Bear in mind that this report so far comes only from Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, but if true, may say more about the effectiveness of American counterinsurgency operations than any I can recall—

FALLUJAH, Iraq, June 18 (Xinhuanet) -- A suicide car bomb attack targeted an Iraqi army patrol near the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, killing 14 soldiers and wounding eight others, witnesses and medical sources said on Saturday.

"We have received 14 bodies of Iraqi soldiers and eight others wounded, including four in critical condition, who were evacuated to Baghdad's hospitals," a medical source in Fallujah Hospital told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

A suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle at about 4:45p.m. (1245 GMT) on Friday into a crowd of Iraqi soldiers near the headquarters of the Iraqi Islamic Party in Fallujah, which was witnessing a meeting attended by the Iraqi and US officers, local witnesses said.

They said there were no casualties among civilians as the militants cordoned off the area in the center of the city, some 50km west of Baghdad, preventing people from approaching the attack scene.

Fallujah? American forces have destroyed Fallujah! It is largely rubble. It was a city of 300,000 reduced now to only the tens of thousands who have been screened and readmitted. It is being operated as a mini police-state, for God's sake.

We need to get out of Iraq—and fast!

(Thanks to Information Clearing House for the link)

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6/20/05 – 6:30 pm

I've been keeping an eye out for any confirmation of the Xinhua report, which is possibly to be found in a release from UPI. The reports differ as to the number killed and wounded (which they almost always do) and even the manner of the attack, but the locale is the same. The UPI report is drawn from an official statement—

Nine troops from the U.S.-led multinational forces were killed Saturday in a mortar attack in the troubled city of Fallujah west of the capital.

Coalition officials said in a statement that six soldiers also were injured in the attack in Fallujah, 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Baghdad, but did not identify the nationalities of the casualties.

Notice that in the official statement the soldiers are only identified as being troops from the coalition. The U.S. likes to identify Iraqi soldiers as part of the "coalition." In the news back home it makes it appear that other (Christian) countries are also sacrificing soldiers.

Also, a marine was killed a day or two before by a roadside bomb in Fallujah.

Fallujah appears to be another "Mission Accomplished."