The Anbar campaign consisted of fighting between the
United States military
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
, together with
Iraqi security forces
The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is a term used by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to describe law enforcement and military forces of the federal government of the Republic of Iraq. During the Iraq War, these entities received trainin ...
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
i governorate of
Al Anbar
Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...
. The
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
lasted from 2003 to 2011, but the majority of the fighting and
counterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
campaign in Anbar took place between April 2004 and September 2007. Although the fighting initially featured heavy
urban warfare
Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the p ...
primarily between insurgents and U.S. Marines, insurgents in later years focused on ambushing the American and Iraqi security forces with
improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...
s (IEDs), large scale attacks on combat outposts, and car bombings. Almost 9,000 Iraqis and 1,335 Americans were killed in the campaign, many in the Euphrates River Valley and the
Sunni Triangle
The Sunni Triangle is a densely populated region of Iraq to the north and west of Baghdad inhabited mostly by Sunni Muslim Arabs. The roughly triangular area's points are usually said to lie near Baghdad (the southeast point), Ramadi (the southwes ...
around the cities of
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...
and
Ramadi
Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...
.
Al Anbar, the only
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
-dominated province in Iraq, saw little fighting in the initial
invasion
An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
. Following the fall of
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
it was occupied by the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
's
82nd Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...
. Violence began on 28 April 2003 when 17 Iraqis were killed in Fallujah by U.S. soldiers during an
anti-American
Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...
demonstration. In early 2004 the U.S. Army relinquished command of the governorate to the Marines. By April 2004 the governorate was in full-scale revolt. Savage fighting occurred in both Fallujah and Ramadi by the end of 2004, including the
Second Battle of Fallujah
The Second Battle of Fallujah, initially codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, Operation al-Fajr (, ) was an American-led offensive of the Iraq War that began on 7 November 2004 and lasted about six weeks.
A joint military effort of the United ...
. Violence escalated throughout 2005 and 2006 as the two sides struggled to secure the Western
Euphrates River
The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...
Valley. During this time,
Al Qaeda in Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq (; AQI), was a Salafi jihadist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It was founded on 17 October 2004, and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until its disbandment on 15 October 2006 after he was killed in a targeted bombing on ...
(AQI) became the governorate's main Sunni insurgent group and turned the provincial capital of Ramadi into its stronghold. The Marine Corps issued an intelligence report in late 2006 declaring that the governorate would be lost without a significant additional commitment of troops.
In August 2006, several tribes located in Ramadi and led by
Sheikh
Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...
Abdul Sattar Abu Risha began to form what would eventually become the Anbar Awakening, which later led to the tribes revolting against AQI. The Anbar Awakening helped turn the tide against the insurgents through 2007. American and Iraqi tribal forces regained control of Ramadi in early 2007, as well as other cities such as
Hīt
Hit or Heet (, ''Hīt'') is a city in Al Anbar Governorate of Iraq. Situated on the banks of the Euphrates River, it lies northwest of Ramadi, the provincial capital. The city is administrative capital for Hit District. A major city in the cent ...
,
Haditha
Haditha (, ''al-Ḥadīthah'') is a town in the Al Anbar Governorate, about northwest of Baghdad. It is a farming town situated on the Euphrates River. Its population of around 46,500 people, predominantly Sunni Muslim Arabs. The town lies near ...
, and
Rutbah
Ar-Rutbah ( ''ar-Ruṭba'', also Romanized ''Rutba'', ''Rutbah'') is an Iraqi town in western Al Anbar province, predominantly inhabited by Sunni Arabs. The population is approximately 28,400. It occupies a strategic location on the Amman–Baghd ...
. More hard fighting still followed throughout the Summer of 2007 however, particularly in the rural western River Valley, due largely to its proximity to the Syrian border and the vast network of natural entry points for foreign fighters to enter Iraq, via Syria. In June 2007 the U.S. turned a majority of its attention to eastern Anbar Governorate and secured the cities of Fallujah and
Al-Karmah
Al-Karmah, also sometimes transliterated as Karma, Karmah, or Garma (Iraqi Arabic: الگرمة), is a city in central Iraq, 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Fallujah in the province of Al Anbar.
