Atrocity bridge rededicated in Fallujah

"Four years ago today," the New York Daily News writes, "four American security men from Blackwater were ambushed in Fallujah. They were shot in their vehicles, doused in gasoline and set afire, mutilated and strung up on a bridge over the Euphrates River. The grisly images of their blackened corpses dangling from the steel bridge fueled the drive for a ... Marine offensive into the city days later."

The four men were led into ambush by their Iraqi security detail. The attackers planned the ambush for its international propaganda value; some of the attackers had video cameras to record the murders and mutilations, and relied on the international news media to spread the images around the world. A trial lawyer is trying to profiteer from the tragedy by holding Blackwater - not the terrorists - responsible for the killings. He is suing the company on behalf of some of the family members of the deceased.

Four years after the horrible incident, the city of Fallujah is much quieter. In fact, the Public Affairs Office of the Multi-National Corps at has announced that the bridge, reportedly nicknamed "Blackwater Bridge," has been refurbished and will be rededicated on 5 April. The bridge was first dedicated by King Feisel in 1927 and will henceforth bear his name.