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The Marines relieved the 82nd Airborne on March 17. The killing of the contractors was on March 30.

I guarantee you, the Marines were not put there to sit outside Fallujah and play pinochle.

Y'know whose blood Dan Rather and the rest of the media jackals will have on their hands by this orgy of exploitation? Pfc. Keith Maupin, a 20 year old being held hostage right now. If that kid is killed in retribution for these images being broadcast around the world ... when a FULL INVESTIGATION and specific allegations were well underway ... the killers will be Rather, CBS and the rest every bit as much as the terror monkeys who hold him captive. Was this kid's life worth showing these photos?

Dan Rather is pond scum but this story was going to burst into the open in a matter of days anyway.

Once Hugh Thompson went to the Chaplain at Ft. Rucker, Alabama and told his story, it was a matter of days until My Lai was on all the front pages. Third Army HQ bumped it to the Pentagon in a NY minute. No chain of command can keep bad news under wraps for long. The problem was that the CG of the Americal Division and his staff tried to.

82nd Airborne Division Commanding General's Briefing from Iraq

Q: James Hider (sp) from The Times. General, what lessons have been learned from the attack last month on the ICDC position in Fallujah? Because in many ways that was one of the testing points for the new security forces and they didn't do particularly well. What lessons have you drawn from that experience?

Swannack: Okay, on the 14th of February there was an attack on both the police station and also the ICDC headquarters in Fallujah. Now, it is very tragic that about 15 police and several civilians were killed. But on the positive note, what was learned from that is the dedication of Iraqis to fight for their freedom. Specifically, the ICDC battalion there in Fallujah requested no assistance from coalition forces, other than additional ammunition and some heavy weapons, which we've provided them. They attacked -- counterattacked, actually, after securing their own base camp, counterattacked a couple of blocks away and re-secured the police station, killing nine enemy and driving off the rest.

And so what has come of this, I believe, is a sea change for Fallujah. That's when the 20 Imams issued the fatwa not to go ahead and have Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence. The community has come together to deter any violence, Iraqi on Iraqi. The council is working together better now for the future of Fallujah. And I'm very proud of the security forces in Fallujah.

The town also held a memorial ceremony for those fallen security forces and issued valorous awards and payments to the police who were wounded -- in ICDC who were wounded. So it's tragic that they had the deaths, but I believe it's a very positive step forward for Fallujah. And since that time there has been almost negligible anti-coalition or anti-Iraqi attacks.