Iraq: Live from Fallujah

U.S. and Iraqi forces established control over more than 70 percent of Fallujah on Wednesday, U.S. commanders said, and troops described encountering only small pockets of resistance as they pushed through a city that they likened to a ghost town.

Troops Secure Much of Fallujah, (Nov. 11)

Washington Post staff writer Jackie Spinner was online Thursday, Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. ET to discuss the latest developments live from Fallujah, where she is embedded with U.S. forces.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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washingtonpost.com: Jackie should be with us momentarily.

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Essington, Pa.: Jackie,

Is it preferrable to report from an embedded military unit, or do you prefer to roam about the city without their protection? I presume the quality of reporting is better if you aren't chained to a branch of the military, but it certainly seems much more dangerous to move about Iraq without their security.

Thanks for your brave reporting from Fallujah. Between your reports in The Post and on NPR, I really get a sense of what is going on there.

Jackie Spinner: Hello from near Fallujah. Sorry to be late in getting to your questions. I am in the middle of a field with my computer connected to a satellite. I'm with the Army and we're on light restrictions so the insurgents can't find us. I never noticed how bright my laptop screen was.

Essington -- Unfortunately, it is impossible to roam about the city without protection. The only way we can cover this offensive for now is with the military. I should note that the insurgents offered embed spots to us as well. Only a French photographer took them up on it. He was detained by US forces yesterday as he fled his embed.

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Anonymous: Jackie, have you had a chance to interview many Iraqi troops; if so, what is their general attitude about the war in Iraq? Do you get the feeling that they wish the Americans had never come -- that they were better off with Saddam in power?

Jackie Spinner: I spent time with Iraqi soldiers the day the offensive started. There are about 2,000 of them fighting with U.S. Marines and Army. They didn't talk much about the U.S.-led war, mostly about the upcoming battle. Many of them expresed a desire to retake their country--not from the Americans--but from the foreign fighters.

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Essington, Pa.: Jackie,

Thanks for your brave reporting from Fallujah. Between your reports in The Post and on NPR, I really get a sense of what the city is like. My question is, do we have any sense of how forcefully civilians were removed from the city prior to the attack? Allawi ordered the city evacuated, but were there any additional measures taken to get innocent people out of there? Were those who stayed aware that the rules of engagement were much less strict for this siege than others (when troops often bent over backwards to avoid civilian casualties)?

Thanks again.

Jackie Spinner: Most of the city's 250,000 residents fled weeks ago in anticipation of the offensive. They are either living with relatives in Baghdad or elsewhere in the region or in displaced persons camps set up outside the city. Two days ago the Marines evacuated about 300 civilians who wanted to get out of town. They put them up in camps in a nearby village.

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Monterey, Calif.: First and foremost, thank you for joining us from Fallujah today -- it seems surreal on this end... I can't imagine what it is like on yours.

I would like your perspective on what is for me the most important question about our attack on Fallujah and our military "pacification" of Iraq in general: WHO, exactly, are we fighting?

Stateside, our government portrays everyone we fight as "the enemy." But to what extent are the "insurgents" seen by either the Iraqi people, other countries, and the fighters themselves as a legitimate resistance to (an increasingly heavy-handed) occupation?

Jackie Spinner: That'a a great question. I talked to an Iraqi police officer who is a resident of Fallujah about this very thing. He said that in April -- when the Marines first went in -- many of the residents of the city were angry at the U.S. military and at the American occupation. But slowly as the foreign fighters began to assert more control of the city this summer, many of them grew to fear and hate the outsiders. This police officer said most civilians welcomed the Amerian and Iraqi forces to get rid of the foreign fighters.

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Charlottesville, Va.: What is the perception of the Fallujah incursion amongst the Sunni population? The remainder of the population in Iraq? The Arab world?

The U.S. press does not offer much information on that aspect of the matter. Browsing European and East Asian news sites, however, I noticed a distinct theme to the effect that the populace of Iraq viewed the assault on Fallujah as heavy-handed to say the least. Can you corroborate this?

Jackie Spinner: The top Sunni political party in Iraq pulled its representative out of the interim Iraqi government. That answers your question best, I think.

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Silver Spring, Md.: With the announcement that slaughterhouses were found in Fallujah, is there any doubt that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been behind these kidnappings? How will we ever going to stop or find there terrorist insurgents if they play a game of "hit and run" as they seem to be doing in Fallujah? Thanks also for your brave reporting without which we could never get a sense of what truly is going on.

Jackie Spinner: The U.S. military intelligence officers I've talked to have been very frank that they do not know for sure that Zarqawi is in Fallujah now or that they would find him here when they went it. What they are sure of is Fallujah had become a hub for his network.

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Washington, D.C.: How have so many insurgents apparently slipped out of the city? The terrain seems open enough that they should theoretically be relatively easy to spot if they flee over open country, and surely the roads and rivers must be blocked? I've read that the military has the area locked down, yet somehow hundreds of thousands of insurgents have slipped out. How do you think this happens? Bribery?

