Terrorists Threaten to Behead Allawi Relatives
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James Joyner | Wednesday, November 10, 2004 |
Militants threaten to behead Allawi’s abducted relatives (Independent)
Militants have threatened to behead three abducted members of the family of Iyad Allawi, Iraq’s interim Prime Minister, unless he calls a halt to the assault on Fallujah. Ghazi Allawi, a 75-year-old first cousin of the premier, was taken away by gunmen, along with his wife and daughter-in-law from their home in the Yarmouk district of Baghdad late on Tuesday.
Yesterday a group calling itself Ansar al-Jihad posted a notice on an Islamic website saying they will be decapitated within 48 hours if their demands are not met. As well as an end to the Fallujah operation, the militants also called for the release of all prisoners, echoing demands made by other hostage-takers.
Mr Allawi has closely identified himself with the attack on Fallujah, meeting Iraqi and US troops surrounding the city before the assault began. His spokesman, Thair al-Naqeeb, stressed that none of those held had any involvement with the government. A statement said: “This is yet another criminal act by terrorists and will not thwart the determination of the government to combat terrorism.”
Ghazi Allawi, regarded as the patriarch of the extended family, is particularly close to the Prime Minister, who is said to regard him as an older brother. The abducted man’s neighbours described him as someone who had deliberately avoided being identified with politics and government policy.
A senior Iraqi official said that the demands made by the hostage-takers “obviously could not be met”. He added: “It is obviously a huge stress on the Prime Minister at a time when he is already under a tremendous amount of public pressure. “We have not come across this group before. But obviously everything is being done to try and find the Prime Minister’s relations.”
Obviously. Of course, this is why Fallujah should have been taken back months before. Preferably, without weeks of notice and negotiations with the murderers so Zarqawi knew when to escape.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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One more example of the administrations failure in Iraq. The Powell doctrin is pretty simple. Go in with so much overwhelming force that the only thing the other guy is thinking about is which way to run.
Instead of following the policy of a man who has actually won a war in Iraq, the administration elected to engage in faith-based war & postwar planning. (actually the evidence is mounting that there was really no postwar planning of any kind, its going to be like the liberatoion of Paris, right?)
Sadly, our troops, the people of Iraq, and the American taxpayer are the ones bearing the consequences of this failed plan. The policy of the administration continues to be "the buck stops anywhere but here".
Heck, we can always blame Jay Gardner!
Anjin-San,
You wouldn't recognize planning if someone hit you in the face with a theater-level OPORD or OPLAN.
Try reading the chapters concerning D-Day planning in Martin van Creveld's "Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton" to see just how effective detailed planning can be.
So Mark is your position that they did have a plan & it just sucked?
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