CENTRAL IRAQ (AFP) - Iraqi civilians fleeing heavy fighting have stunned and delighted hungry US marines in central Iraq (news - web sites) by giving them food, as guerrilla attacks continue to disrupt coalition supply lines to the rear. Sergeant Kenneth Wilson said Arabic-speaking US troops made contact with two busloads of Iraqis fleeing south along Route Seven towards Rafit, one of the first friendly meetings with local people for the marines around here. "They had slaughtered lambs and chickens and boiled eggs and potatoes for their journey out of the frontlines," Wilson said. At one camp, the buses stopped and women passed out food to the troops, who have had to ration their army-issue packets of ready-to-eat meals due to disruptions to supply lines by fierce fighting further south. Civilians have remained largely out of sight since the invasion began 10 days ago. Towns and villages are virtually deserted, prompting speculation that most had shifted to safer ground before the fighting began. Corpsman Tony Garcia said the food donation was an act of appreciation for the American effort to topple the brutal regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). "They gave us eggs and potatoes to feed our marines and corpsmen. I feel the local population are grateful and they want to see an end to Saddam Hussein," he said. "It was a lovely, beautiful gesture." Khairi Ilrekibi, 35, a passenger on one of the buses, which broke down near the marine position, said he could speak for the 20 others on board. In broken English he told a correspondent travelling with the marines: "We like Americans," adding that no one liked Saddam Hussein because "he was not kind." He said Iraqi civilians living near him were opposed to Saddam Hussein and that most were hiding in their homes and were extremely tired. Lance Corporal David Polikowsky stood guard over 70 POWS near the broken down bus, saying how grateful he was for food cooked and donated by locals, which included oranges. Looking on warily at the POWS he was guarding, who included two Jordanians, as well as an Iraqi colonel, captain, major and second lieutenant from special forces and the regular army, he said he had been moved by comments from local civilians. He said they told him: "We welcome you. What is your name? We will pray for you." He said another group of POWS, largely conscripts, had been moved south. "They told me they wanted to go to America after the war. I said where. They said California. I said why? They said the song Hotel California and they left singing Hotel California." Soldiers with this marine division -- on the east of a two-pronged thrust toward Baghdad -- have seen some of the fiercest fighting of the war so far. They battled their way through heavy fire at Nasiriyah, Sharat and Rafit before pausing to resupply within 250 kilometres (180 miles) of Baghdad on Thursday. Prisoners have been taken and pockets of displaced people carrying white flags have been seen along the way. Some have waved, others have asked the marines for cigarettes and water. But US troops have been keeping a wary distance from civilians, mindful of reports that some Iraqi forces were mingling with civilians in order to drift through American lines and launch surprise attacks. Ambushes and harassing fire along the massive communications lines to Kuwait in the south have caused casualties and disrupted supplies of water, food and fuel to the frontline troops. Garcia and Wilson are attached to a Shock Trauma Platoon with the Marine Expeditionary Force and have treated about 20 civilians for war-related wounds in the past five days. As troops munched on their feast, one medic warned the food could have been deliberately contaminated. He was quickly disregarded as the hungry marines forged ahead to make a fondue out of a donated tin of Australian processed cheese, but the potatoes were eaten before the cheese could melt. "Man I never thought a boiled egg could taste so damn good," one burly marine observed. One would think our defense secretary would understand the significance of protecting the supply line, especially since he's from Germany. I may be wrong, but in the second World War the Russians defeated the Germans by destroying their supply lines which left the Germans out there like sitting ducks in the freezing cold with no, food, water, and military supplies. I'd like to think our military planners would of forseen something like this happening. But it doesnt look that way cause are ground forces seem to be spread too thin for us to protcet our supply lines from being ambushed.
We underestimated the Fedayeen Saddam. They are the ones harrassing our supply lines. That situation will be rectified soon, though... It's a wierd war... Hotel California?
Maybe that song is on the top 40 chart over there. Under an oppressive government it may take 25 years or so for a song to get airplay.
These have to be one of the more grateful people in the world. Forget Iraq, lets ship them to America and leave the lunatics! It wouldn't hurt to add more good people to this country.
