"There is no government there," Mr. Barias told Mr. Bremer. "They will not allow any person in there who is associated with the government. It's the mujahedeen shura that is in control of that city," a reference to a council of militants.
Mr. Barias went on to say that his entire administration, which is based in nearby Ramadi, was penetrated by double agents working for the insurgents.
"We don't know our friends from our enemies, in fact," Mr. Barias said. "Any discussion we have with them is immediately relayed to the mujahedeen."
Afterward, as Mr. Barias prepared to leave, he was asked to describe the situation in Falluja.
"It's simple," he said. "It's a terrorist hotbed."
American commanders say they are wary of reigniting another revolt in Falluja. As the battle ground on in April, they said, more and more Iraqis who had been neutral towards the Americans took up arms against them. Soon, they said, much of the town was fighting.
Mohammed Abdullah Shahwani, Iraq's director of national intelligence, said that the Americans and the Iraqis could defeat the insurgents in Falluja but that the cost would be great indeed.
"We could take the city," he said, "but we would have to kill everyone in it."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/international/middleeast/08fall.html? pagewanted=2&hp