The Fallujah fiasco will cost many GI lives. After the Marines had done their job and had encircled the foreign terrorists and baathist criminals, they were undercut by the political leadership.
The Fallujah Brigade was established to end three weeks of combat in April that killed 600 to 700 insurgents and 10 Marines. The Marines withdrew to the outskirts of Fallujah after Sunni members of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing Council objected to the bloodshed.Led by former members of Saddam's military and made up largely of insurgents, the brigade was supposed to bring peace to the city and meet several demands.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the U.S.-led coalition's deputy operations chief, acknowledged Saturday that the U.S. military had not met its goals in the city.
Brown said despite the apparent failure of the Fallujah Brigade to end the insurgency, a new U.S. offensive in the city was unlikely.