NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 7 -- Promising promotions to all soldiers who go into battle, the interim Iraqi defense minister, Hazim Shalan, called on his army Sunday to "liberate" Fallujah, a signal that U.S. forces had won the blessing of the interim government to proceed with an operation to retake the insurgent-held city.
"This is the first time in the history of Iraq we have seen people being slaughtered like sheep under the umbrella of Islam," Shalan told Iraqi troops gathered at a base near Fallujah. "Your conscience and families call for you. They call for you to liberate this city." Dancing, singing and thrusting their rifles in the air... "Your warrior brothers in the U.S. Marine Corps are proud to stand next to you"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32729-2004Nov7_2.html
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The real point of the battle will be to test how well the 8-10 thousand Iraqi troops do. The rest of this shit is meaningless, if they do well, then the US can leave the country after we have trained about a 100g or more of them. If they suck then we will be there years, unless we cut and run early and the country will fall to pieces.