General hails tactics in assault on Fallujah

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq — In April, 2,000 Marines fought for three weeks and failed to take Fallujah from its insurgent defenders. This time, war planners sent six times the troops, who fought their way across the rebel city in just six days — far more quickly than expected, the Marine general who designed the ground attack said Sunday.

"We had the green light this time and we went all the way," Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski told The Associated Press.

Natonski said he and other planners took lessons from the failed three-week U.S. assault on the city in April, which was called off by the Bush administration after a worldwide outcry over civilian deaths.

This time the military used swarms of aircraft — more than 20 types — that pounded the city before and during the assault. Troops also faked attacks before the assault to confuse enemy fighters.

"Maybe we learned from April," Natonski said. "We learned we can't do it piecemeal. When we go in, we go all the way through."

Privately, U.S. military officials say April's assault was botched by the Bush administration, which forced the Marines to attack with insufficient forces on just a week's notice and then called off the assault before the city was taken.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said last week that circumstances were different in April. He alluded to opinion polls in Iraq that suggested that since the first attack, more people are fed up with the violence and are blaming the insurgents rather than the U.S. forces.

For the latest assault, commanders had time to plan. Also, the Iraqi and U.S. governments were determined to wipe out the insurgent nest. And the Iraqi troops, who melted away in April, stood their ground.

Even the worldwide outcry was muted this time, by revulsion at an insurgency blamed for grisly beheadings of hostages.

Natonski described the first six days of ground war as a "flawless execution of the plan we drew up. We are actually ahead of schedule."

As quick as the assault was, perhaps thousands were killed and maimed, most of them Iraqi defenders. Natonski put the toll of guerrillas killed at more than 1,200.

A military statement Sunday said that 38 U.S. troops had been killed and 275 were wounded so far in the operation.

There is still no estimate of civilians killed or wounded in the assault.