disclosing an incident that
is casting new doubt on U.S. plans to transfer security matters to Iraqi
forces.

It was the first time U.S. commanders had sought to involve the postwar
Iraqi army in major combat operations, and the battalion's refusal came as
large parts of Iraqi security forces have stopped carrying out their duties.

The 620-man 2nd Battalion of the Iraqi Armed Forces refused to fight Monday
after members of the unit were shot at in a Shiite Muslim neighborhood in
Baghdad while en route to Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim stronghold, said U.S.
Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, the official overseeing the development of Iraqi
security forces. The convoy then turned around and returned to the
battalion's home on a former Republican Guard base in Taji, a town north of
the capital.

Eaton said members of the battalion insisted during the ensuing
discussions: "We did not sign up to fight Iraqis."

 full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2680-2004Apr10.html


Louis Proyect
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org


_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism