U.S. reservists gingerly start to repair Fallujah

[Moloch]

The first steps toward reconstruction in Fallujah were taken Wednesday, and they were taken at a run, while crouching.

Two dozen members of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Engineer Group crunched over gravel, charred shell casings and broken glass, rifles out as they bounded down a war-torn street that was once a commercial strip.

They duck-walked through eerily empty streets as the sounds of a nearby gunfight echoed off the buildings and alleyways.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&ncid=2027&e=1&u=/chitribts/20041118/ts_chicagotrib/usreservistsgingerlystarttorepairfallujah

[Ripley]

1. Yeah, I bet they gingerly walked on body parts.

I'm so glad Americans have money to burn! Blow it up. Rebuild! Knock it down. Rebuild! Kill em all. Pay the families!

[sidpleasant]

2. According to the BBC they still haven't restarted the water plant

US Marines occupy the water plant but haven't turned it on. Fallujah has been without running water for nine days.

[maddezmom]

3. RESIDENTS TO RETURN?

Naqib said that Falluja's population of 300,000, many of whom fled before the long-heralded offensive began last Monday, could start returning within days, once the city was deemed safe. Officials would survey damage caused during the fighting and arrange compensation to rebuild homes and businesses.

Aid agencies have complained of a humanitarian disaster in Falluja and it is not clear quite how long it will take to restore basic services for residents trying to return home. (Additional reporting by Luke Baker in Mosul, Sabah al-Bazee in Baiji and Mussab al-Khairallah, Lin Noueihed, Andrew Marshall and Terry Friel in Baghdad)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041118/wl_nm/iraq_dc&cid=574&ncid=1480

[maddezmom]

4. here's a $100, sorry about the destruction to your home, the death of your

family members from bledding to death, the lack of running water and electricity, typhoid etc. :puke:

Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government also declared the operation a success and held out the prospect of residents being able to return to the city within days, offering $100 cash to each family and compensation for damage to homes and businesses.

[barb162]

6. the shrubster's version of winning hearts and minds, I can hardly

read the news any more. When these people return and are handed a hundred bucks, I expect all of them to start rioting. What's the US gonna do, jail 300,000 people?

[barb162]

5. and when the insurgents return with the residents, we can do this

all over again. Like Groundhog Day