Fallujah, the Morning After
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Bing West has an interesting piece in Slate entitled “Fallujah, the Morning After.” Here’s the ending:
Militarily, the battle of Fallujah was an unqualified success. Zarqawi has been deprived of his sanctuary. He will spend more time on the run and have less time to blow up and decapitate people. His followers have been hit hard, many killed and others uprooted. Just today, an Egyptian, a Yemenite, and a Sudanese crawled out from the rubble and surrendered.
“We were surprised the irhabeen (terrorists) fell so quickly,” said Hassan Lafta, a sergeant in the Iraqi army sent to Fallujah.
After lynching the Americans on the Euphrates bridge, the fundamentalists painted an Arabic verse on the right trestle. It read: Fallujah–Graveyard of the American Marine Corps.
On the left trestle, in thick black paint a Marine had scrawled a newer inscription. It read:
“This is for the Americans of Blackwater
murdered here in 2004.
Semper Fidelis, 3/5 Dark Horse”
West and his son, Owen, have an interesting website, too.
