As 10,000 American troops stand ready to launch a much-anticipated assault on the city of Fallujah, the U.S. military is reporting that an Iraqi military commander deserted one day after receiving a full briefing on the battle plan to take the city.
The officer, a Kurd from northern Iraq, commanded 160 Iraqi troops who trained outside Fallujah with U.S. Marines. His uniform and rifle were found on his bed.
The battle to take Fallujah has already begun, with airstrikes and artillery barrages designed to take out key positions and weapons caches. Most arteries into the city of 300,000 have already been cut off. Military experts say the storming of the city will involve street fighting and is expected to be the most intense combat American troops have found themselves in since Vietnam.
U.S. and Iraqi forces intend to take Fallujah before the scheduled Jan. 27 election.
“It is significant that he disappeared the morning after he had a full and detailed brief on the full battle plan for the assault on Fallujah,” the pool report sent to Reuters read.
Despite the compromised plan, U.S. officers are saying the desertion will not change anything.
Because the officer is a Kurd and has no known ties with Fallujah, the military believes he’s unlikely to cooperate with the Sunnis in the targeted city. “He is more likely headed up north and going home,” the report concluded.
Kurds were allies of the U.S. in the ouster Saddam Hussein.
