Apparently the assault on Fallujah has begun or will begin at any point. They say 10,000 US troops ring the city. Yet there has been "heavy fighting" in several places outside of Fallujah, particularly the city of Samarra. It probably will turn out that most of the guerillas have slipped away. Someone on Dkos today compared the army to a hot knife going through water. That may well turn out to be accurate. Plus, some Iraqi army official disappeared with the battle plans immediately after a briefing.
The way this Fallujah assault is playing out has convinced me that the US troops need to come back. It sure looks as though their targets have slipped the noose; the flattening of the city will be counterproductive; and we've just come to the point where our presence is not helpful. It's possible that this assault will effectively end resistence, but it's not likely.
Less extreme Republicans, as many had predicted earlier, immediately became the next target. Arlen Specter of PA made a statement that fetal rights shouldn't govern a judicial choice. He may not get the committee he wants because of that little injudiciousness. But he may be powerful enough to tell the White House to call off its dogs. The witch craze in Salem abruptly stopped when the "afflicted girls" got too big for their petticoats and went after high status women, including the wife of the governor. We shall see. I'm putting my money on Specter. At this point corporate interests still have the power to direct the extreme right wing's targeting and to have them focus on someone other than one of their senate friends. A less powerful Republican is a more likely target.