Some 15,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops are currently engaged in a challenging urban-warfare campaign to secure Fallujah from the motly crew of foreign Islamists and desperate Ba?athists who?ve been running the place, terrorizing the population, and striking coalition targets from its security. The attack, called Operation Phantom Fury, seems to be going well so far.
Try as I might, I can?t eject from my mind an image the name has conjured up, that of a purple-clad ghost who walks and fights for freedom and justice against barbarism and tyranny.
