International Troops Enter Iraq

It's entirely possible that my media-cynicism adjuster is tuned too high, but whether rightly or wrongly, the following caption for the photo currently on the Providence Journal's home page surprised me. In big, bold letters on the picture itself is the word "Captured," and beneath it:

In this image from television, troops oversee captives at a hospital on the western edge of Fallujah, the Sunni insurgent stronghold being stormed by international and Iraqi forces today.

I'm glad to see the international community joining us over there in Iraq! The linked headline that follows is "Thousands of U.S. Troops Storm Fallujah," but that might be the Associated Press's handiwork.

I'm also glad to see the Iraqis getting into gear. Here's Prime Minister Ayad Allawi sending his troops off to battle:

"The people of Fallujah have been taken hostage ... and you need to free them from their grip," he told Iraqi soldiers who swarmed around him during a visit to the main U.S. base outside Fallujah just before the attack began.

"May they go to hell!" the soldiers shouted, and Allawi replied: "To hell they will go."

Well, wherever the insurgents end up, may God watch over the troops fighting to wrench the city from them.

ADDENDUM:
Mere minutes after I'd posted this entry, I noticed that the AP headline has been changed to "Troops Storm Fallujah in Major Assault." The tone is changing more quickly than I'd thought, even with my media-cynicism adjuster set to eleven!