"The insurgents want nothing more than to see this place go away and everything that the government stands for to be destroyed, so we're living in it. We're living on the bullseye."
It's dangerous work-- a mission for which brave American soldiers and marines volunteer, so that they can go about the unglamorous job of standing up a regular, crime-busting, patrolling police force for the people of Fallujah. Along the way, they and the Iraqis they work with are sometimes frustrated, sometimes foiled, sometimes uplifted, and always undaunted.
Bill Ardolino was there to see it. I'm linking you to a long piece, but there's a reason it's long. It's a fuller story than you'll get in your newspaper, and that's what you want. There are lots of pictures to help you along (including many handsome U.S. Marines for the ladies and guns for the guys). Bite it off in pieces, enjoy, and thank goodness we have warriors who work this hard and long without hope of a front-page treatment in the WaPo.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member