Senior commanders in Kabul said they didn't want a repeat of the 2004 invasion of Fallujah, Iraq, an operation that gutted the city, making for a propaganda victory for insurgents, even though U.S. forces won the battle.

WSJ: U.S. Starts Afghan Surge

In 2004, Fallujah was the big story in Iraq.

NPR: Long-Awaited Fallujah Rebuilding Shows Promise

More than 200 years later, a unit of American Marines in Iraq's Sunni stronghold of Fallujah attempted to follow his example in 2004, growing mustaches in an attempt to help them win local sympathies.

CNN: Mideast men go under knife for manly mustaches

Last year, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers installed more than 1, 000 solar-powered street lights in Fallujah, a predominantly Sunni city in central Iraq that was the scene of a brutal battle between insurgents and U.S. soldiers in 2004.

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Places like Baghdad, Ramadi, Fallujah, Sadr City, Najaf and elsewhere throughout Iraq.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama and Vice President Biden Honor Iraq Veterans | The White House

Just before the attack on Fallujah, his followers quietly announced they had joined a pan-Shia electoral alliance sponsored by Iraq's foremost cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

ECONOMIST: Iraq