Jim Crane has the story for the AP:

The U.S. military's ground and air assault of Fallujah has gone quicker than expected, with the entire city occupied after six days of fighting, the Marine commander who planned the offensive said Sunday. The military said 31 Americans have been killed in the siege.

Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski said he and other commanders learned from April's failed three-week Marine assault on Fallujah, which was called off by the Bush administration after a worldwide outcry over civilians deaths. This time, the military sent in six times as many troops and 20 types of aircraft. Troops also faked attacks before the assault to confuse enemy fighters.

"Maybe we learned from April," Natonski said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We learned we can't do it piecemeal. When we go in, we go all the way through. We had the green light this time and we went all the way.

"Had we done in April what we did now, the results would've been the same." [emphasis added]

No. The results would not have been the same. Had we don't this in April, we might have lost a few more troops--but we also would have largely nipped the insurgency in the bud before it had a chance to spread across the country to the degree it has today. Instead, the President wanted to delay any action until after November 2 to help him win reelection... is that what we want in a commander in chief?