Fallujans And Foreign Fighters

From The Jordan Times we have this story about the 'Arabs' who terrorized Falluja:

Fallujans are furious at the foreign fighters who controlled and terrorised their city before they were driven out by a massive US-led assault.

“Their arrival turned the victorious Fallujah of the early fighting into the capital of crime,” says one man, from Al Jughaifi neighbourhood, who was among the tens of thousands to flee Fallujah before the attack.

In April, Fallujah had become a symbol for insurgent groups across Iraq after its fighters held off a US-led push against the Sunni bastion.

Since then, the city of 300,000 became a theocratic no-go zone and a hub for criminals who, posing as resistors, imposed a rule of terror and developed a brutal trade in hostage-taking.

None of the residents who spoke to AFP accepted having their names published, as the fear of retaliation from the infamous foreign fighters still runs high.

But everyone of them has an anecdote or a comment on the handful of fighters who instilled fear among the population and whom Iraqis refer to as “Arabs.”

“Throat-cutting is the only thing they know, they used to terrorise us,” said one Fallujan, who found refuge with relatives in Baghdad.

“They wreaked havoc in the city and the fighters from Fallujah did nothing to stop them,” another resident said.

It is difficult to know how many foreign fighters were in Fallujah before US and Iraqi forces launched the largest postwar military offensive against the rebel bastion, but most estimates put the figure at around 500.

“Lately, some residents were even secretly been hoping that the Americans would invade the town and rid them of the Arab fighters,” said one resident.

He claimed that some slogans hostile to the fighters had been inscribed on walls in Fallujah. “No to the presence of Arab fighters” or “the sons of Fallujah can take care of their own defenc,” read some of them.

Most displaced people interviewed by AFP explained that the bulk of these fighters — from countries such as Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen — arrived after the “April victory.”

Why do the people who oppose US actions in Iraq refuse to listen to the actual voices of average Iraqis? I guess the usual stories of grateful Iraqis just doesn't make good headlines.

It's a shame that these people have to suffer because the UN and our national media don't care.