Fallujah turns into unlikely model for US-Iraqi ties

[Barrett808]

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - A little more than a year ago, Fallujah was, in the words of a US diplomat, a "Green Zone for terrorists" until US marines invaded in one of the fiercest battles since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

A year later, Fallujah is slowly rebuilding and could well be a model of civil-military relations for the restive cities further west, especially Ramadi.

Driving through Fallujah's war-ravaged streets, it is hard to realize this is a city on the mend. Entire street blocks are rubble-strewn wastelands and few buildings are spared the scars of machine-gun fire.

Yet civic leaders report that life is returning to markets in the "city of mosques" and people walk the streets without the furtive fear found in strife-torn Ramadi.

"Fallujah is getting back on its feet and people are going out and participating in the political process," said Mayor Dari Abdel Hadi on Thursday, the day of elections.

"The damage to Fallujah was more than that caused by the tsunami," he added in reference to a catastrophic tidal wave that killed hundreds of thousands in southeast Asia one year ago.

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