I had real doubts about the 'Fallujah gamble' to calm down that place and use ex-Saddam generals to help. It sounds like it paid off though. It's been a while since we heard about fighting in Fallujah now. That's really great because urban fighting in that hellhole was killing a lot of troops.
Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but it seems like the military situation has drastically improved over the last month. Fallujah is under control, and Al-Sadr has been marginalized in Baghdad/Najaf/Karbala. No-one wants him around the holy cities, including the Iranians. Al-Sadr's militia has become cannon-fodder and he probably doesn't have many volunteers these days. If only Najaf and Karbala's Shiites would take matters in their own hands and drive Al-Sadr out. I think it's coming because otherwise there will be a full-scale assault on these places which will be bloody on both sides. The stand-off situation will have to break soon, and I think the coalition holds the better cards in the overall situation.
All of this has a) been overshadowed by the Abu Graib scandals and b)been ignored by the MSM in general because it means things are going better in Iraq and that doesn't fit their 'Vietnam' scenario. The Bush Administration must start getting their message out better!!!
I too, was concerned about how fallujah was turning out - still am, actually. But these past three weeks, notably the periodic updates from the front that we rcv here on Freep and frontline warblogs, lead me to have a cautious optimism sprinkled with heavy dose of prayer for my warrior kin.
A recent blog entry put it nicely; a Marine involved in fallujah gave an excellent account about the place, the fighting, and provided the much needed context that we freepers know we'll never get from our media. Specifically, he commented on the perception that the Marines might look like they were "eating a bit of crow" - to put a spin on the readjustment of the lines - but that it was a calculated risk in order to give a chance to put an Iraqi face on that battle resolution. I can grudgingly accept that, since it comes from the source... but I still and always pray for their success, victory and safety.
The frustrating part is that, as a Jacksonian, I fall squarely within the belief that we should have gone in and gotten all those dirtbags once they gathered all in one spot - but the tradeoff and the risk might have been a more general conflagration as the terrorists would likely have blown away their own civilians and pinned the blame on us. I know the possibility still exists that we'll have to take the gloves off and really clean house - this is war after all - but our guys on the front know what they're doing.
J