The United States said today the “healing” of Fallujah in Iraq was almost complete and the US would soon move on to the next enemy stronghold. The announcement signalled moves by the White House to expand the theme of President George W Bush’s acceptance speech, in which the election victor promised “healing” for a divided nation.

Bush’s second administration trumpeted the Fallujah campaign as a key success on the road to repackage war as “the new humanitarianism”.

At last count, about 1,000 insurgents had been “healed” during American efforts to spread “healing” in the city of Fallujah.

In an apparent gesture of reciprocal goodwill, the insurgents “healed” 24 American soldiers and five Iraqi troops.

Benefits of the new outbreak of euphemism quickly spread to the local population.

An undetermined number of civilians, regarded as “killed in the crossfire” under now-outdated terminology, were able to be reclassified as “healed”.

A correspondent who drove through Fallujah saw many “healed” bodies lying in the streets, among “healed” homes and mosques.

A senior US military commander in Iraq said there was plenty more healing to be done across the country before it could hold democratic elections.

“Our job doesn’t finish with Fallujah. The President doesn’t just want to heal America - he wants to heal Iraq too. And I’ll tell you what - if you think America’s a divided nation, you should come take a look at this place,” he said.