Word: qaeda
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Sinaa industrial district in southeast Fallujah was once al-Qaeda's hive and bomb-making base in the city. And for Marine Capt. Sean Miller, a suicide bomber's vest found there a few days ago symbolizes the dilemma at the heart of U.S. thinking about leaving Iraq...
...razed Sinaa in Operation Al Fajr. At least 900 shops and factories were destroyed or seriously damaged in a district that employed about 70% of Fallujah's workforce. To fully revive the city, the area has to return to its old industrious self. But doing that may allow al-Qaeda to slip back in. Marine officials say the bomb-laden vest they found Thursday looked new enough to indicate that that's just what al-Qaeda is trying...
...While al-Qaeda remains the Americans' chief hang-up, locals say security is only one of their obstacles. The government in Baghdad stunts Fallujah's growth as much as al-Qaeda. After the two massive U.S. attacks on Fallujah in 2004, a government commission was set up to assess damage and calculate compensation for residents and business owners. The commission, however, fixated on some issues and dropped the ball on others, making some residents rich while leaving others empty-handed and disgruntled...
...idleness breeds. A car bomb thought to be made there killed 40 people in Fallujah during a funeral procession in May, and a cell of bomb makers was cut down by Iraqi police in Sinaa as recently as August. They say they are in a race against time. "Al-Qaeda is very weak, but all of Fallujah is still afraid," said Al Fallujy, the Sinaa mukhtar. "We've got an opportunity here," said Chief Warrant Officer Steve Townsley, the head of the Marine civil affairs unit there. "Right now we're not so focused on security that...
Townsley pointed to local entrepreneurs, men such as Noori Idham, who see Fallujah's glass as half full. Calling himself a "realist," 47-year-old Idham said he is expanding his ice plant even at a loss, neither waiting for government help nor cowering before al-Qaeda. Lobbying the Marines at Friday's meeting to clear a road alongside his ice plant connecting him to the adjacent district of Shuhada, Idham said he is snatching up land and industrial facilities at bargain prices from owners who can no longer wait for the government compensation. "I know Fallujah will be back...