Tick. Tick. Tick.

Pray there's no boom.

(Original 3-way post is here. More from Kos is here.)

Senior Marine intelligence officers in Iraq are warning that if American troop levels in the Falluja area are significantly reduced during reconstruction there, as has been planned, insurgents in the region will rebound from their defeat. The rebels could thwart the retraining of Iraqi security forces, intimidate the local population and derail elections set for January, the officers say.

They have further advised that despite taking heavy casualties in the weeklong battle, the insurgents will continue to grow in number, wage guerrilla attacks and try to foment unrest among Falluja's returning residents, emphasizing that expectations for improved conditions have not been met.

Although the resistance crumbled in the face of the offensive, the report warns that if American forces do not remain in sufficient numbers for some time, "The enemy will be able to effectively defeat I MEF's ability to accomplish its primary objectives of developing an effective Iraqi security force and setting the conditions for successful Iraqi elections.

Iraq's interim government says some 1,600 rebels lie dead in the rubble of the city, and civilians have been trying to collect their dead between upsurges in the fighting.

The Associated Press news agency reports that some insurgents have sneaked back into the city by swimming across the Euphrates River.