3 U.S. Marines Killed in Fallujah Battle

By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer

FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marines battled insurgents in Fallujah on Thursday, with warplanes dropping bombs and tanks shelling suspected guerrilla positions in the heaviest fighting in weeks, erupting as the first residents returned to the devastated city. At least three Marines were killed in the area, the military said.

The fighting was the heaviest in Fallujah since Dec. 10, when seven Marines, three Iraqi troops and about 50 insurgents were killed. The former insurgent stronghold has seen sporadic violence, including artillery and small-arms fire, since the United States captured it in a weeklong offensive last month.

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Iraq Violence Delays Rebuilding Key Farm Sector

Thu Dec 23, 2004 11:53 AM ET
By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Failure by the United States to stop postwar violence in Iraq has crippled efforts to rebuild an essential part of the Iraqi economy -- agriculture, according to U.S. government officials.

Governing in a swath of the ancient Fertile Crescent where agricultural innovation helped spawn early civilization 10,000 years ago, Iraq's current leaders want to modernize a farm sector they envision producing enough wheat, barley, poultry and other commodities to end a reliance on imported food rations.

But doing so means infusing Iraq's agriculture sector with technological advances that for decades have passed it by. So far, the violence is blocking major projects, and limiting outside assistance to small projects such as beekeeping and radish farming.

From irrigation and drainage projects, farm extension services and new seed varieties to modern storage facilities, better food packaging and marketing, Iraq needs it all.

"It's pretty tough to get those kinds of things started when you can't move around unless you've got two military vehicles with .50-caliber machine guns on the roofs," said a U.S. government official involved with Iraqi redevelopment, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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What a frigging mess.