corrente

Bush insisted "most of Fallujah is returning to normal" despite a massive American bombardment yesterday.
(via UK Mirror)

U.S. warplanes carried out new air strikes and gunfire erupted in parts of this volatile city Thursday night, hours after Marines announced a tentative deal to end a nearly month-long siege that has cost hundreds of lives. Separately, a series of hit-and-run attacks and a car-bomb blast killed 10 U.S. soldiers during the morning, most of them in and around the capital.

A cease-fire agreement -- reached with the assistance of local leaders and signed April 19 -- has largely been ignored by people in the city. Although the deal called for such heavy arms as mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to be surrendered to the Marines, all they have received is a small assortment of rusty, inoperable weapons.

The latest plan emerged from three days of discussions between U.S. commanders and four former Iraqi generals, according to Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in Fallujah.

(via WaPo)