Fallujah

The defeat of the insurgency in Fallujah will will be studied by future generations of military historians as one of the most decisive battles of the Iraq war. The Army and Marines dispelled any doubt that they are capable of conducting urban warfare against a nonconventional force willing to fight to the death.

The victory in Fallujah will be of tremendous consequence. Even before the operation to clean out the terrorist cesspool there began, there were signs of strain within the insurgency - between the foreign fighters, the Saddam loyalists, and the local populace. The U.S. and Iraqi government victory there is undoubtedly causing leaders of the insurgency to rethink their strategies. And, if it is followed up by similar operations elsewhere, a growing number of everyday Iraqis will be emboldened to stand up for the emergence of a free and (relatively) democratic Iraq.

While we celebrate the victory in Fallujah, we need to remind ourselves that war is often accompanied by unspeakable horrors that live on in the memories of its survivors for the rest of their lives. This (long) report from the frontlines does a tremendous job of describing the undescribable. Read it. (Link from Andrew Sullivan.)