In the fight
US forces first attacked the Sunni Muslim city of Fallujah in April. But after they withdrew, the city soon regained strength as a hotbed of Iraq's insurgency. On Nov. 8, the Monitor's Scott Peterson accompanied some 10,000 US troops into Fallujah in a definitive bid to oust insurgents. For the next month, they were engaged in US forces' toughest urban battle since Vietnam. Troops went house to house, blowing open gates and bracing for surprise attacks. Last week, Iraqis began to return to the heavily damaged city to begin the process of rebuilding.
