A top Marine officer here says the compromise that gave control of Fallujah to an Iraqi brigade in exchange for the withdrawal of Marines may be a failure.
"This was a noble experiment that may not work out," Col. Larry Brown, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's operations officer, said this weekend. "The brigade has not performed as well as we had hoped."
His comments were the strongest indication from the U.S. military that the effort to contain the insurgency by depending on the Fallujah Brigade was failing. It also was a sign that the model — turning to former Iraqi military including those who served Saddam Hussein — would not solve security problems after the U.S.-led coalition hands sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
The Fallujah Brigade was established to end three weeks of combat in April that killed 600 to 700 insurgents and 10 Marines. The Marines withdrew to the outskirts of Fallujah after Sunni members of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing Council objected to the bloodshed. Led by former members of Saddam's military and made up largely of insurgents who had been fighting the Marines, the brigade was supposed to bring peace to the city and meet several demands.
USA Today article
"This was a noble experiment that may not work out," Col. Larry Brown, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's operations officer, said this weekend. "The brigade has not performed as well as we had hoped."
His comments were the strongest indication from the U.S. military that the effort to contain the insurgency by depending on the Fallujah Brigade was failing. It also was a sign that the model — turning to former Iraqi military including those who served Saddam Hussein — would not solve security problems after the U.S.-led coalition hands sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
The Fallujah Brigade was established to end three weeks of combat in April that killed 600 to 700 insurgents and 10 Marines. The Marines withdrew to the outskirts of Fallujah after Sunni members of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing Council objected to the bloodshed. Led by former members of Saddam's military and made up largely of insurgents who had been fighting the Marines, the brigade was supposed to bring peace to the city and meet several demands.
Are we winning?
