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Old Iraqi Army Reborn in Fallujah
(Washington Post) - Fallujah is now caught in a time warp. Iraqi soldiers wearing their crisp, olive-green army uniforms now man checkpoints on roads leading into the city. Attacks on the few remaining American troops in the surrounding desert have nearly ceased. Over the past week, U.S. Marines have handed over responsibility for security to an untested militia led by a group of generals who had been barred from military service by the U.S. civilian administrator of Iraq. The generals have recruited scores of young men who fought against the Marines last month into the Fallujah Brigade. Mohammed Latif, a former official in Hussein's intelligence service, was named the brigade's leader. The generals, whose return to power has angered many Shiite and Kurdish leaders, have joined residents in proclaiming a victory over the Marines.