Actually, the Marines brought shipping crates full of soccer balls and frisbees to hand out in their AOR. What they didn't arrive with was suitable armor and fixed wing support to conduct significant and sustained urban warfare. They did use every bit of what they brought with them before the ceasefire was called. But they wisely determined what they had wasn't sufficient to mount full scale offensive operations. So they decided not to.
You have any evidence of that?
Elfman is having some continuity problems with his little agenda-ridden storyline.
The elfman original contrivance was that the 1st Marines were on the scene loaded for bear, ready to take Fallujah by force and that politicians (i.e. Bush Administration) intervened and orchestrated a retreat.
Now, in the face of the above article that says the 1st Marines were never originally planning to wage an all out military assault on the city, but rather work their systematic "Ulster" campaign ... his little world is turned all upside down and he strikes out like an adolescent punk.
If you believe elfie on previous threads, the Marines wanted to go balls to the wall, were ready willing and able to "defeat" Fallujah, and were held back by feckless political betrayal. If you believe the story above, the Marines were thrown into combat by the President after the Blackwater butcherings, and are now back to square one working the plan they arrived with. After putting some bad guys into the out box. Elfie claims the Marines didn't use their air/heavy aromor ... well, the Marines didn't even have an air wing there. Must have been Bremer's fault. As we all observed, the late March ambush/desecration threw an unforseen political element into the mix, the Marines made an unequivocal but measured response, and now its back to executing what hopefully will be a winning plan.
Poor elfman. It's tough being a con man when you're too much a dullard to remember the details of your scam.
The bottom line is that this Fallujah campaign was, is and will always be a mix of military, political and "hearts and minds" action. The objective has never been to "defeat" Fallujah, or "level" Fallujah ... the goal is to stabilize, pacify and regularize Fallujah. And, it seems that Generals Conway and Mattis have WIDE latitude to make that happen. Not Paul Bremer or the weak-teet politicians stateside. And ... the pacification is slowly being done. To the chagrin of a small, but vocal, minority of slimy ideologues around this forum.