Privately, U.S. military officials say April's assault was botched by the Bush administration which forced the Marines to attack with insufficient forces on just a week's notice and then called off the assault before the city was taken.
For the latest assault, commanders had time to plan. Also, the Iraqi and U.S. governments were determined to wipe out the insurgent nest. And the Iraqi troops, who melted away in April, stood their ground.
Even the worldwide outcry was muted this time [Huh? Don't these guys read the foreign press?-- Ed.], by revulsion at an insurgency blamed for grisly beheadings of hostages.
...
There is still no estimate of civilians killed or wounded in the assault.
Battle planning began in September, with Natonski given responsibility for the combat phase, Wilson said. [Er... I thought it was ordered by Allawi...?]
...
Another key tactic was choking off the city, the responsibility of the 2nd Brigade of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, Natonski said.
That move prevented insurgents from slipping out of the city during the assault, although many, including top leaders like Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Sheik Abdullah al-Janabi and Omar al-Hadid, are thought to have fled.
''We never expected them to be there,'' Natonski said. ''We're not after Zarqawi. We're after insurgents in general.''
Well you'll have to read the whole thing for its surrealistic, Catch 22-like horror:
Shameful reporting, though the latter word hardly applies. Paging Juan Cole.
I especially admire the Orwellian re-phrasing of the mission goal... Zarqawi--who he?
