The two sides of Fallujah: One returns to normal life, the other fights on

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The two sides of Fallujah: One returns to normal life, the other fights on

By: DARRIN MORTENSON - Staff Writer

FALLUJAH, Iraq ---- On Friday, the unofficial end of a loosely enforced cease-fire, Fallujah seemed to be turning two faces toward the U.S. forces amassed along its borders.

Reports from the south indicate that life on that side of the embattled city is returning to its normal rhythms. Shops were reopening and newly trained Iraqi forces ---- all but a few of whom deserted their posts during the worst of the fighting three weeks ago ---- were returning to work and patrolling the streets.

But in the north, where some of the most intense battles have been fought and where fighters described as insurgents remain entrenched and intransigent, Fallujah is a war zone.


Marines were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and fired on with small arms as humvees ferried supplies and troops from position to position. Mortar rounds, apparently fired by rebels, crashed into neighborhoods inside and outside the massive cordon around the town.

Marine snipers again picked out targets at will and mortarmen fired rounds into neighborhoods where the troops had received fire.

Military officials say that few, if any, in this section of the city are considered "friendly."

"The indications and the warnings are that this northwest corner is different than the rest of the city," Maj. Joseph "JR" Clearfield, the plans and operations officer for Camp Pendleton's 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, said Friday. "There is definitely something going on there that does not seem to be happening anywhere else."

Near the northwest corner ---- south of Marine positions in the neighborhoods inside Fallujah's rail line and east of Marine positions along a huge 's' turn in the Euphrates River ---- lies the Jolan: the old heart of Fallujah where officials say they believe the most die-hard insurgents are entrenched.

Some say it could be a nightmare to rout them.

The streets are cramped and irregular, cluttered with a confusing maze of brick and concrete buildings.

While military officials estimate that 200,000 of the city's 280,000 residents remain in Fallujah, the Jolan is still thought to be the most densely populated section of the city, said Col. John Toolan, commander of the 1st Marine Regiment.

Depending on whom one speaks to, and when, there are thought to be anywhere between 100 and 1,000 fighters of varying degrees of commitment to their cause moving freely and preparing elaborate defenses to stall and snare the advancing Marines.

So far in the conflict, they've used effective urban ambushes and have lured troops into traps with small groups of hit-and-run fighters. Generally described as "rebels," they have also planted bombs in buildings, alleyways and streets, some employing drums of petrol and other fuel to extend the damage.

Privately, some officials guess that most of the fighters are just locals defending their city against the attacking Americans. Most of those are expected to give up and run in the face of overwhelming American firepower, if they haven't already.

But higher up on the Marines' target list is the small core of foreign fighters and dedicated jihadists whom military sources say they would probably have to fight another day if they were allowed to escape the Americans' noose in Fallujah.

"We don't really know what's left there," Clearfield said. "We could be looking at (lots) of casualties, or we could walk right in. We just don't know, so we've got to be ready for anything."

Although the last few days have been relatively quiet for feisty Fallujah, Marines earlier in the week got a taste of what could be in store for them in Jolan.

Probing the houses and buildings just a block or two ahead (south) of their lines just before dawn Wednesday, a Marine patrol stumbled into what it estimated was a force of 30 rebels who fought with ferocity and coordination, calling in mortars and rockets from other quarters of the city.

The Marines battled for almost six hours, finally quieting the force with 500-pound bombs dropped from jet fighter-bombers.

Field commanders say insurgents can expect more of the same devastating firepower if the Marines move in for the kill. Toolan said that there is no way the rebels can prevail.

"They just want to create as much chaos as they can so the coalition forces have too many frying pans in the fire," Toolan said Friday after two Iraqi boys were wounded, apparently by shrapnel from mortar rounds fired by insurgents. "But we're not going to fall for that here."

After weeks of fighting, military officials recently gave regional and local leaders until Friday to force insurgents to turn over their heavy weapons and turn in the killers of four American security contractors whose bodies were mutilated and dragged through the streets.

But after only receiving limited cooperation and collecting mostly old and worthless weapons by Thursday, American generals from Washington to Baghdad to Fallujah worded their final warnings in the same stern words: The city had "days, not weeks" to cooperate.

U.S. military leaders in the field Friday held out little hope that a political solution could be reached to avert more bloodshed.

"It's getting extremely frustrating," said Toolan, who controls a task force of three of the five infantry battalions that now surround Fallujah.

He said the Iraqi leaders who are trying to foster cooperation in the city were "sort of in a state of despair" Friday.

"They can't seem to convince those people that it's in their best interest" to give the insurgents up, he said, adding that the insurgents are doomed if they don't surrender.

"They're not going to succeed," Toolan said. "It's only going to lead to more conflict, and I don't think anyone really wants to see that."

While the infantry officers say they have not yet received orders to attack, many spent Friday gathered around maps filling in the final details of their offensive plans.

"Nothing yet," Clearfield said Friday of his battalion's orders. "But I'm definitely still going ahead planning the offensive while we have the time. We'll have something ready."

Staff writer Darrin Mortenson and staff photographer Hayne Palmour are reporting from Iraq, where they are with Camp Pendleton Marines. Their coverage is collected at www.nctimes.com/military/iraq.

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Ellie