History is a brutal teacher. Sometimes, the lessons it offers are so bloody, so devastating, that nations ignore them only at their peril. One such lesson was written in the ruins of Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, where the U.S. military fought two of the fiercest urban battles since Vietnam.

Today, as Israel fights for its survival against Hamas, those lessons should be studied carefully. Just as Fallujah was the heart of the Sunni insurgency, Gaza City is the fortress of Hamas. If Israel falters—if it stops short of capturing and breaking Gaza City—it risks condemning itself to endless rounds of bloodshed.

In March 2004, four American contractors working for Blackwater were ambushed in Fallujah. Their bodies were burned, mutilated and hung from a bridge over the Euphrates. The grotesque imag

See Full Page