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Falloujans Return to All They Lost

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Times Staff Writer

The line began forming in the predawn chill Tuesday when the only sounds coming from this devastated city were the honking of geese on the Euphrates River and a call to prayers from a riverfront mosque.

By midmorning, hundreds of Iraqis were waiting to cross the bridge that serves as one of the five carefully guarded entry points into Fallouja that were recently opened by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Some were laborers hired by the Iraqi government to begin the massive effort to rebuild this war-ravaged Sunni Triangle city, once home to nearly 300,000 people.

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Others were residents who had fled before U.S.-led forces wrested control of the city from insurgents in November. They hoped to find something remaining of their homes, their businesses and their lives.

The battle for Fallouja is largely over, save for occasional firefights and sniping. A longer and, in some ways, more daunting task lies ahead: letting residents return, catching insurgents trying to sneak back and helping Iraqis repair their shattered city.

On Tuesday, 2,500 residents passed through Entry Control Point 5 on the west side of the bridge, a new high for the site since the influx began last month. The checkpoint is open 10 hours a day.

During the morning, Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding officer of the 1st Marine Division, was inspecting the five entry points and assessing the progress of the effort.

“I hope your home was not damaged too much,” he said through a translator to an Iraqi who appeared to be about 50.

“If God is willing,” the man replied, looking heavenward.

Natonski, whose forces led the incursion into Fallouja and are part of the rebuilding effort, is bullish on the prospects for restoring the city. But he concedes it will take a long time.

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The city was heavily damaged during pre-invasion U.S. airstrikes and the subsequent combat. However, Natonski was unwavering in his view that the destruction of Fallouja was the fault of insurgents who had long used it as a base.

“The fact is, the city will be better than it was before the insurgents turned it into this,” he said. “We’ll keep [insurgents] out. The people don’t want them, and we don’t either.”

To get back into their city, Fallouja residents must run a gantlet of inspections and scrutiny. Those with Iraqi identification cards, issued by the fledgling government, are given preference, but their vehicles are searched.

Those without cards are interviewed. Their irises are scanned so that the characteristics of their eyes can be cataloged and compared to a database of Iraqis who have been arrested by U.S. forces.

Iraqis found with anti-American literature or such material on compact discs are taken aside for further interviewing. Female Marines search female Iraqis; Iraqi police search male Iraqis, with Marines watching.

It is difficult to gauge how many of the hundreds who return to the city each day leave again once they view the wreckage.

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“There are some happy faces but also sad ones,” said Lance Cpl. Jerry Contreras, 19, of Long Beach. “I saw one man start crying when he saw his house was destroyed. I felt bad but I knew we didn’t just blow it up, we had to.”

One hopeful sign, Marines say, is that more women and children are returning.

“To me, it means the Iraqis feel safe inside the city, so they can bring their families,” said 1st Lt. Donald Toscano, 28, of Miami, who commands the platoon in charge of Entry Control Point 5.

The city that awaits those who return has a ghostly appearance. Empty homes fill block after block, some with gaping holes in the walls and roofs. Some blocks are nothing but piles of brick and masonry rubble.

Skinny, crazed-looking dogs roam the streets. Telephone poles are bent over, their wires littering the ground. Some ruins have a strange, Stonehenge look.

The freshly damaged areas are interspersed with zones that were rusting and fetid long before U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003. Piles of ancient garbage ring the outskirts of town, and rusted reinforcing bars protrude from buildings that were abandoned, only half-completed.

Marines and soldiers have numerous compounds inside the city. Sentries keep away the curious and tanks back up the signs that warn: “STOP Or U.S. Military Will Shoot Fire.” Some neighborhoods are blocked off with razor wire. Only certain parts of Fallouja are considered safe enough for residents to return.

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Men stand on street corners in small knots watching glumly as American vehicles pass by. A few cars drive slowly down streets filled with rubble and garbage. Some depopulated neighborhoods are silent except for the whine of an unmanned U.S. surveillance plane overhead.

Parks are being used as food distribution centers by troops.

The Marines manning Entry Control Point 5 are members of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment. The unit was a leader of the assault on Fallouja.

The same Marines who were exchanging gunfire with insurgents are now trying to convince residents that a better life lies ahead.

“This is critical,” said Maj. Rob Belknap, 32, of New Orleans, the commanding officer of Weapons Company. “Getting people back into their city and back to a normal life, that’s mission-success, if we can accomplish that.”

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