According to Times, “Despite the deaths of the seven marines on Sunday and another on Saturday, the number of attacks in Falluja and the surrounding area has dropped since the Falluja offensive, and local residents have begun assisting the American-led effort in ways they never did in the past, Colonel Wilson said. Some local residents have helped American forces to spot roadside bombs, for instance, and farmers recently chased off a band of insurgents, he said. In Ramadi, residents chased a group of insurgents from the town’s business area.”