Jackie Spinner: There is still about one-third of the city left that the Army and Marines have not entered. It is possible that they will find many of those insurgents in the sourthern part of the city. But it also the case, almost certainly, that many insurgents were able to slip out before the offensive began. We understand that they would leave without weapons -- thereby giving security forces no reason to stop them -- and then just pick up their weapons elsewhere.

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Washington, D.C.: Is there any time of day when it seems like the fighting subsides a bit or are the attacks on both sides going strong without any lulls? With night vision equipment and a 24-hour news cycle, for example, I imagine it must be hard for both soldiers and reporters to take any sort of breather. And if there is a lull, how do the soldiers seem to spend their time?

Jackie Spinner: There are lulls in the battle -- what the military calls tactical pauses. The U.S. military has relied on airstrikes and artillery to pound the city at night. The insurgents seem to pop up in the day -- they don't have the night vision capabilities that the U.S. does so they tend to come out more during daylight. But the fighting is pretty much going on day or night, depending on the operation.

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Boston, Mass.: Hi Jackie, thanks so much for talking the time to talk with us. I was wondering what the strategic importance of winning Fallujah will be, other than injecting optimism into the American public. The insurgency is spread out and many rebels vacated Fallujah before the attack began. So, what do we win when we take Fallujah?

Jackie Spinner: From the military and interim government's perspective, the strategic importance is quite significant. This city is a hub of insurgent activity. But no one I've talked to believes that solving the Fallujah problem will end the violence in Iraq. But, as one Marine officer told me, not solving the Fallujah problem will not end it either. From a political perspective, the interim government would like to make Fallujah a stable place so that it can participate in the national elections and have a voice in the new government.

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Arlington, Va.: Thanks for fielding questions! I've heard several reports on the situation, but I feel so detached from what's going on. I have no idea about the scope of the fighting. Is there constantly the noise of artillery and guns? Is fighting sporadic? How big is Falluja? Some reports seem to indicate that this is an enormous military undertaking, yet I saw a figure yesterday the the military estimates fewer than 100 insurgents killed. Can you help pu this in persepctive?

Jackie Spinner: I've been outside of Fallujah for almost two weeks (and into the city twice in the past two days). This is a noisy, noisy place -- lots of booms, bangs and claps from artillery and bombs. So far there has been light to moderate resistance -- that's something the military did not expect. So there are pockets of fighting in a city of 250,000 people, most of whom have fled. It is a large offensive, 10,000 troops in and around the city and the outlying areas. Lots of tanks, fighting vehicles, humvees. This is the largest military operation in Iraq since the war last year. It looks and feels very much like the war zone it is right now.

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Long Beach, Calif.: Is it true that Coalition Forces arrested doctors at the hospital, as reported by Al Jazeera? Why would the Forces do such a thing? Are the hospitals in Fallujah functioning?

Jackie Spinner: I talked to the commander responsible for securing Fallujah General. The hospital is functioning with its own doctors, or it was as of two days ago. The U.S. military was in the process at that time of vetting the doctors and staff at the hospital to make sure there were no insurgents among them. One of the persistent problems for the military -- and this was the case last April -- was the misreporting of civilian dead and wounded by the propoganda machines at the hospitals. The Marines secured this hospital first, in part, to make sure that civilians had access to medical care during the offensives. Last night I saw Army doctors treating an insurgent who had been shot in the leg on the battlefield -- presumably by U.S. forces.

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State College, Pa.: I think our way out of this mess depends on the Iraqi Armed Forces stepping up to the plate. I am curious as to what the Marines' opinion of their Iraqi troops was before the battle, and what it is now. Have they performed well? Mass desertions?

Jackie Spinner: I asked a U.S. soldier today about desertions as we were standing in a staging area with both U.S. and Iraqi forces. He said he had not heard of many desertions, in part, because it is safer for the Iraqi soldiers to stay together. This is a dangerous place for them, too. Their roles has mostly been to clear areas where U.S. forces have already gone through.

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Nashville, Tenn.: Your writing this morning about neighborhoods, "with more than half of the houses destroyed." is reminiscent of Assad's efforts to rid the Syrian town of Hama of Islamic extremists in 1982, this time without the civilian casualities. Is the U.S. trying to send a similar message, or is destroying the buildings necessary because of the type of poured concrete wall construction, a theory advanced last night on the PBS Newshour? Only the sections of Hama with insurgents were razed.

washingtonpost.com: Troops Secure Much of Fallujah, (Post, Nov. 11)

Jackie Spinner: The U.S. military says it is selectively targeting buildings and only striking those structures where insurgents have been seen hiding out or gathering weapons. Soldiers I've talked to who have gone door-to-door in the city say many of the homes and buildings in the neighborhoos are rigged to blow up if security forces come through. And almost every soldier who has been deep into the city has described it as a pile of rubble already.

