[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Five, not four, Marines were killed in action in and around Fallujah.

Per archy:

...one KIA in a exchange of fire in one of the outer neighborhoods of the city while first probing city defenses. At least one Iraqi also killed in that exchange as well.

Our enemy is cruel, and determined.

Our troops are more determined, and far more capable.

We have a long battle ahead.

Over 1600 US Marines and two battalions of Iraqi security forces are operating around Fallujah.

US troops, Iraqi security workers and Coalition allies are fighting in Baghdad, Fallujah, Basra.

Over 135,000 US troops are on the ground in Iraq.

May God continue to protect and strengthen our troops and allies.

---

   

TF 1st Armored Division

 

1st Marine Expeditionary Force

 

 

                  Some Gave All

 

 

[archy]

Potentially worse, per CBS/AP:

Pentagon: 12 Marines Reported Dead

April 6, 2004

Deadly Hunt In Iraq Continues

U.S. Marines take cover during a gun battle with the Iraqi insurgents outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2004.

(Photo: CBS)

Al-Sadr left his fortress-like complex in Kufa and moved to an office near a sacred shrine in the holy city of Najaf, vowing to shed his own blood to oust the American occupation.

(CBS/AP) Up to a dozen Marines were reported killed in new fighting in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Reports from the field said dozens of Iraqis attacked a Marine position near the governor's palace in Ramadi, a senior defense official said.

"A significant number" of Marines were killed, and initial reports indicate it may be up to a dozen, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. warplanes firing rockets destroyed four houses in the beseiged city of Fallujah late Tuesday, witnesses said. A doctor said 26 Iraqis, including women and children, were killed and 30 wounded in the strike.

U.S. Marines have been battling Iraqi guerrillas since Monday in a seige aimed at putting down Iraqi guerrillas in Fallujah, one of their main strongholds.

The rockets destroyed the houses in two neighborhoods in the city after nightfall Tuesday, the witnesses said.

Rafie al-Issawi, a doctor at Fallujah General Hospital, said the hospital received the bodies of 26 dead along with 30 wounded soon after. He said their wounds suggested they had been in the destroyed houses.

The deaths bring the total death toll among Iraqis in Fallujah on Tuesday to 34, including eight during heavy street fighting during the day.

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