A report (registration required) in the LA Times from November 15 provides details on the destruction wrought in Falluja (the LA Times spells it ‘FALLOUJA’–if the insurgency lasts much longer the Chicago Manual of Style might have to start listing the standardized spelling of major Iraqi cities) during the bizarrely named ‘Operation Phantom Fury.’ (Presumably the campaign to take Ramadi or Mosul, where many of the insurgency leaders are supposedly now holed up, will be dubbed “Operation Real Fury”.)The sewage system is destroyed, the electric grid virtually dismantled, and most of the mosques are at least partially demolished. Moreover, the stench of death pervades the streets as the bodies of the Iraqi dead remain uncollected. Given the intensity of the fighting and the prevalence of snipers, it is understandable why few on either side are willing to take the risk to drag the dead in.It the light of such grisly facts, the stated plans for reconstruction seem blackly comic. From the LA Times report:In the works is some kind of “Welcome Back to Fallouja” campaign, directing residents to military civil affairs offices where people can find reconstruction help.”It won’t be a fruit basket or anything like that,” said Hanson, the Marine major. He had $500,000 in cash for various expenses: compensating civilians who had suffered property losses or injuries or lost relatives deemed not to be insurgents.So it’s welcome back to the Necropolis and here’s 500 bucks for your dead brother.