Beyond the disappointment of Marines: What’s Really going on in Fallujah?

http://www.juancole.com/2014/02/disappointment-marines-falluja.html

NIQASH visits Fallujah and finds a city in flux. While armed militias control the city and the Iraqi army stands guard outside, markets and shops are still open and everyday life is relatively calm. However it won’t stay this way: more Sunni militants are entering the city, relishing a chance to fight the Shiite government, and medical and fuel supplies are running dangerously low.

Beyond the disappointment of Marines: What’s Really going on in Fallujah?
By Juan Cole | Feb. 15, 2014
(By Mustafa Habib)

Six weeks have passed since the Iraqi government lost control of the city of Fallujah. The city is now surrounded by the Iraqi army and internally it appears to be under the control of Sunni Muslim and tribal militias, although it is hard to tell exactly who is in charge.

As you near the city you see what appear to be preparations for a long battle. Barriers made out of dirt effectively block all four sides of the city. Behind them there are hundreds of armed men, some with anti-helicopter weaponry, and armoured cars.

Although the winter weather is cold – as low as 3 degrees Celsius – the militias behind the barriers avoid making fires because they don’t want the Iraqi army to be able to see their exact whereabouts.

“When the government was threatening to invade a few weeks ago, the militants started planting improvised explosive devices around the four entrances to the city,” Saeed al-Jumaili, a resident of Fallujah, tells NIQASH.