Although one must be careful to not overuse historical analogies like Vietnam, there is a decided parallel between the firepower-intensive approach to counter-insurgency in both wars, and the levels of success in them.

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It'd be nice to see NO comments on this site in response to this article and many others that have appeared here.

Instead, use the energy to write to your senator or congressman or whatever the system is over there…

That way you could DO something at the same time as saying something.

'Kill two birds with one stone', as it were…

It's great to see the calls for real justice and fairness, but, apart from discovering you're not alone, I can't see what use there is to JUST writing to alternet.

Maybe you're all already writing to your politicans as well as to alternet, so apologies if that's the case… just frustrated at seeing so much opinion that is in (general) agreement with my own views, and so little actually happening.

It's just as frustrating here in the UK. I firmly believe that things can only change if people work together as a group.

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Fallujah is the biggest war crime of the 21st century so far; brought to us by the Cheney criminal gang. Are these criminals ever going to be brought to justice, impeached and jailed?

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"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is brought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" - Mahatma Gandhi
Peace!
Mark

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Thank you both for your incredible and brave reporting. I hope someone has the brains to make a documentry out of your work on Fallujah, and what the Americans REALLY did there (practically flatten half a city).

This is real journalism.

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I find foreign policy boring. Shouldn't the Democratic party be more about domestic policy?

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Fallujah is what the rest of Iraq would be if allowed to fall into the hands of the Islamist infiltrators and Ba'thist mob. It was an unconscionable error to have allowed that city to remain intact instead of erasing it from the country side when we had the opportunity.

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Falluja was a war crime of the highest order, on par with Mai Lai, Guernica, and the US war in the Phillipines. It is a name Americans will never live down and all who utter it ought to lower their eyes in shame. (I certainly do, out of shame, anger, disgust, and sadness.)

Forget what the media says about it (falluja) being restored. Hell, if we can't invest in an American city (New Orleans) we sure as shit aren't gonna rebuild Falluja. (Remember: the US has 130+ military bases the world over, yet doesn't have the resources to evacuate an American city? Hmm.) The goal, I think, was annihilation. Subjugation and annihilation of the opposition are the goals in Iraq. All the talk of "rebuilding" Iraq and bringing "democracy" there is just propaganda for the American populus...the neofascists/neocons couldn't care less. (If you want a window into the mind of a neo, watch VP Chaney give an interview sometime---the guy is hard, cold, and serpentinian.) The US doesn't give a fuck about the Iraqi people, hell, even its own people (as again, New Orleans demonstates). I applaud Dahr and hope he can continue to stomach those wretched conditions there and delivery his excellent brand of real journalism.

There's a documentary called Operation Dreamland which shows some marines in Falluja prior to the leveling of 2004. On the DVD (as a bonus), there is footage (short footage for sure) of the marines invading Falluja (post Pres election): they are shown firing round after round of ammo into the city, and it makes you sick (also brings to mind a great Russian film, Come and See, which gives you an idea of the type of shit going down now in Iraq). (NOTE: I don't think the American army is on par yet with the SS or the Nazis, BUT, with atrocities coming to light every other day now, it makes you wonder how bad the shit really is if what we hear about is this awful.)

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Dahr Jamail's longstanding and courageous efforts to alert the American public to US atrocities in Iraq deserve immense thanks. If he comes to a college or other venue near you (he toured with a photo slide show not long after the invasion), you can hear the stories and see the evidence first hand and get a chance to give him the support he deserves. Thank you, Dahr Jamail.

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"The people of Fallujah are struggling to survive amidst skyrocketing unemployment, lack of medical supplies and ongoing violence in the city."

That's what happens when you allow your city to be controlled by Saddam's old friends. What did they expect?

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