Just from the countless times I have heard the song, that is the way I interpreted the song. For instance - (lyric) - Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering lightMy head grew heavy and my sight grew dimI had to stop for the night - I took this as the many near death experiences of people seeing a light at the end of a tunnel. (lyric) - -- There she stood in the doorway;I heard the mission bellAnd I was thinking to myself,'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell' -- at this point he realizes that that someone is welcomming him in but he isn't sure which place he's at. (lyric) - -------- Mirrors on the ceiling,The pink champagne on iceAnd she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device' All the voices he has been hearing (as well as himself) are there at their own doing. (lyric) - --- Last thing I remember, I wasRunning for the doorI had to find the passage backTo the place I was before - He finally starts to realize that he's in hell, and starts trying to find a way out. At the end the song goes on to say that ... "They are programed to decieve, you can check out anytime you want but you can't ever leave." ... Everything he has experienced is basically an illusion. No matter what he says or does he is there because of his own actions and can never leave. That's just the way I interpreted the song.
Surrender story: File from the front: Prisoners tied in red tape By Charles Clover near Najaf Published: March 30 2003 18:04 | Last Updated: March 30 2003 18:04 Ali Karim Kreidi is at a loss. He wants to surrender, has a perfectly valid ID card from the Al Quds militia indicating that, as a combatant he is entitled to be a prisoner of war. But as luck would have it, its the wrong colour. American troops at Checkpoint Aces on the outskirts of Najaf, Iraq, have been told to look for green military ID cards, and purple Baath Party membership cards. Al Quds militia issues white ID badges, and despite all sorts of hand signals, such as raising his arms, pointing at himself and saying "jundi" - Arabic for soldier - and putting his wrists together, the private manning the checkpoint is not giving him the time of day. "You have to keep moving" he says sternly. But this turned out to be Mr Kreidi's lucky day. I arrive looking to interview people walking from Najaf past the checkpoint, and happen on Mr Kreidi. By the end of the day he is in a pair of plastic handcuffs, squatting in a row of detainees and smiling from ear to ear. "There is nothing, I have nothing. There is no reason to fight. I just want to give myself up," he tells me, wearing a white gown, a mustache, and a slightly manic air. "Look I am a soldier." He shows his ID card from the Al Quds militia group, considered a dangerous paramilitary force by the army. I have arrived at checkpoint Aces (named for the unit that was guarding it: the 270 armoured battalion, or "Aces of Death") trying to get information on the city from people coming out. The checkpoint lies along one of the only routes into and out of the city that has not been sealed by US forces in an attempt to quarantine Iraqi paramilitary forces in the city. US troops are checking IDs and searching people in an effort to prevent Iraqi troops from escaping from, or entering, Najaf. Most are daily commuters, though with every day the number of families leaving with loads on their backs increases. "We can't take the bombing, we are scared for our children" said one family, walking briskly out of the city. Many complain of a lack of food. With every day of the standoff between US forces and Iraqi militias, the situation grows scarier for the city's inhabitants. Any green military IDs found without a discharge notation mean an automatic trip to a prisoner of war camp in the south. For many Iraqis, this is highly inconvenient, as military IDs are nearly as obligatory as a drivers licence in Iraq and entitle the bearer to better treatment by the police. Mohammed Khasim, whose military ID said he joined the army in 1998, and has no discharge notation, said that he had got the card through "wasta" - connections - and had never been in the army. His three brothers are waiting for him on the other side of the makeshift fence that separates the handcuffed detainees from passersby. But by the end of the day he is off to a prisoner of war camp, his brothers' protests notwithstanding. The soldiers manning the checkpoint have clearly been through this all day. They have two types of problems cases: those qualified to be a prisoner of war but don't want to be, like Mr Khasim, and those like Mr Kreidi, who desperately want to be a prisoner of war but do not have the right documents. I ask Mr Kreidi if he really wants to give himself up. "Oh yes, there is no reason to do anything else. They will feed me?" he asks. "I think so," I hedge. I walk him over, and tell the sergeant at the detention area that Mr Kreidi wants to surrender. "Get to the back of the line" he says. I explain that the ID is that of a well known militia group, and Mr Kreidi would be a threat to humanity, democracy, and the American people, if he continued to walk the streets. "You guys feed them, right?" I make sure. "I think so" he says. The last I see of him he is grinning and nodding at me from a line of detainees. "God be with you!" he smiles at me as he is led away http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentS...y&c=StoryFT&cid=1048313300022&p=1045511316837
