Were you Army or USMC, btw?
What's interesting is that the rest of Iraq is fairly quiet. Even Najaf hasn't gone south. Al-Sadr has been marginalized and has been neatly outflanked by Sistani and the rest of the Shi'a heirarchy. They want nothing to interfere with the rise of a Shi'a majority Arab state at the end of the year. Al-Sadr was a hothead who was in the pay of the Persians, and that was an unforgivable mistake. To be in the pay of the Americans is one thing. To be in the pay of the neighbors? Not good. Now Sadr is losing men to a shadowy group associated with the Badr Brigades. Sadr will have to humble himself before the Don and learn to bide his time and wait; otherwise, he will meet a terrible end.
Sistani will want us to handle the Fallujah problem so he doesn't have to dirty his hands. That's where I see this going. But the tactical obstacles I spoke of above are real, though I suspect that the enemy is fewer in number than a couple of weeks ago. Fallujah is not only Scout Sniper Heaven; it's also real dangerous work for Sappers and Combat Engineers.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Carl von Clausewitz, CoS Prussian Army.