(Marine) Corps top general in Iraq criticizes handling of Fallujah

[JoFerret]

http://www.marinetimes.com/story.php?f=1-MARINEPAPER-356833.php

Many who fought in Fallujah may have been thinking it, but weren’t willing to say it — that Marines did not want to launch the April siege there, and once in the fight, they didn’t want to pull out before the job was done.
In a candid interview Sept. 12 with four major newspapers at his command post in Iraq, Lt. Gen. James Conway said senior coalition commanders in Iraq ordered the Marines into Fallujah against his advice and counter to the Corps’ long-term plan to quell the city’s insurgency.

Moreover, before Marines could consolidate their gains, they were ordered out, replaced by an unproven local security force cobbled together without the input of senior Marines on the ground there, said Conway, the outgoing commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force.

His comments followed those of Brig. Gen. John Kelly.... Kelly offered a similar analysis of Fallujah ....

“We were ordered to go into Fallujah against our inclination,” Kelly said ....
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The city is one of only a few so-called “no-go zones” for American forces in Iraq. The Fallujah Brigade was disbanded in early September, leaving the city arguably worse off than it was before the April assault.

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Reports indicate that another full-scale assault on the town is imminent, a job now left to Sattler.

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