REBUILDING FALLUJAH

Kevin Sites, an embedded reporter during the battle for Fallujah returns to a changed city:

Yet while many signs of the battle's ferocity remain, I also notice something else: the streets are filled with people.

Shops are open, some operating out of buildings with just three walls or partial roofs. Cars and trucks travel the road alongside children coming from school. There is here a sense of normalcy as well. The Marines cannot provide precise figures on how many people returned to their homes in Fallujah after last year's battle, but some estimates have it as high as two-thirds of the population.

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As Capt. Walton tours the school, other Marines from the 6th Civil Affairs Group joke around with Iraqi kids -- some not much younger than the Marines themselves -- outside.

One Marine, at the urging of the kids, reads a poem about a cat from an English textbook. Another Marine plays a prank that always seems understood, no matter the language. He points his finger at an Iraqi boy's chest, and when the boy looks down, he taps the boy's nose. The crowd erupts in laughter. It's a simple moment but a stark contrast from the mood in Fallujah a year ago.

Of course, the kid knew he had to laugh on cue if he didn't want to be shot on the spot with the legendary white phosphorus bazooka.

Anyway, it's a positive story well worth reading.