Chinese Navy China makes an unusual port call in Hong Kong.

• Associated Press: China Sails Warships Into Hong Kong

US Marines – The Marines pull back from Fallujah.

• Washington Post: Marines Begin Pulling Back From Fallujah
• The Times: Marines aghast at order to lift siege of Fallujah

US Navy – American commanders expect that the Arab terrorists or Iraqi insurgents behind Saturdayís unsuccessful suicide attacks on offshore Iraqi oil facilities will attempt more such boat bombings in the coming weeks.

• Virginian Pilot: Boat bombings herald new style of fighting in waters off Iraq

US Navy – Naval news from around the fleet.

• Sea Power: 2005 Budget Plan Funds Nine Ships; Outlook is for 17 New Ships in 2009

Background – History – With Oliver Hazard Perry’s flagship dead in the water, the British had apparently won the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. But then the quick-thinking American commander turned the tables and snatched an astounding victory in the bloodiest naval fight of the War of 1812.

• MHQ: Perry’s Miraculous Victory

Background – American Empire – From Washington to Baghdad, the debate over American empire is back. Five new books weigh in, some celebrating the imperial project as the last best hope of humankind, others attacking it as cause for worry. What they all fail to understand is that U.S. power is neither as great as most claim nor as dangerous as others fear.

• Foreign Affairs: Illusions of Empire: Defining the New American Order