Via Eason Jordan’s <IraqSlogger we learned about a ex-National Guardsman named Bill Roggio, who has been in Iraq as an independent journalist, writing about what he sees and hears.

Recently he has been spending some time with 1st Bn, 24th Marines in and around Fallujah and has filed a report about some experiences. His perception seems to be that the insurgents/resisters/dead enders/al Quaeda are conducting classic 3rd and 4th generation guerrilla warfare.

As the the Iraqi Army, Fallujah Police and U.S. military work to secure Fallujah, the war in the shadows continues. Insurgents rarely fight in the open. Their tactics consist of intimidation, drive by shootings, roadside bombs, indirect mortar fire and the increasingly dangerous sniper attacks. The units currently here in Fallujah have yet to encounter a coordinated attack where the enemy maintained contact.

On Sunday, insurgents mortared an Entry Control Point just outside the city. One Fallujah Police officer was killed, and three civilians were wounded. The officer's lieutenant was visibly shaken and upset, and “The terrorists are crazy, they attack the checkpoints thinking there are only police or Army or Marines, but there are civilians there,” said Colonel Karim, Fallujah's chief of police, during a meeting with Lieutenant General James Mattis, during a visit at Fallujah's Government Center on Sunday.

It would seem unlikely that there would be many coordinated attacks because combat of that sort requires a very large troop mass to be effective. Lacking heavy weaponry, fighters of that sort would be very vulnerable to support attacks by air assets, and an urban environment isn’t the best locale for rally and escape for large numbers of fighters.

There are daily incidents, mostly IEDs and the occasional gunfire ambush or drive-by shooting.

I linked up with Company,1st Battalion, 24th Marines on Sunday night. Charlie Company is the only Marine line infantry inside Fallujah. The 1/24 is a reserve infantry unit from Michigan, and is augmented with Marines from Indian[a] and across the country. Charlie's 300 Marines have fought some of the toughest battles in here in Fallujah over the past few months.

The mission was a raid to detain multiple insurgent suspects. I linked up with the 1st Squad., 2nd Platoon, led by Corporal Stephen Webber. The raid began after midnight, and the targets were two suspected insurgents. “It takes about 20 patrols to gather the intelligence for one such raid,” said Captain Mike Maynes, Charlie's company commander.

Roggio details the events of this raid – unsuccessful on this night. On their return, Roggio notes machinegun fire and is told the Iraqi Army will have a mad minute any they feel threatened. It takes time to train troops and inculcate fire discipline, and it looks like we will be spending a lot more time in Iraq.

Reading through other entries on his blog are worthwhile to gain a bit more about the atmosphere in Iraq and surrounding areas. Almost all reporting outside the Green Zone is done by Iraqi stringers because of the danger involved,