U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq
For mos ...
.
The fighting was mostly over by September 2007, although US forces maintained a stabilizing and advisory role through December 2011. Celebrating the victory, President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
flew to Anbar in September 2007 to congratulate Sheikh Sattar and other leading tribal figures. AQI assassinated Sattar days later. In September 2008, political control was transferred to Iraq. Military control was transferred in June 2009, following the withdrawal of American combat forces from the cities. The Marines were replaced by the US Army in January 2010. The Army withdrew its combat units by August 2010, leaving only advisory and support units. The last American forces left the governorate on 7 December 2011.
Background
Al Anbar is Iraq's largest and westernmost governorate. It comprises 32 percent of the country's total land mass, nearly , almost exactly the size of
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
in the United States and slightly larger than Greece. Geographically, it is isolated from most of Iraq, but is easy to access from
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
, Jordan, and
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. The
Euphrates River
The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...
,
Lake Habbaniyah
Lake Habbaniyah ( ''Buḥayrat al-Ḥabbāniya'') is a lake located halfway between Ramadi and Fallujah near Al-Taqaddum (TQ) Air Base in Al Habbaniyah in Anbar Province, Iraq.
In the late 1930s and 1940s Lake Habbaniyah was used by Imperial ...
, and the artificially created
Lake Qadisiyah
A man-made reservoir in Al-Anbar, Iraq, Lake Qadisiyah () sits on the north side of the Haditha Dam.
Qadisiyah was formed by the damming of the Euphrates river above Haditha, Iraq. It has of shoreline
A coast (coastline, shoreline, se ...
are its most significant geographical features. Outside of the Euphrates area the terrain is overwhelmingly desert, comprising the eastern part of the
Syrian Desert
The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...
. Temperatures range from highs of in July and August to below from November to March. The governorate lacks significant natural resources and many inhabitants benefited from the Ba'athist government's
patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
system, funded by oil revenues from elsewhere in the country.
The
Coalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...
(CPA) estimated that about 1.2 million Iraqis lived in Anbar in 2003, more than two-thirds of them in
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...
and
Ramadi
Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...
. With a population 95 percent Sunni, many from the Dulaimi Tribe, Anbar is Iraq's only governorate without a significant
Shia
Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
or
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish language
** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)
**Central Kurdish (Sorani)
**Southern Kurdish
** Laki Kurdish
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern ...
population. 95 percent of the population lives within of the Euphrates. At the time of the invasion, Fallujah was known as a religious enclave hostile towards outsiders, while Ramadi, the provincial capital, was more secular. Outside the cities, the ancient tribal system run by
Sheikh
Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...
s held considerable influence.
Conditions in Anbar particularly favored an insurgency. The province was overwhelmingly Sunni, the minority religious group that lost its power and influence in post-
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
Iraq. Saddam was also very popular in the province more than anywhere else in the country. Many did not fight during the invasion (allowing them to claim that they had not been defeated) and "still wanted to slug it out", according to journalist Tom Ricks. Military service was compulsory in Saddam's Iraq and the Amiriyah area contained a sizeable portion of Iraq's arms industry. Immediately after Saddam fell, insurgents and others looted many of the 96 known munitions sites, as well as local armories and weapons stockpiles. These weapons were used to arm the insurgents in Anbar and elsewhere. While only a small minority of Sunnis were initially insurgents, many either supported or tolerated them. Sympathetic Ba'athists and former Saddam officials in Syrian exile provided money, sanctuary, and foreign fighters to insurgent groups. Future
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq (; AQI), was a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It was founded on 17 October 2004, and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until its disbandment on 15 October 2006 after he was killed in a targ ...
leader
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (; , "Father of Musab, of Zarqa"; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh (), was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq a ...
spent part of 2002 in central Iraq, including Anbar Governorate, preparing for resistance. Within several months of the invasion, the governorate had become a sanctuary for anti-occupation fighters.
