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Worst is over, but town is damaged.
(GFP: I think they mean CITY DESTROYED)

Bushwhacked in Fallujah
TIME photographer Yuri Kozyrev comes under fire on patrol with the 82nd Airborne

STREETS OF FIRE:
Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne prepare to cross a street under cover of smoke during a firefight in downtown Fallujah

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - At first glance, the U.S. Marines saw nothing extraordinary about a baby crib in the corner of a bombed-out house in Fallujah. But when Lance Cpl. Nick Fenezia threw back the blankets, a Kalashnikov rifle and bulletproof vest lay on the tiny mattress.

"Man, did you have to be just another muj?" Fenezia mused of the baby’s missing father, employing U.S. shorthand for Iraq’s insurgents - mujahedeen - or Muslim holy warriors. "Couldn’t you have stopped shooting at us and watched your baby grow instead?"

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...

When Fallujans do return en masse, they will find many parts of their city in ruins, with bank buildings scorched, mosques bombed, cars burned, doors to their homes forced open and their cupboards and drawers rifled by foreigners.

"It’s going to be difficult putting Fallujah together again, but not impossible," said Pashos. "That is the saddest, to have it all come to this, all these people’s homes destroyed."

But even before air and ground assault, Fallujah was poor by the Marines’ standards, with many of its people living in mud-brick homes in tight, crowded neighborhoods.

"After we rebuild Fallujah, it will be a lot better place to live," said Wyer, the Oklahoman, "something that was worth our sacrifice."

more...
http://www.columbiatribune.com

1. "Bushwhacked in Fallujah" - http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/fallujah/
2. "http://www.columbiatribune.com" - http://www.columbiatribune.com/2004/Nov/20041128News021.asp

printed from GlobalFreePress, U.S. soldiers reflect on Fallujah on 2004-12-09 17:43:23