WSJ: Progress in Iraq -- More help from Iraqis, and targeting Fallujah.

Wall Street Journal ^ | October 21, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

...The first of the troublesome cities to return to Iraqi government control was Samarra....

Most important, allied forces seem poised finally to take control of Fallujah, which has been a no-go zone since the end-of-April deal that turned the town over to ex-Baathists called the Fallujah Brigade. That decision was easily the biggest mistake of the war, since it caused both friend and foe to question American resolve and gave the thugs a safe haven from which to stage car bombings and other attacks.

...[T]he Marines have established a cordon around the city and the Iraqi government is negotiating with local tribal leaders to give up the couple thousand foreign fighters -- including arch-terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi -- thought to be in the city. Meanwhile, some locals are providing intelligence that has allowed us to kill a lot of those foreign fighters via airstrikes. Presumably the White House and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi won't make the same mistake twice, and once they begin a Fallujah assault they won't stop short of unconditional surrender.

One reason for this progress is that we're finally being helped by a substantial number of Iraqi troops. The force that took Samarra included 3,000 Americans and 2,000 Iraqis, with the latter providing local knowledge and helping secure sensitive sites like mosques.

More recently around Mahmudiya, U.S. forces rounded up a number of suspects, but it was only the arrival... of the Iraqi National Guard that allowed them to identify... a top Zarqawi paymaster....

...Mr. Bush deserves credit for going on offense now, since the path of least resistance would be not to stir up the hornets' nest of the Sunni Triangle before November 2. Acting now and with urgency tells Iraqis we intend to honor our pledge to hold elections by January....

[grounhog]

President bush puts the welfare of the country ahead of politics.
KERRY has never done that.....

[yoe]

Several times in the last 10 days I have heard testimony that indicated the slow reconstruction in Iraq was due to contracts given out to civilians. It was opined that if the US would allow the Navy CBs handle the job, it would be done in a matter of weeks. Have the Bureaucrats taken over? Congress cronyism at work? Many Iraqis are working hard for their country, however many are without work and joining the insurgent forces - SEND IN THE NAVY CBs