FALLOUJA, Iraq — On the outskirts of this hostile city Friday night, battalions from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force set up checkpoints and camps in preparation for their eventual return.
As they braced for one of the season's first blistering sandstorms, some Marines also geared for battle, saying they were eager to avenge Wednesday's brutal killings of four American security contractors.
"I've got a lot of hate inside me, but I try to put that aside," said Sgt. Eric Nordwig, 29, of Riverside, a veteran of the battle that toppled Saddam Hussein. "We just sit and take it and be mortared."
The time has come to "clean up the town," he said.
Marine officials have insisted that any military strike would be "precise" and "overwhelming."
Col. J.C. Coleman, chief of staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said this morning that Fallouja was key to stabilizing central Iraq.
"Fallouja is a barrier on the highway to progress. We're going to eliminate that barrier without damaging the highway," he said.
Coleman said the slayings of the four American civilians triggered a rethinking of Marine strategy.
"The circumstances on the ground have changed.... Our operation as a result will change," he said.
There was no indication Friday that a Marine incursion into Fallouja was near.
In Washington, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz briefed members of the House Armed Services Committee on plans for retaliation. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), the committee's chairman, said the classified briefing suggested that a reprisal could entail the use of U.S. air power.
"Obviously, we have very competent people who have, since the beginning of the war against terrorism, had the ability and know-how to put together a blueprint to, No. 1, identify the perpetrators of the terrorist actions and, No. 2, to hunt them down and eliminate them," Hunter said.
Hunter's son, also named Duncan, is a Marine serving in Fallouja.
Maj. Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Division here, has told his troops that this is a "war of patience," and that sometimes they will be unable to respond, even when they suffer casualties.
Patience is a difficult sell for some. Most of the younger troops enlisted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. in an effort to "get into the fight."