2003
Invasion
Anbar experienced relatively little fighting during the initial
invasion of Iraq
An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression.
Generally, invasions have objectives ...
, as the main US offensive was directed through the Shia areas of southeastern Iraq, from Kuwait to Baghdad. An infantry division had been earmarked in 2002 to secure Anbar during the invasion. However,
the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
decided to treat the province with an "economy of force" in early 2003. The first
Coalition forces
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...
to enter Al Anbar were American and Australian
special forces
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
, who seized vital targets such as
Al Asad Airbase
Al-Asad Airbase is an Iraqi airbase located in al-Anbar Governorate of western Iraq. It was originally known as Qadisiyah Airbase.
It was the second largest US military airbase in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Until January 2010, it was ...
and Haditha Dam and prevented the launch of Scud missiles at
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. While there was generally little combat, the most significant engagement occurred when elements of the American 3rd Battalion
75th Ranger Regiment
The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as the United States Army Rangers, Army Rangers, is the United States Army Special Operations Command's premier light infantry and direct-action raid force. The 75th Ranger Regiment is also part of Joint S ...
seized
Haditha Dam
The Haditha Dam () or Qadisiya Dam is an earth-fill dam on the Euphrates, north of Haditha (Iraq), creating Lake Qadisiyah (). The dam is just over long and high. The purpose of the dam is to generate hydroelectricity, regulate the flow of ...
on 31 March 2003. Surrounded by a larger Iraqi force, the Rangers held the dam until relieved after eight days. During the siege, they destroyed twenty-nine Iraqi tanks and killed an estimated 300 to 400 Iraqi soldiers. Three Rangers were awarded the
Silver Star
The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...
for the action. In addition, four other Rangers were killed when their checkpoint near Haditha was attacked by a
suicide bomber
A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...
.
At the end of the invasion, the pro-Saddam forces in Anbar–the
Ba'ath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
, the
Republican Guard
A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...
, the
Fedayeen Saddam
Fedayeen Saddam () was an Iraqi paramilitary militia Fedayeen organization loyal to the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein. The group's name means "Saddam's Men of Sacrifice". At its peak, they had 30,000 to 40,000 members. The Fedayeen operate ...
, and the
Iraqi Intelligence Service
:
The Iraqi Intelligence Service () also known as the Mukhabarat, General Intelligence Directorate, or Party Intelligence, was an 8,000-man agency and the main state intelligence organization in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. The IIS was primarily co ...
—remained intact. Saddam hid in Ramadi and Hīt in early April. Other pro-Saddam forces were able to relocate from Anbar to Syria with money and weapons, where they set up headquarters. The nucleus of the insurgency in its first few months was formed from the pro-Saddam forces in Anbar and Syria. In contrast to the
looting
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
throughout Baghdad and other parts of the country,
Ba'athist
Ba'athism, also spelled Baathism, is an Arab nationalist ideology which advocates the establishment of a unified Arab state through the rule of a Ba'athist vanguard party operating under a revolutionary socialist framework. The ideology ...
headquarters and homes of high-ranking Sunni leaders were relatively untouched. The head of Iraqi ground forces in the province, General Mohammed Jarawi, formally surrendered to elements of the 3rd Infantry Division at Ramadi on 15 April 2003.
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
turned Anbar Governorate over to a single regiment, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR). With only several thousand soldiers, that force had little hope of effectively controlling Anbar.
The immediate catalyst for violent activity in the Fallujah area came after what many Iraqis and foreign journalists dubbed a "massacre" in Fallujah. On the evening of 28 April 2003, Saddam Hussein's birthday, a crowd of about one hundred men, women, and children staged anti-American protests outside a US military outpost in Fallujah. The Iraqis claimed they were unarmed, while the Army said that some individuals were carrying and firing
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
s. The 82nd Airborne soldiers manning the schoolhouse outpost fired on the crowd, killing at least twelve and wounding dozens more. The Army never apologized for the killings or paid compensation. In the weeks afterwards, the town's pro-US mayor urged the Americans to leave.
