Security Comes to Fallujah With Saddam-Like Iron Fist

Fallujah, a hotbed of violence that has shown signs of stability, is trumpeted by the US as a success story of the Iraq war effort. But the security achieved there, largely the work of Faial Ismail al-Zobaie, the city’s police chief and a former insurgent, is the result of harsh, Saddam Hussein-style tactics, the Washington Post reports.

Zobaie rules with an iron fist, and the lofty goals of the US invasion, like promoting democracy and human rights, have been lost in his battle against a ruthless enemy. "We don't have any Thomas Jeffersons here," said a US commander in Fallujah. Zobaie’s forces are “trying to save a city,” but their efforts “won't fulfill our ideals or what we desire." (More Iraq stories.)