Mission Accomplished, Redux

Remember Fallujah?

From CBN News, 11/19/04

The top Marine officer in Iraq says the victory in Fallujah has broken the back of the insurgents. And American troops have apparently also found the headquarters of Iraq's leading terrorist.

U.S. and Iraqi troops are still cautiously working their way through the often booby-trapped rubble of Fallujah, but in conquering the terrorist stronghold, the general in charge says his forces have broken the insurgency's back and now it is on the run.

(thanks to Nostamj for the find)

CBN is, of course, the "Christian" Broadcasting Network - home of The $700 Club and other fine religious programming. (Have to say that the Christian angle really shines through in the last paragraph of this article, which seeks to justify the killing of a wounded, unarmed, immobile Iraqi by an American Marine during the siege)

OK, that was Nov 19.

Thursday, the AP reported this little gem (my bold):

U.S. Marines battled insurgents in Fallujah on Thursday with warplanes dropping bombs and tanks shelling suspected guerrilla positions, causing deaths on both sides, as the first 200 residents returned to the battered city.

DOD confirms that on 12/23, 3 Marines were killed in Al Anbar Province (that's Fallujah County to Bush supporters) by hostile fire. As the first 200 residents returned to the city.

So, they bombarded a city for days, forcing virtually the entire population of 60,000 to evacuate, claimed victory, then said folks could start coming home. So the first - what's that, .3%? - began trickling back in and the shit is already starting back up.

One name you won't hear much of in the near future is Abu Musab Zarqawi. Remember the big, bad Iraqi (Jordanian, actually) turr'ist, friend of Osama and general, all-round dickhead who was running the entire resistance from an Undisclosed Location in Fallujah? Well, they missed catching him... again. Maybe he'll slip back in, too, and we can have our troops do it all again in a few months.