Hell in a Very Small Place

The Bakersfield
Californian reports that US forces have reached the major east-west highway
that runs through Fallujah.

U.S. Marines said American forces had taken control Wednesday of 70 percent
of Fallujah in the third day of a major offensive to retake the insurgent
stronghold. Major Francis Piccoli, of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said
enemy fighters were bottled up in a strip of the city flanking the major
east-west highway that splits Fallujah. Army and Marine units had pushed
south to the highway overnight, Piccoli said.

... As the American forces crossed the highway that split Fallujah, armored
Army units stayed behind to guard the thoroughfare.

To realize the significance of this, refer to this map
from Global Security, which shows the start lines of the participating
American units: USMC 3/1, USMC 3/5, Army 2/7 Cavalry, USMC 1/8, USMC 1/3
and  Army 2/2 Infantry. These units were attacking north to south, down
towards the highway. The east-west highway referred to in the paragraph above is
the bright green line running horizontally across the map. US Army armor is now
on that highway, after advancing south and probably swinging west. US forces are
probably waiting across the highway. We are fairly sure of this because the London
Telegraph recounted how a US Army Cavalry Unit was moving through the
industrial area which is located in the southeast corner of the city, below the
green line which represents the highway which US armor is now patrolling going
north to south; that is up towards the highway. We know it is cavalry because
they call their companies "troops".

The flimsy metal door was ripped off its hinges as a hefty boot from a
Legion platoon soldier made decisive contact. Inside the small room lay an
AK-47 rifle, alarm clock parts and a handwritten notebook in Farsi. Moments
earlier, the gunman, thought to be Iranian, had fled as Legion, Hunter and
Outlaw platoons of the US army's Task Force 2-2 undertook one of the
more dangerous tasks of the battle for Fallujah. Clearing buildings door to
door in a guerrilla stronghold is risky at any time. Into the bargain this
time, the platoons from Phantom troop had been ordered to sweep
Fallujah's industrial zone, a haven for foreign fighters.

Simply reading the map shows that the enemy is pinned in a strip north of the
highway, which is now a barrier to further escape south. As Major Piccoli put
it, the "enemy fighters were bottled up in a strip of the city flanking the
major east-west highway that splits Fallujah". Pressing them against the
highway are four US battalions from the north and two from the east. Two days
ago, the Telegraph
carried an interview with Captain Natalie Friel, which eerily anticipated this
very outcome.

"They're probably thinking that we'll come in from the east,"
said Capt Natalie Friel, an intelligence officer with task force, before the
battle. But the actual plan involves penetrating the city from the north and
sweeping south. "I don't think they know what's coming. They have no idea
of the magnitude," she said. "But their defences are pretty
circular. They're prepared for any kind of direction. They've got strong
points on all four corners of the city." The aim was to push the
insurgents south, killing as many as possible, before swinging west. They
would then be driven into the Euphrates.

The reader is invited to draw his own conclusions about the enemy's prospects
in this position. They are pinned against the highway, with no exit north, east
or south.

Update

An

AFP-Reuters story has more details on the situation in Fallujah.

"If everything goes as planned we will take full control of the city in the
next 48 hours," the officer said, on condition of anonymity. The officer said
the troops would still need up to a week to make the north-east corner of
Falluja safe "and at least 10 days to clear the city". "For now we are
clearing pockets of resistance."

Back in World War 2, this would have been described as the "end of organized
resistance" and the start of "mop-up operations". Historically mop-up operations
on Pacific Islands could last for weeks and months. It won't be easy. There are
probably many tons of unexploded ordnance lying around, undetonated IEDs
and more than a few bypassed tunnels and bolt-holes with holdouts in them. US
troops are still probably going to suffer casualties in the coming days cleaning
that mess up. But the focus has already moved on to the "slaughterhouses" and
charges that 'we let Zarqawi get away'. No one is seriously alleging that 'US
troops have been fought to a standstill' anymore.

Signs of the gruesome killings of hostages were found by Iraqi troops in
the northern districts, according to an Iraqi general who called himself the
chief spokesman for the operation. "We have found hostage slaughter houses in
Falluja that were used by these people and the black clothing that they used
to wear to identify themselves, hundreds of CDs and whole records with names,"
Major General Abdul Qader Mohan told reporters.

Here at least, is one reason why geographical sanctuaries are useful to
"evanescent" resistants.