On 16 May 2003, the CPA issued Order Number 1, which abolished the Ba'ath Party and began a process of "
de-Ba'athification
De-Ba'athification () refers to a policy undertaken in Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and subsequent Iraqi governments to remove the Ba'ath Party's influence in the new Iraqi political system after the U.S.-led invasi ...
", and on 23 May 2003 issued Order Number 2, which disbanded the Iraqi Army and other security services. Both orders further antagonized the Sunnis of Anbar. Many Sunnis took great pride in the Iraqi Army and viewed its disbanding as an act of contempt towards the Iraqi people. The dissolution also put hundreds of thousands of Anbaris out of work as many were members of the Army or the party. Three days after CPA Order No. 2, Major Matthew Schram became the first American killed since the invasion in Anbar Governorate when his convoy came under
rocket-propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...
(RPG) attack on 26 May near Haditha.
June–October 2003
Following the disbanding of the Iraqi Army, insurgent activity increased, especially in Fallujah. Initially, armed resistance groups could be characterized as either Sunni nationalists who wanted to bring back the Ba'ath Party with Saddam Hussein, or anti-Saddam fighters. The first major leader of the insurgency in Anbar was Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad, the Ba'ath party regional chairman for the Karbala Governorate, who was originally No. 54 on the US list of most-wanted Iraqis. According to the US military, Khamis received his funding and orders directly from Saddam, then still a fugitive.
In June, American forces conducted Operation Desert Scorpion, a mostly unsuccessful attempt to root out the burgeoning insurgency. An isolated success occurred near
Rawah
Rawa () or Rawah is a city in Iraq situated on the Euphrates river. It lies on the north bank of the river, upstream by approximately 20 kilometers (12.5 mi) from the much larger town of Anah. People from this town are known by the appella ...
, where American soldiers cornered and killed more than 70 fighters on 12 June and captured a large weapons cache.
In general, American forces had difficulty distinguishing between Iraqi civilians and insurgents, and the civilian casualties incurred during the sweep increased support for the insurgency. On 5 July, a bomb killed seven at a graduation ceremony for the first American-trained police cadets in
Ramadi
Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...
. On 16 July, Mohammed Nayil Jurayfi, the pro-government mayor of
Haditha
Haditha (, ''al-Ḥadīthah'') is a town in the Al Anbar Governorate, about northwest of Baghdad. It is a farming town situated on the Euphrates River. Its population of around 46,500 people, predominantly Sunni Muslim Arabs. The town lies near ...
, and his youngest son were assassinated.
As the violence escalated, the US responded with what many Iraqis called the "senseless use of firepower" and "midnight raids on innocent men".
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
accused the Army of a pattern of "over-aggressive tactics, indiscriminate shooting in residential areas and a quick reliance on lethal force", as well as using "disproportionate force". For example, if Iraqi insurgents set off a
land mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
, the US would respond by dropping
bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
s on those houses with arms caches; when insurgents fired a mortar round at American positions near Fallujah, the Americans responded with
heavy artillery
The formal definition of large-calibre artillery used by the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) is "guns, howitzers, artillery pieces, combining the characteristics of a gun, howitzer, mortar, or rocket, capable of engaging ...
. American forces near Al Qaim conducted "hard knocks" on local residents, kicking in doors and manhandling individuals, only to discover they were innocent. In an incident on 11 September, soldiers manning a checkpoint near Fallujah shot multiple rounds at both an Iraqi police truck and a nearby hospital, killing seven. Soldiers also beat and abused Iraqi detainees. There was a constant rotation of units through the governorate, which led to confusion among the American troops: Fallujah had five different battalions rotate through in five months. Summing up the initial American approach to Al Anbar, Keith Mines, the CPA diplomat in Anbar Governorate, wrote:
On 31 October, during Operation Abalone teams from A Squadron of the British SAS supported by
Delta force
The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), also known as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as Task Force Green, is a Special operation forces, special operat ...
assaulted insurgent held compounds/dwellings in the fringes of Ramadi, killing an estimated dozen insurgents and capturing four. The operation turned up evidence of foreign fighters, finding actual proof of an internationalist jihadist movement. One SAS operator was killed in the operation. The SAS also operated covertly in
Ramadi
Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...
and
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...
in October and November 2003 and other more remote parts of Al Anbar Governorate as part of Operation Paradoxical which was aimed at hunting down threats to the coalition.
