Fallujah, situated roughly 45 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province, has a history of agricultural prosperity, with produce and fruit making up the traditional crops. But with the cost of living exceeding the income of many residents and a 50 percent unemployment rate, many residents are blaming the U.S. military, the global news service Inter Press Agency said Tuesday.

"This is a country that was damned by the Americans the moment they stepped on our soil," said one local farmer.

Fallujah grocers say the prices of some foods double when the U.S. military imposes curfews or other restrictions on the city.

IPS says figures available from the United Nations indicate at least 4 million Iraqis lack adequate food supplies and 27.5 million do not have access to clean drinking water.

Analysts say the social effect of rising costs and diminished resources is to encourage illegal activity.

"The food crisis has led to vast corruption, and raised crime rates to peak point," another Fallujah resident told IPS.