Death in Falluja does not need a reason. Being in Falluja is reason enough. Nermeen Al-Mufti reports as US and British forces storm the ravaged city The combined offensive by United States and Iraqi National Guard forces on Falluja was launched immediately after an emergency law authorising the action was signed. On Monday morning, US and National Guard troops entered Falluja Hospital in the western section of the city. On going to print, neither the US forces nor the Iraqi Defence Ministry have disclosed the outcome of the operation. For a number of reasons, the US forces are determined to enter Falluja even if they fail in capturing Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi, who tops Washington's terrorist list in Iraq. Media reports have cited Colonel Michael Shupp, commander of a Marines unit, as saying that he does not know if Al-Zarqawi is still in Falluja. "If Al-Zarqawi was killed or captured, this would only be a bonus, but the main aim is to crush the terrorists and restore Falluja to Iraqi sovereignty," said the commander. There are conflicting reports about the remaining civilian population in the city -- some reports indicate that only 12,000 of a former 300,000 population now remain. Falluja came under five air raids in the early hours of Monday morning, the fiercest conducted since the negotiations began to collapse. Qasim Dawoud, minister of state for security affairs, blamed Baathist insurrectionists for the collapse of the talks. When Ibrahim, a Falluja resident, was asked about "the Arab fighters" in the city, he said, "we hear about Arab fighters. But where are the US intelligence services that claim to know what was going on in Saddam Hussein's office? Why cannot they discover the fighters' hideouts?" He added that "mistakes have been made and Falluja and Iraq are paying dearly," primarily blaming the US forces for disbanding the Iraqi army and security forces. "This allowed hundreds of Arab fighters to get in. Or, perhaps it was meant for them to get in so that the war on terror may be fought in Iraq." The sound of explosions resonates from near and afar. Some say that mujahidin have fired mortar shells at a US camp. Ibrahim says the US forces have shelled a civilian car trying to leave the city, killing a woman and a child and injuring others. Further reports confirm this. Death in Falluja does not need a reason. Being in Falluja is reason enough. Voices on loudspeakers now reiterate warnings previously distributed through leaflets dropped from planes. While calling on women and children to leave Falluja they forbid men under the age of 45 from moving. "The inhabitants of Falluja have asked us to liberate them," Iyad Allawi proclaims. In the Al-Ghazaliya section of Baghdad, a camp houses Falluja refugees. Samira, a teacher who had to leave her home and job, muses that "perhaps the clan chiefs have requested intervention. We're tired and want liberation indeed. We understand liberation as liberation from Americans and agents." Samira recounted the tragedy that befell her neighbour in the Al- Nazal area. She was killed along with her two children. Official statements later said that "raids killed terrorists last night." Anything can happen now that the emergency law has been passed. People are being detained and suspects killed on sight. A curfew is in force. A spokesman for Iyad Allawi said "the government has made its decision to enter Falluja after all options have been exhausted." Salim Abdullah, a political science professor at Al-Mustansariya University, reckons that "the emergency law is the last resort. But who led us into this situation? Who left the borders open and allowed robbery and theft, so that he may steal antiquities, documents and equipment? It is a chain of errors and its only explanation is that the Americans made no plans for the post-invasion period. Either that, or they and their Iraqi helpers have planned it this way to attain their goals." Abdullah adds, "for all the bitterness it causes, the law is at least a way to stem the haemorrhage in the country. But what if problems persist? What if the bloodbath continues after the 60-day period specified by that law? Will the government leave things as they are, or will it declare another state of emergency?" Iman Al-Azzawi is also critical of the emergency law. "The Iraqi government should have resorted to other solutions, focussing more on its performance and affinity to citizens. Above all, the government should have showed patience and attempted to mend the destruction the disbanded Governing Council has caused through its consecration of factionalism and through its pretence to speak for Iraq's neighbours. The government should've reduced corruption. The press published US reports of $8 billion lost since the government has taken office." Al-Azzawi adds, "the Iraqis suffer from unemployment and inflation and they [officials] are stealing $8 billion. What does the emergency law and national safety mean?" But there has been some attempts at national reconciliation. Wamid Omar Nadhmi told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Iraqi Constitutive Council (ICC) -- which includes figures from across the political spectrum but refuses to participate in any official political process under occupation -- has distributed a statement concerning the elections. They declare that the elections should be annulled in case any Iraqi city is overrun by force. Nadhmi says that he sent a message to Kofi Annan, on behalf of the ICC, thanking the UN secretary-general for his stand on Falluja and asking him to stop the offensive on the city. The ICC, Nadhmi adds, is ready to send a committee, made up of well-known patriotic figures, within 48 hours to Falluja. The committee would stay in the city until the crisis is resolved on the condition that all military operations be stopped, and that the siege be lifted until the end of Eid Al-Fitr. Nadhmi is also adamant that the ICC is an Iraqi organisation "working for the good of all Iraqis", and not a "Sunni only" group.