November–December 2003
During the insurgency's Ramadan Offensive, a military Chinook transport helicopter carrying 32 soldiers was shot down with an SA-7 missile near Fallujah on 2 November. Thirteen were killed and the rest wounded. Following the shootdown, Fallujah was quiet for a few months. On 5 November, Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
announced that the Marines would return to Iraq early the next year and would take over Al Anbar Governorate. As the Marines prepared to move in, there was a growing consensus that the 82nd had lost control of the area, although the only real problem was Fallujah. Some Marine commanders, like Major General
James Mattis
James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is an American military officer who served as the 26th United States secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. A retired Marine Corps four-star general, he commanded forces in the Persian Gulf War, th ...
and Lieutenant Colonel Carl Mundy, criticized the Army's tactics as "hard-nosed" and "humiliating the Sunni population", promising that the Marines would act differently. Late that November, Operators from A Squadron SAS launched a heliborne assault on a remote farm in Al Anbar Governorate, after they came under fire from insurgents inside, air support was called in and hit the farm, after it was cleared; seven dead insurgents were found whom American intelligence believed were foreign fighters. Riots in Fallujah and Ramadi followed the December
capture of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein, the deposed president of Iraq, was captured by the United States military in the town of Ad-Dawr, Iraq on 13 December 2003. The military operation to capture him was codenamed Operation Red Dawn, named after the 1984 American fi ...
. The capture of Saddam created significant problems in Anbar: instead of weakening the insurgency, many Anbaris were outraged over what they saw as the degrading treatment of Saddam. Saddam's removal allowed the insurgency to recruit fighters who had previously opposed the Americans but had remained passive out of hatred for Saddam. As Saddam loyalists were killed or captured, leadership positions went to AQI-affiliated hardliners such as Abdullah Abu Azzam al-Iraqi, who was directly responsible for murdering government officials in 2004. While the Ba'ath Party continued to play a major role in the insurgency, the balance of power had shifted to various religious leaders who were advocating a
jihad
''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
against American forces.
2004
January–March 2004
At the beginning of 2004, General
Ricardo Sanchez
Ricardo Sanchez (born September 9, 1953) is a former lieutenant general in the United States Army.
Early life and education
Sánchez was born into a Mexican American family in Rio Grande City, Texas. He spent one year at the University of Tex ...
, head of
Multinational Force Iraq
Multinational may refer to:
* Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries
* Multinational force, a military body from multiple countries
* Multinational state
A multinational state or a multinational union ...
(MNF–I), claimed that the US had "made significant progress in Anbar Province." However, CPA funds for the governorate were inadequate. A brigade commander in Fallujah was allocated only $200,000 a month, when he estimated that it would cost at least $25 million to restart the city's factories, which employed tens of thousands of workers. By February, insurgent attacks were rapidly increasing. On 12 February,
United States Central Command
The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilit ...
(CENTCOM) commander General John P. Abizaid and Major General Chuck Swannack, the 82nd Airborne's commanding officer, were attacked while driving through Fallujah. On 14 February, in an incident dubbed the "Valentine's Day Massacre", insurgents overran a police station in downtown Fallujah, killing 23 to 25 policemen and freeing 75 prisoners. The next day, the Americans fired Fallujah's police chief for refusing to wear his uniform and arrested the mayor. In March, Keith Mines wrote, "there is not a single properly trained and equipped Iraqi security officer in the entire Al Anbar province." He added that security was entirely dependent on American soldiers, yet those same soldiers inflamed Sunni nationalists. That same month General Swannack gave a briefing on Anbar where he talked about improved security, declared the insurgency there was all but finished, and concluded "the future for Al Anbar in Iraq remains very bright."
