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The Coming of Operation Dawn

By Nelida Gonzalez Cutler

While Americans were observing Veterans Day on November 11, U.S. troops were waging a fierce attack in Iraq. In the city of Fallujah, U.S. warplanes and guns pounded targets. Troops fought rebels in the streets. Tanks fired at buildings. It was the fourth day of a battle for control of the city, which is held by rebels.

Some 15,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops are involved in Operation al-Fajr. Al-Fajr means "the dawn" in Arabic. As of Friday, 22 Americans had been killed and about 170 wounded in the assault. The U.S. military claimed that 600 rebels were dead. Major General Richard Natonski, a Marine comman-der, said Operation al-Fajr was "ahead of schedule."

A City Safe for Elections
On March 19, 2003, U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq. The U.S. wanted to drive Saddam Hussein, then Iraq's leader, from power. Hussein was captured last December. Six months later, the U.S. handed control over to interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and promised to hold elections in January 2005.

Iraqi rebels want foreign forces to leave their country. That's why they have stepped up attacks on civilians and soldiers. Fallujah is a rebel stronghold. It was thought to have been the base of terrorist leader Mousab al-Zarqawi (zahr-cow-ee). The U.S. and Allawi want to push the rebels out of Fallujah to make it safe for the January elections. But many fighters had abandoned the city even before the assault began.

"Allawi is trying to show that he is the kind of strongman Iraqis will want to vote for in January," Wamid Nadhmi, a political scientist in Baghdad, told TIME magazine.

American military commanders caution that the success of Operation al-Fajr will not mean an end to fighting in Iraq. Still, defeating the rebels in Fallujah is important. "One part of the country cannot remain under the rule of assassins," said U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Meanwhile, violence continued in other cities. On Thursday, a car bomb exploded in Baghdad, killing 17. Two days before, rebels kidnapped three of Allawi's relatives and demanded an end to the attack on Fallujah. Allawi refused to give in to their demands.

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