More from Iraq
Bill at the In Iraq Journal is in Fallujah watching the marines at work. They're not firing; they're hiring. Among the people they're hiring are neighborhood watchmen. One of them had this to say:
When things started and the [initial] invasion came to Fallujah, we said, 'It's OK for civilians to [take up arms] and fight the invasion and throw [the Americans] out from Fallujah.' We said, 'OK, they are the enemy and that's our friend.' But things were confused, and the enemy has become the friend and the friend became the enemy."
Once Ramadi was "another Fallujah"; now Fallujah is "another Ramadi". Home of the famous Awakening, that is where Michael Totten is. He went there to photograph the destruction. He says it's even worse than it looks in his photos.
He also tells this story, one that in any film will have to be the 'turning point'.
“One night,” Lieutenant Markham said, “after several young people were beheaded by Al Qaeda, the mosques in the city went crazy. The imams screamed jihad from the loudspeakers. We went to the roof of the outpost and braced for a major assault. Our interpreter joined us. Hold on, he said. They aren’t screaming jihad against us. They are screaming jihad against the insurgents."
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