McFreedom

Forces clash in Fallujah, moving towards the months-delayed inevitable conclusion. The town, whose strategic importance is much larger than its borders - approximately two square miles - was surrounded and softened up over the past few weeks. Now, Allied forces are moving in, capturing the railway line that is the border on the north and turning it into an outpost. On the western side of the town, two bridges over the Euphrates mark the western edge of the town, and these were crossed and captured, as well.

In the opening phase of the battle, one of the first objectives captured by the Iraqi National forces was a hospital. Situated at the western foot of the northernmost bridge - a bridge made notorious earlier this year when Jihadis hung the mutilated corpses of American contractors from it as a taunt to our forces - the hospital was apparently in use by opposition forces as a lookout post. As well, there is speculation that the Americans, tired of Islamist hospital spokesman trumpeting every casualty to come through the doors as an intentionally targeted civilian, simply decided to run the medical facility themselves for the duration.

"Insurgents" in Fallujah, drawn by dreams of martyrdom, of taking down scores of "imperialist" troops in a final blaze of glory, are well prepared only to die. The photos made available from the AP reporters "embedded" with the Jihadis show poorly trained and equipped combatants using old weaponry and exhibiting little discipline. Clad in bright, loose clothing, and sporting masks that no doubt impair vision and hearing, with more weapons than men, firing from the hip, these fighters may be well prepared to slit the throat of a civilian hostage. But, when faced with an American force that can see them from miles away and call destruction on their heads, the only thing they will prove effective at is dying, in vast numbers.

On the home front, protesters also seem unaware of the imbalance of force. In Chicago, a man held a sign which jubilantly read "Forget the Alamo/Remember Fallujah/Graveyard of Americans!" If the Jihadis have been reading the same press releases as this gentleman, they may also be under the misapphrension that many American forces will die in large numbers in Fallujah. Coalition tactics involve slowly breaking the town into manageable pieces, isolating the barbarians from resupply, and crushing them under an assault of heavy weapons. Doubtless coalition forces will die, but certainly not in the numbers the opposition forces will, by at least two orders of magnitude. These "foreign fighters" - most effective when executing unarmed civilians begging for their lives - will make a brave enough stand, but in the end are essentially lambs for the slaughter. The technological gap between these forces is too great for this not to result in a bloodbath for the Jihadis, dashed upon the rocks by superior firepower.

And good riddance.