This is what I've been waiting for:

"Our military commanders will take whatever actions necessary to secure Fallujah," Bush said at the White House. While Bush said there were "pockets of resistance" in the Iraqi city, he insisted that "most of Fallujah is returning to normal."

..."Any belligerent that somehow has in his or her mind that the reason coalition forces are stuck inside this cordon and not moving forward because they either fear the enemy or don't have enough resources to move forward are making a deadly mistake," [Brig. Gen. Mark] Kimmitt later told reporters in Baghdad. "We are allowing the political process to move forward ... when it no longer shows promise, we will take alternative means."

Kimmitt mentioned an estimation of the proportion of foreign fighters to the insurgent force in Fallujah to be 10% — the rest being remnants from Saddam's thug castes. That analysis suggests, at least in Fallujah, a less significant Saudi, Syrian or generic terrorist presence; that certainly competes with other conclusions. Either way, they're not the Iraqis the Allies came to liberate. In two or three years, will today's remaining authoritarian pocks be viewed as a mop-up complicated and drawn out by foreign subterfuge, a desire on the part of the occupation to use a light hand, and the fact that the enemy is composed of fanatics who take shots from behind women and children? Defense officials are also noting that, in fact, the "negotiation" process has provided crucial time for Marines to paint their targets. The next hours and days will demonstrate how complimentary the president's words are to the military's intentions. From a public perspective, the reassurances are tonic.

INDISPENSABLE: A few thoughts. As to be expected, most news agencies are continuing their indifferent spin on Fallujah. According to one report, Kofi Annan isn't keen on the Marines sending insurgents First Class to the great beyond. Really. Annan wasn't keen on preventing the exploitation of Iraqis, either, so what else is new? "Violence erupts" is a winning headline from the New York Times, as if Americans and the enemy were street gangs from West Side Story, just hanging around, looking to rumble. Watch it, don't let that can of ACME Violence bust open!

But the Christian Science Monitor got things right.