You probably have not heard but the Regiment has been involved in a fight on the outside of Fallujah for the past week.

On August 9th, the insurgents in the city kidnapped the two Iraqi National Guard battalion commanders within the city subsequently killing at least one of them. It is another clear example of the savagery of the enemy here. The city is now without any coalition influence other than our fires. The local militia that was created as a solution to the April fighting has become a defensive army that is in collusion with the insurgents. The police are complicit with the enemy and the city is literally run by terrorists.

The Iraqi National Guard battalion commander that was killed was LtCol Sulaiman Hamad Ftikan. We knew him as Sulaiman. He was the closest thing to a true patriot and leader we have found who is actually from the local Falluja area. He was kidnapped and murdered because he had finally gotten his battalion to stand up to the criminals and insurgents who have had their run of the city all these months.

Of course his murder was not merciful. He was tortured and beaten to death. He was so disfigured by the torture that his friends could not bear to look at his body - this from a people who have seen their share of death and torture. There are still at least two soldiers missing that were kidnapped with Sulaiman and more good men are taken every day.

The city has continued to be an epicenter of terror and instability. With everything that I know, I cannot fathom a resolution of this problem that does not include us being allowed to take the city down once and for all. Time and space does not allow me to recount the horrible tales of torture and murder that have taken place inside this town. Too many good men have been taken into the town and beaten savagely because they are trying to be honest policemen or soldiers. It seems that the favorite torture techniques include hanging people upside down and pulverizing feet and toes. However, we have had bodies show up with various unimaginable wounds including some that have had their faces melted off by welding torches. The enemy is savage and will never come around to cooperate with the coalition or the new Iraqi government.

Sulaiman's death in large part ended the Regiment's restraint around the city. The Marines have invested so much time, energy and passion into training the two battalions of Iraqi National guards that were headquartered in and around the town. The enemy surrounded the two battalion headquarters and threatened to destroy them in total. They lured Sulaiman out with promises that they just wanted to talk and that if he exited, he could spare his men. Long story short, immediately after the commanders left their headquarters with the insurgents, the enemy poured into the buildings and beat the soldiers. After a beating, they chased the soldiers out of the headquarters and proceeded to steal all the weapons and ammunition that we had provided and loot all of the garrison property (trucks, TVs, air conditioners, etc...) that we had purchased to stand up the force. The weapons, ammunition and vehicles were taken and are now in the hands of the enemy. The garrison property was sold in the street. The leading insurgent and leading imam (go figure that) then declared that "the Iraqi National Guard no longer exists in Falluja" and that any soldiers seen in uniform should be killed. This same guy controls the Falluja Brigade as well as other insurgents inside the town.

We immediately cut any ties with the city and moved forces to the outskirts. The Marines have been fighting ever since. We have bombed, sniped and fired more tank main gun and small arms that can be counted. I have no idea how many we have killed but it is significant.

The Marines continue their heroics in ways that I am unable to describe but I will give you a vignette that is typical of what they are doing in 115 degree heat in full body armor every day.

Two days ago, as the Marines were fighting on the outskirts of the city, one of the battalion commanders' security detail was parked behind him as he was observing one his positions. Two young LCpls looked up on the highway behind them and saw a high jacking in progress. There were masked men with AK 47's stopping tractor trailers loaded with Toyota Landcruisers. The two Marines immediately began engaging the masked men. A Marine on rear security near the battalion commander heard the gunfire and turned and engaged the masked men himself. The trucks took off. The masked men made a break for the city but were chased down by the Marines and captured. However, the car carrier escaped and was speeding toward the city with a couple of taxis used by the highjackers.

A Sgt saw the trucks and sped his HMMV section (2 vehicles) toward the trucks across the open desert. He split his section and rifled past the enemy vehicles with is own HMMV. He gave a hasty order to the Marines in his vehicle and then swerved in front of the tractor trailer cutting it off. The Marines bailed out of the HMMV and caught 4 enemy exiting the truck with AK 47s. The Sgt and his team cut them down at a distance of 20 feet with their M16s. Several more insurgents tried to run from the rear. The Marines in the last vehicle cut them down in an engagement that took place at a distance of 30 feet. The two taxis took off and tried to make it to the city. They were engaged with a TOW missile and a medium machine gun. The insurgents inside the city and in a position behind the Marines immediately opened up with a heavy volume of fire. The Sgt tasked a young Marine who had never driven a semi truck before to get into the cab and drive out of the kill zone. He did. The Sgt brought all of his Marines and the high jacked truck out leaving nothing but dead insurgents in his wake.

The Marine driving the truck made it all the way back to his base but stopped short of the gate where the Sgt decided that since the young Marine "did not know how to drive a semi, he could not reliably negotiate driving the truck in through the friendly position." They stopped short and a civilian commercial driver was dispatched to the gate to get truck onboard. Yep... he rolled the truck and severely damaged all of the pristine Land cruisers that the Marines had risked their lives to save. No doubt he was doing his best and the point is that the trucks did not end up in the enemy's hands but you have to love that ending. You can only imagine the picture on the Marines' faces when the trucked rolled over.

That is just one example of what the Marines are doing. I could share with you accounts of severely wounded Sailors and Marines insisting that they can still hold a weapon and are still "in the fight" and other lesser wounded Marines refusing to be evaced. There are Marines who exit friendly lines everyday and commit acts of untold bravery that would inspire you as much as they humble me.

We have been bombing enemy positions and killing the enemy where we find them. As you can see, there is no humanity in them as they kill off the good men, murdering and stealing to further their twisted vision. It would seem that the only chance of true resolution of the "Falluja problem" will be to finish these guys once and for all. The difference between now and April is that the majority of Iraqis that we meet ask us to enter the city. They are tired of the lawless hell that exists inside the city and are literally willing to have us rubble it to save it. I know it sounds strange but it is the reality here.

We also have an entire battalion of Iraqi Special Forces soldiers who have stepped forward. We have trained these guys and they are a different breed of cat altogether. Many are veterans of the Iran Iraq war and are hardened. They don't necessarily love us but they now have a bond with the Marines and operate jointly with them everyday. They shake their head at the hesitancy to resolve Fallujah and are willing to fight inside the city. It will be a very tough fight but in the end I just don't see how we can move forward as a coalition, or Iraq as a fledgling country, while this festering sore remains open.

Interestingly enough while we have been keeping the enemy bottled up and destroying him in Fallujah, the attacks on supply convoys and on Marines have dropped off outside the city. If we take our boot off their neck now, no doubt we will see a return to enemy attacks in other parts of our area. This is further proof that the city radiates instability and terror.