The 82nd Airborne handed control of Al Anbar Governorate over to the
I Marine Expeditionary Force
The I Marine Expeditionary Force ("I" pronounced "One") is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) of the United States Marine Corps primarily composed of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 1st Marine Logistics Group. It i ...
(I MEF), also known as
Multi-National Forces West
Multi-National Forces West (MNF-W) or United States Forces West (USF-W) was one of the coalition headquarters under Multi-National Force-Iraq. It was headquartered by either I or II U.S. Marine Expeditionary Force that rotated on a 12-month basis. ...
(MNF-W), on 24 March. Nearly two-thirds of the Marines, including their commanders
James T. Conway
James Terry Conway (born December 26, 1947) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Among his previous postings were Director of Operations (J-3) on the Joint Chiefs of ...
and James Mattis, had participated in the invasion in 2003. Conway planned on gradually reestablishing control over Anbar using a methodical
counterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
program, showing respect for the population and training the Iraqi Army and police using
military transition team
A Military Transition Team or Transition Team, commonly abbreviated as MiTT, in the context of the United States Military, is a 10 – 15 soldier team that trains foreign national and local security forces. The term has been used in the " War on ...
s (based on the
Combined Action Program
The Combined Action Program was a United States Marine Corps counterinsurgency tool during the Vietnam War. It was widely remembered by the Marine Corps as effective. Operating from 1965 to 1971, it placed a 13-member Marine rifle squad, augmented ...
used by the Marines during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
). During the transition of authority between the MEF and the 82nd Airborne it became obvious that western Iraq was going to be more problematic for the Marines than southern Iraq had been.
On 15 March,
3rd Battalion 7th Marines
The 3rd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment (3/7, V37) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and consist of approximately 800 Marines. The battalion fa ...
operating near Al Qaim got into a firefight with Syrian border guards. On 24 March, several Marines and paratroopers were wounded in Fallujah when insurgents attacked the ceremony for transfer of authority.
Just one week after the MEF had taken over Anbar, insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a convoy carrying four American
mercenaries
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...
from
Blackwater USA
Constellis, formerly Blackwater, is an American private military contractor founded on December 26, 1997, by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009, and was again renamed to Academi in 2011, after it was acquir ...
on 31 March, killing all of them. An angry mob then set the mercenaries' bodies ablaze and dragged their corpses through the streets before hanging them over a bridge crossing the Euphrates. The American media compared the attack on the mercenaries to the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, where images of American soldiers being dragged through the streets of Somalia prompted the United States to withdraw its troops.
That same day five soldiers were killed in nearby
Habbaniyah
Al Habbaniyah or Habbaniya (, ''al-Ḥabbānīyah'') is a city 85 km (53 mi) west of Baghdad in Al-Anbar Province, in central Iraq. A military airfield, RAF Habbaniya, was the site of a battle in 1941, during World War II. Lake Habbaniyah is als ...
when their
M113 armored personnel carrier
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the FMC Corporation. The M113 was sent to United States Army Europe in 1961 to replace the mechanized infantry's M59 armored personnel carrier, M59 A ...
was hit by a mine. According to General Conway, it was the largest mine that had been used in Anbar to date; only a tailgate and a boot were recovered.
First Battle of Fallujah
In response to the killings, General Sanchez ordered the Marines to attack Fallujah, under direct orders from President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. General Conway and his staff initially urged caution, pointing out that the MEF had already developed a more nuanced long-term plan to reestablish control over Fallujah and that using overwhelming force would most likely further destabilize the city. They noted that the insurgents were specifically trying to "bait us into overreaction." Despite these objections, General Sanchez wanted a sustained Marine presence in the city within 72 hours.