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Maryland: The silence on casualties has been deafening. How many U.S. and Iraqi (civilian and insurgent) casualties do you truly think there have been so far? I want to know the real cost of this. Thanks.

Jackie Spinner: I want to know that, too. But unfortunately, we are fighting the Marines to give us those figures on a daily basis. They generally do not talk about casualties related to a specific instance -- they say they don't want to give the enemy the advantage of knowing how successful it has been. So far we've been told 11 US service members and two Iraqi soldiers have been killed. They have not told us how many have been wounded.

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Mt. Zion, Ill.: What are the living conditions of most Iraqis (outside of Fallujah) and are the conditions improving? Also, what is the attitude of most Iraqis toward Americans?

We really enjoy your reports from Iraq.

Jackie Spinner: For the most part, this is a country -- and there are pockets of Iraq for which this does not apply -- that is living in fear of car bombings, assassinations, random violence. Many of the Iraqis I talk to have this wonderful ability to separate their feelings about the U.S. government from the American people. But I think the jury is mixed as to whether people feel better off now than they did 19 months ago. The security situation has grown worse, not better, in recent months, and that troubles many, many Iraqis.

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Detroit, Mich.: You say that Fallujah is "a city of 250,000 people, most of whom have fled". Where did all these people go?

Jackie Spinner: Tent camps outside the city and relatives.

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Washington, D.C.: Jackie,

I respect your bravery and appreciate your willingness to report in the midst of such a precarious environment.

A simple answer to a simple question is what I seek today. With all of the criticism of the Bush administration and its goals for a free Iraq, and based on your experience since you've been abroad, what exactly is the attitude -- at this point -- of Iraqi citizens and soldiers towards America, Americans, American soldiers and the war efforts?

Jackie Spinner: It is very difficult to answer that question on behalf of most Iraqis. I would say generally that most Iraqis are disappointed that their country is still torn apart by violence, a violence that has increased, not decreased in the 19 months since the U.S.-led war. Many are bitter, unhappy, depressed and just want to leave in peace.

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Willimantic, Conn.: How dangerous is it for journalists in Iraq in general and Fallujah in particular? I haven't heard about any reporters getting hurt but can't believe that is true.

Jackie Spinner: I talked to a lot of veteran war correspondents before this battle started and most of them were quite rattled. There has been at least one journalist seriously injured -- a photographer hurt when an IED blew up near the armored vehicle where she was riding. When we go out into the city with the troops, we, as journalists, face the same dangers they do -- of getting shot, of a mortar hurting our vehicle. But there is a real sense of responsibility among many of the journalists here that we must be here to report what's happening. Someone has to do it.

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Martin, Tenn.: Jackie, Thanks for fielding our questions.
I am reading conflicting reports about exactly how much of the city is controlled by U.S. troops. As early as yesterday, some reports said 70 percent, whereas today it is reported to be 50 percent by some sources. And some reports indicate that troops have given up trying to enter houses at all because of the danger and are just patrolling the streets. Also, is it true that the U.S. troops only control the city center where most of the civilians live, whereas the resistance fighters occupy the outskirts of town? Thanks for your bravery over there. It is so difficult to tell what's going on from here, considering all the conflicting reports.

Jackie Spinner: The troops are pushing down from the northern part of the city. Yesterday they reached the center and swept through the eastern side down to the south. They feel they control these areas. Sometimes when they clear an area, they pull back. It's not just a gigantic move forward, stop and then keep going.

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Wayne, Pa.: I am a social studies teacher and we have been following your reports via the Internet. What do you think is an important thing for 7th graders studying the Revolutionary War in American history in the year 2004 derive from your/our experience in Fallujah -- particularly on Veteran's Day here in the USA?

Jackie Spinner: Hello 7th Graders from Wayne! For me, one of the most important parts of covering this conflict is understanding why people are fighting, what they feel they have to lose if they don't, what they are defending.

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Winston-Salem, N.C.: How is the morale of the U.S. troops? And,do you ever talk to them about the reasons why they are fighting in Iraq and if they support those reasons?

Jackie Spinner: Most of the Marines I talked to before the conflict started were eager to get in, secure the city, get out and go home. They were tired of waiting around for the conflict to begin.

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Kennesaw, Ga.: Ms. Spinner: If insurgents could slip out before the Marines moved in, they can slip in after the Marines move out. Are enough Iraqi government forces available to deal with this contingency?

Jackie Spinner: That's one of the things the military -- with the interim Iraqi government -- will have to ultimately decide once the city is cleared of the insurgents, if it is cleared of the insurgents. No one wants a repeaet of what happened in April when the Iraqi force was not yet ready to control the town.

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Jackie Spinner: That's all for tonight. I'm sorry I couldn't take more of your questions. The nightly barrage of artillery has begun, and I'm going to take my big white, glowing computer screen and go inside where I'm not such an obvious light in the desert.

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