Marines Prepare for Large-Scale Fallouja Fight

Troops are disassembling and cleaning their weapons, stocking up on supplies, studying tactics and participating in numerous drills. A sense of exhilaration is evident at dusty bases near Fallouja, a rebel stronghold now firmly in the cross hairs of the U.S. military and Iraqi interim government.

"I've been waiting for this fight ever since I joined the Marines," said Staff Sgt. Dennis Nash, an 11-year veteran whose platoon has been fine-tuning its skills. "This battle is going to be written about in history books

The day and night are filled with detonations: Mortars coming in, artillery fire going out, airstrikes on Fallouja, about three miles to the east.

Helicopter rotors rumble and F-16 fighter jets zoom overhead. The ground shakes, a slight wind ripples and mushroom clouds rise from massive controlled explosions of 2,000 pounds or more of captured weapon caches from Saddam Hussein's forces.

Nine Marines were killed and nine were wounded Saturday when insurgents ambushed a U.S. convoy on the outskirts of Fallouja. The car bomb attack was the deadliest incident involving U.S. troops in nearly nine months.

Marine commanders say they are still awaiting final orders, and will abide by a negotiated settlement if a deal emerges from talks between Fallouja representatives and Iraqi government officials.

In a news conference Sunday, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned that the window was closing for reaching a negotiated resolution with the insurgents, calling it "the final phase" of efforts to avoid an attack.

Using much the same language as the Americans, he described Falloujans as victims of foreign fighters and eager to be rescued.

U.S. troops are openly skeptical of any settlement.

"The terrorists are barking up the wrong tree," said Cpl. Anibal Paz, a 21-year-old from Boston. "They're taking us on and they won't be able to back it up."

The upbeat mood contrasts with the generally spartan conditions here. Many Marines are billeted in bombed-out barracks that once housed fighters from an Iranian exile opposition group sponsored by Hussein. Arabic slogans meant to inspire the Iranians are still scrawled on many walls. Hussein's image stares down in one large room converted to a mess hall.

For many, there is a feeling that an attack would complete a job abandoned in April, when Marines were ordered to cut short an assault on Fallouja.