Troops Wait Eagerly to Reenter Fallouja

On the outskirts of this hostile city Friday night, battalions from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force set up checkpoints and camps in preparation for their eventual return.

As they braced for one of the season’s first blistering sandstorms, some Marines also geared for battle, saying they were eager to avenge Wednesday’s brutal killings of four American security contractors.

“I’ve got a lot of hate inside me, but I try to put that aside,” said Sgt. Eric Nordwig, 29, of Riverside, a veteran of the battle that toppled Saddam Hussein. “We just sit and take it and be mortared.”

The time has come to “clean up the town,” he said.

Marine officials have insisted that any military strike would be “precise” and “overwhelming.”

Col. J.C. Coleman, chief of staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said this morning that Fallouja was key to stabilizing central Iraq.

“Fallouja is a barrier on the highway to progress. We’re going to eliminate that barrier without damaging the highway,” he said.

Coleman said the slayings of the four American civilians triggered a rethinking of Marine strategy.

“The circumstances on the ground have changed.... Our operation as a result will change,” he said.

There was no indication Friday that a Marine incursion into Fallouja was near.

In Washington, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz briefed members of the House Armed Services Committee on plans for retaliation. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), the committee’s chairman, said the classified briefing suggested that a reprisal could entail the use of U.S. air power.

“Obviously, we have very competent people who have, since the beginning of the war against terrorism, had the ability and know-how to put together a blueprint to, No. 1, identify the perpetrators of the terrorist actions and, No. 2, to hunt them down and eliminate them,” Hunter said.

Hunter’s son, also named Duncan, is a Marine serving in Fallouja.

Maj. Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Division here, has told his troops that this is a “war of patience,” and that sometimes they will be unable to respond, even when they suffer casualties.

Patience is a difficult sell for some. Most of the younger troops enlisted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. in an effort to “get into the fight.”

“It’s hard” to be patient, said Lance Cpl. Michael Shaffer, 22, of Owensboro, Ky. “Unfortunately, I know it’s more a mental fight than a physical fight. If we go in and tear up the place, the Iraqi people will resent that and we’ll just have more trouble.”

In Fallouja, many of the city’s quarter of a million residents warned of further bloodshed if the Marines returned.

In an interview before Friday prayers, a senior Muslim cleric made no apologies for the attack on the four Americans as they drove through the town Wednesday morning, although he condemned the subsequent mutilation and dragging through the streets of the bodies. Two of the bodies were hung from the Euphrates River bridge.

“The killing is legitimate,” said Khalid Ahmed Salih, cleric at the Al Badawi mosque. “But we do not accept the mutilation of the bodies. Islam orders us not to do that to a dog. No decent man will accept this.”

Residents called the attack a justified response to a Marine patrol through Fallouja last week that ended in a firefight, killing one Marine and about 18 Iraqi insurgents and civilians.

“It is inevitable that the sons of Fallouja will kill the Americans and mutilate their corpses,” said resident Fadhil Badrani. “Though mutilation is not allowed in Islam, the grudge and malice in the hearts of the people led them to do this because of the repeated American provocation.”

Such reactions are frustrating to U.S. officials, who have pushed Fallouja’s clerics and local government to condemn the attacks and help apprehend those who took part. A public call to Fallouja’s citizens for assistance in the case has yielded a few tips, Marine officials said.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the senior military spokesman in Iraq, said the city could avoid a crackdown if it handed over the attackers. “The question -- is there going to be a fight? -- is one you should ask the insurgents, one that you should ask the government, the governors and the mayor inside Fallouja,” he said Thursday.

Military leaders had even hoped that some clerics might issue an edict banning attacks on Americans. But no such calls were heard Friday. A block from where the American convoy was attacked, graffiti read: “It is permitted to steal from Americans. It is permitted to kill Americans for vengeance.”

Residents spent the day going about their routines. Some shops were open, but most of the city was quiet in observance of the Muslim day of worship. Iraqi police and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps officers patrolled the streets. “But there is an uneasy calm,” Badrani said.

A few miles away, about 4,000 Marines waited to execute the military’s response to the killings. Marines took charge of Fallouja -- one of the most anti-American cities in Iraq -- a week before the attack. Since their arrival, the troops have dodged mortar fire, engaged in a major firefight with insurgents and seen three of their men killed, including one who died Thursday.

When they first arrived, they spoke frequently about winning the hearts and minds of the people of Fallouja. Now many Marines are eager to take a more aggressive approach.

“We’re going to have to do something and do it quick,” said Lance Cpl. John Randall, 21, of Grove, Okla., a veteran of last year’s invasion. “We’re just sitting around taking mortars at night.”

Cpl. Edward Ramirez, 23, of Hart, Texas, said Marines had to show the residents that “we’re not going to back off. We need to show them we don’t fear their attacks.”

Lance Cpl. Mohamud Mohamed, 20, of Milwaukee said he hoped the Marines’ patience would encourage the Fallouja residents to help the military find those who killed the four contract workers.

“If a person wants to change, it has to come from within,” Mohamed said.

Navy combat medic Thomas Cupo, 30, of Margate, Fla., said the challenge was to keep the horrific images of the burning SUVs and mutilated bodies from governing his attitude toward the Iraqis.

“You can’t let it get inside your head,” Cupo said.

In Baghdad, reaction to the attacks has been mixed. Some members of the Iraqi Governing Council condemned the ambush. But during a massive prayer and protest Friday in front of the headquarters of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, many followers of firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtader Sadr voiced their approval. “The people of Fallouja are heroes!” a protester shouted.

In a separate incident, one soldier with the 1st Armored Division was killed and another was wounded as they patrolled the Mansour district of Baghdad early Friday.

Special correspondent Hamid Sulaibi in Fallouja contributed to this report.

--- UNPUBLISHED NOTE ---

In stories after April 9, 2004, Shiite cleric Muqtader Sadr is correctly referred to as Muqtada Sadr.

--- END NOTE ---