Good news -- looks like I might have been wrong. The Marines are pulling out of Falluja, to be replaced with an entirely Iraqi force. Which may not work (the unreliability of Iraqi security forces has been much remarked of late), but at least has better odds.

More to the point: if the Iraqi forces fail, then Falluja will still be a problem. If, on the other hand, Americans went in with full force, and pictures of the fighting sparked widespread fighting elsewhere, the result could be a calamity. Trading a potential calamity for a problem is usually a good deal. Let's hope for improvement in the potential calamities elsewhere...