Fallujah strike under scrutiny

But something new had to be tried in light of fighting there turning a major swath of Iraqi public opinion against the US occupation.

At the time, the Marines said they wanted the brigade to root out militants in the city through relationships with locals, particularly foreign Arab fighters that the US says have turned Fallujah into their principal logistics base.

But the Marines were also skeptical that the Iraqi forces would aggressively target the insurgents and some predicted they'd eventually take matters into their own hands again.

That's what happened on Saturday, with the first major US strike in the city since the beginning of May. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said a building reduced to rubble by a powerful American bomb was being used as a safe-house by "terrorists" and pointed to "numerous secondary explosions" at the site after the attack as evidence that bombs were being assembled there.

General Kimmitt said the US had "strong, actionable" intelligence to strike at the house. Though the house was in a crowded neighborhood, Kimmitt said that precision weapons were used to hit the house and that "collateral damage estimates [were] well within our rules of engagement."

But the decision to strike the alleged militants rather than send in the Fallujah Brigade to make arrests or engage the men with small-arms fire indicates a lack of confidence in the brigade, whose leaders have often been at odds with US commanders in their public statements.

The US deems Mr. Zarqawi, whose whereabouts are unknown, to be Public Enemy No. 1 inside Iraq. They allege he has been behind many of the suicide attacks that have plagued Iraq. Although US officials are unsure of his whereabouts, he has a bastion of support in Fallujah where US officials say he has frequently been seen.

US officials describe Zarqawi as an Afghan-trained militant with a dream of creating a Sunni theocracy across the region and a desire to derail any efforts toward a peaceful transition in Iraq.

There is certainly much passive support for him in Fallujah, a religious town with many preachers who adhere to an austere, intolerant brand of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia. More broadly, many Iraqis are skeptical that he's behind many attacks, and see the residents of Fallujah as victims of US aggression, rather than harborers of major terrorists.

That will make it tough for Allawi to pursue alleged domestic militants in Fallujah with as much zeal as the US would like, analysts say, though he's undoubtedly interested in undercutting the ability of foreign ihadis to hit at his authority.

The US should wait and see "what kinds of compromises they're working out [in Fallujah] and see if it's working as a political accommodation,'' says Lang.

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