The Marines began their attack, codenamed Operation Vigilant Resolve, on 5 April. The overall ground commander in Anbar, 1st Marine Division commander General James Mattis, initially planned to use his only available units,
1st Battalion 5th Marines
1st Battalion, 5th Marines (1/5) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors. Nicknamed ''Geronimo'', it falls under the ...
and
2nd Battalion 1st Marines
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (2/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based in Camp HORNO on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed "The Professionals," the battalion consists of approximately 1,200 Marine ...
. They would push in from the east and west and methodically contain the insurgents. This plan was underway when on 9 April, General Sanchez ordered an immediate halt.
The main reason behind this order was the coverage by the
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
and
Al Arabiya
Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group.
The channel is a flagship of the media c ...
television networks. The two networks had the only access to the city. They repeatedly reported that Marines were using excessive force and
collective punishment
Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group or whole community for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member or some members of that group or area, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends a ...
, and their footage of dead babies in hospitals inflamed both Iraqi and world opinion. General Conway later summed up their effect on the battle by saying, "Al Jazeera kicked our ass." When the 2nd Iraqi BattalionSeen in this January 2004 photograph from the Department of Defense: was ordered to Fallujah, 30 percent of its soldiers refused or deserted, and within days over 80 percent of the police force and Iraqi National Guard in Anbar Governorate had deserted. After two members of the
Iraqi Governing Council
The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi ...
resigned over the attack and five more threatened to do so, CPA Leader
Paul Bremer
Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is a retired American diplomat. He was the second ''de facto'' head of state of Iraq as leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United State ...
and CENTCOM commander General John Abizaid were worried that Fallujah might bring down the Iraqi government and ordered a unilateral ceasefire.
Following the ceasefire, the Marines held their positions and brought in additional units, waiting for what they assumed would be the resumption of their attack. General Mattis launched Operation Ripper Sweep while the Marines waited, pushing the
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion is a fast and mobilized armored terrestrial reconnaissance battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed the "Highlanders," their primary weapon system is the LAV-25 Li ...
(LAR) and
2nd Battalion 7th Marines
The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines (2/7) is a light infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and consist of approximately 800 marines and sailors. The battali ...
into the farmlands around Fallujah and neutralizing many armed gangs operating along the local highways. The
3rd Battalion 4th Marines
3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) or (V34) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed "Thundering Third" and "Darkside," it is based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, and consist ...
also conducted a
raid
RAID (; redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical Computer data storage, data storage components into one or more logical units for th ...
into nearby insurgent-held Karmah, which expanded into a major engagement lasting the rest of the month. The Marines were able to keep their supply lines open, but withdrew for political reasons. President Bush refused to allow the resumption of the attack, but was also unhappy with the status quo, asking his commanders for "other options".
Finally, General Conway proposed what was a workable compromise in his opinion: the Fallujah Brigade. Led by former Iraqi Sunni elites, such as Jasim Mohammed Habib Saleh and Muhammed Latif, and made up largely of insurgents who had been fighting the Marines, the brigade was supposed to maintain order in the city while allowing the US to withdraw and save face. On 10 May, General Mattis formally turned the city over and withdrew the following day. The First Battle for Fallujah had resulted in 51 US servicemen killed and 476 wounded. Iraqi losses were much higher. The Marines estimated that about 800 Iraqis were killed. Reports differed on how many were civilians: the Marines counted 300, whereas the independent organization
Iraq Body Count
Iraq Body Count project (IBC) is a web-based effort to record civilian deaths resulting from the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Included are deaths attributable to coalition and insurgent military action, sectarian violence and criminal violence, ...
argued that 600 civilians had been killed.
Four Marines and soldiers were awarded either the
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...
or Distinguished Service Cross for the battle. Another Marine, Captain Douglas A. Zembiec of Echo Company 2nd Battalion 1st Marines, became known as the "Lion of Fallujah" for his actions during the assault.
