Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor:
Despite the steady rumble of fighting, from frequent artillery and rocket explosions, to bursts of small arms fire across the city, US forces entered a veritable ghost town.
Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, commander of ground forces in Iraq and of the U.S. Army’s III Corps adds:
Speaking of al-Zarqawi, who is accused of beheading American and other hostages in grisly videotapes posted on the Internet, Metz said it was “fair to assume that he has left.”
Imagine that.
UPDATE: Or, as Matthew Yglesias says:
Boy — guerilla force flees rather than stand and be slaughtered by better-armed foe. Who could have predicted that except every goddamn person on the face of the earth.
