An Iraqi man prepares graves for seven others killed by an air strike in Fallujah

Witnesses told IslamOnline.net that the two bridges and areas surrounding the hospital were not strategic for resistance fighters.

They said it is part of a US propaganda to lift up the spirits of the invading troops, adding that US forces warned hospital staff over loudspeakers not to leave the building.

Hospital director Dr. Salih al-Issawi told AFP that US troops refused to allow him and others to go into the centre of Fallujah to help out at a medical facility that had been set up there.

Some 20,000 US and Iraqi troops had been gathering around the city, west of Baghdad, awaiting interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s green light.

Allawi on Sunday declared a state of emergency across the country, expect for the Kurdish-run north, giving his government sweeping powers.

Aerial Attack

In a related development, US warplanes continued to pound Fallujah Monday as gunfire could be heard from within, Major Todd Desgrosseilliers, an executive officer with the marines, told AFP.

"There are aircraft carrying out precision engagements inside the city on identified enemy positions," he said.

Warplanes rumbled over the Sunni Muslim bastion, allegedly pounding suspected resistance positions for at least an hour from about 8:00 am (0500 GMT).

Aljazeera news channel said the US attack left at least nine civilians dead and 16 injured.

A previous siege of the city by US marines in April claimed the lives of at least 700 Iraqis, mostly women and children, and left 1,500 others injured.

Negotiations between the US-backed interim government and delegates from the town collapsed in mid-October after Allawi threatened the city with invasion if it did not surrender Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.

The Fallujah people have repeatedly maintained that they did not harbor  the wanted man.

About 80 to 90 percent of Fallujah's 300,000-strong population is thought to have fled to city, which has been the focus of nearly daily air raids.

The city; nevertheless, stands as an invincible bastion for the invading troops with its clannish and religious character.

Resorting to God

US Marines of the 1st Division bow their heads during a prayer outside Fallujah

In their final preparation to the massive onslaught, many marines draw on their evangelical or born-again heritage to help them face the battle.

Men with buzzcuts and clad in their camouflage waved their hands in the air, M-16 assault rifles laying beside them, and chanted heavy metal-flavored lyrics in praise of Christ in a yellow-brick chapel, AFP reported.

"You are the sovereign. You're name is holy. You are the pure spotless lamb," a female voice cried out on the loudspeakers as the marines clapped their hands and closed their eyes.

The US military, with many soldiers coming from the conservative American south and Midwest, has deep Christian roots.

"It's always comforting. Church attendance is always up before the big push," First Sergeant Miles Thatford told AFP. "Sometimes, all you've got is God."

Between the service's electric guitar religious tunes, marines stepped up on the chapel's small stage and recited a verse of scripture, meant to fortify them for war.

One spoke of their Old Testament hero, a shepherd who would become Israel's king, battling the Philistines some 3,000 years ago.

"Thus David prevailed over the Philistines," the marine said, reading from scripture, and the marines shouted back "Hoorah, King David," using their signature grunt of approval.

The marines drew parallels from the verse with their present situation, where they perceive themselves as warriors fighting barbaric men opposed to all that is good in the world.

Their chaplain, Horne, told the worshipers they were stationed outside Fallujah to bring the Iraqis "freedom from oppression, rape, torture and murder ... We ask you God to bless us in that effort."