FALLUJAH, Iraq -- When the U.S. troops entered the abandoned factory shed Sunday, they found a hastily abandoned campsite with some deadly debris left behind: Sacks full of chemical-coated rocks. Leather belts stuffed with explosive putty, and one smeared with dried blood. Boxes of batteries with wires taped to them. Instructions for making bombs.
"This was a 16-man terrorist cell," pronounced a Marine captain. "See⢠All the bags and sneakers are brand new, all the same make. This took money and planning. Someone sponsored them."
The evidence -- Islamic books, pamphlets, tapes and farewell letters in Arabic -- suggested that some of the men were foreign Sunni Muslims who had traveled here to fight and die in a holy war against the United States and the country's Shiite majority.
"I say goodbye with tears in my eyes and heart, and I ask God for victory," read one letter. "Father, don't blame yourself. I am happy to be here," it said. "Mother, don't be weak. Raise your children to be martyrs for the cause."
Marine officials said early last week that they believed foreign Islamic fighters had joined the local insurgents. On Thursday the Marines shot and killed a sniper who was wearing a suicide belt, and they have since discovered seven suicide bomb devices in various hiding places.
So far they have not conclusively established that any of the insurgents were foreign infiltrators. But the unearthing of the Islamic documents among the bomb-making materials yesterday, while two foreign journalists and an Arabic interpreter were present, suggested that at least some of the suicide squad members were not from Iraq.
