18 November 2004
Defense Department Report, November 18: Iraq Update
Fallujah now secure, though still not safe, U.S. generals say
The Iraqi town of Fallujah is now secure, but still not safe, said U.S. military officers in separate November 18 briefings.
Eleven days after commencing the combined U.S.-Iraqi thrust into the stronghold of the insurgency, Lieutenant General John Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq, said U.S. and Iraqi forces have control of the city but, because the process of going through the entire town building by building is not yet complete, he cannot say that it is entirely safe.
Coalition forces are carrying out repeated sweeps of the city, Sattler said, to make sure no insurgents remain hidden and to remove existing weapons and munitions. Because the insurgents booby-trapped many of the munitions stockpiles, they will have to be destroyed in place, he said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Army Lieutenant General Lance Smith, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told journalists at the Washington-based Foreign Press Center that coalition forces "have done an admirable job of quickly securing the city," though "pockets of resistance" remain.
In areas apart from the fighting, Smith said, U.S. and Iraqi forces and some humanitarian organizations are delivering humanitarian aid -- though security must improve significantly for nonprofit work "[W]e will continue to search and clear until we find it's stable enough to allow others in there," Smith said.
Sattler said 51 Americans and eight Iraqis have been killed in the fighting and estimated the death toll of insurgents at 1,200. Casualty figures are still being compiled, he said
Sattler also said he believed 25 to 30 Iraqi civilians have been injured in the fighting but none have been killed. He noted that coalition forces gave civilians ample warnings, including leaflet drops, to leave before the battle began.
Asked when Fallujah's citizens will be able to return to their city, Sattler said, "[I]t will be event-driven. ... We will make a recommendation to the prime minister once we feel it is fairly safe and fairly secure."
He added that the military will have emergency assistance -- including food and water -- in place if, for example, the electricity isn't restored quickly enough to accommodate the returnees.
Sattler said the re-establishment of Iraqi security forces -- specifically, Iraqi police -- is critical for preventing a return of insurgent forces after U.S. forces depart.
"We will not move out too early. We will stay in proximity, as close as necessary, to ensure that the rule of law is in fact maintained after we've re-established it. We will move out as the Iraqi security structure takes hold," he said.
Both Sattler and Smith said they were impressed with the performance of Iraqi soldiers in Fallujah. "[W]hat we saw in Fallujah gives us great confidence that we will be able to transition to an Iraq that is fully capable of taking care of its internal security as well as its external [security needs]," Smith said.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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