Ramadi and western Anbar in 2004
Outside of Fallujah, there were additional attacks on American positions in Anbar throughout the spring and summer of 2004. They were part of a larger "jihad wave" that swept across the governorate in mid-April. Gangs of armed youths took to the streets, setting up impromptu roadblocks and threatening supply routes in eastern Anbar and around Baghdad. At one point General Mattis feared a general uprising by the Sunni community, similar to the 1978 Tehran protests. On 6 April, a force of 300 insurgents attacked Marine patrols throughout Ramadi in an attempt to relieve pressure on Fallujah. Sixteen US Marines and an estimated 250 insurgents were killed in heavy street fighting over four days.
Nearly all members of a squad from
2nd Battalion 4th Marines
2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4) is an infantry Battalion#United States Armed Forces, battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion, nicknamed the ''Magnificent Bastards'' from the Vietnam War, is based out of Marine Corps Base Cam ...
were killed when they drove into an ambush in unarmored
Humvee
The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of Military light utility vehicle, light, four-wheel drive Military vehicle#Military trucks, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It ...
s, the first time the Marines had lost a firefight in Iraq. On 17 April, insurgents attacked a Marine patrol in the border city of Husaybah, leading to a series of engagements that lasted the whole day and resulted in five Marines and at least 120 insurgents killed. Around the same time, on 14 April, a squad led by Corporal
Jason Dunham
Jason Lee Dunham (November 10, 1981 – April 22, 2004) was a corporal in the United States Marine Corps who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions while serving with 3rd Battalion 7th Marines during the Iraq War. While on a ...
was operating near Husaybah when one member of a group of Iraqis who were being searched by Dunham's squad threw a grenade at the squad. Dunham immediately threw himself on the grenade, receiving a mortal wound from the blast but saving his fellow squad members. He later became the first Marine since the Vietnam War to be awarded the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
.
Attempting to emulate the perceived success in Fallujah, US commanders in Ramadi responded to the 28 June transfer of sovereignty from the CPA to the
Iraqi Interim Government
The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the drafting of the new constitution following the National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005 ...
by pulling most forces back to camps outside the city and focusing on securing a highway that ran through its center. Fighting continued to escalate throughout Anbar Governorate. On 21 June, a four-man
Scout Sniper
United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper ( MOS 0317, formerly 8541) was a secondary MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) designator of U.S. Marine Corps infantrymen and reconnaissance Marines that have graduated from a U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sn ...
team operating with 2nd Battalion 4th Marines in Ramadi was executed by a group of insurgents who had infiltrated their observation post. In mid-July, General Mattis predicted that Anbar would " oto hell" if the Marines could not hold Ramadi. On 5 August, Anbar Provincial Governor Abd al-Karim Barjas resigned following the kidnapping of his two sons by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Barjas appeared on television and publicly apologized for "cooperation with the infidel". He was replaced by an interim governor until January 2005. The head of the Ramadi police force was subsequently arrested for complicity with the kidnappings.
That same month, an Iraqi battalion commander was captured by insurgents in Fallujah and beaten to death. After his death, two Iraqi National Guard battalions near Fallujah promptly deserted, leaving their weapons and equipment to the insurgents. Counterinsurgency expert
John Nagl
John Albert Nagl (born February 28, 1966) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel (United States), Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. He is a former president of the Center for a New American Security and former headmaster of The Haverford Scho ...
, serving in nearby Khaldiyah, said that his unit knew the local police chief was supporting the insurgency, "but assessed that he had to do so to stay alive." Suicide bombers killed seven Marines from 2nd Battalion 1st Marines on 6 September, eleven Iraqi police near Baghdadi on 23 October, and eight Marines from the newly arrived 1st Battalion 3rd Marines one week later. More than 100 Americans were killed in Anbar from May 2004 to October 2004.
Prior to November, Iraqi Prime Minister
Ayad Allawi
Ayad Allawi (; also spelled Iyad or Eyad; born 31 May 1944) is an Iraqi-British politician and neurologist. He served as the vice president of Iraq from 2014 to 2015 and 2016 to 2018. Previously he was interim prime minister of Iraq from 2004 to ...
invited representatives from Ramadi and Fallujah in an attempt to negotiate an end to the fighting, similar to his previous dealings with Shia leader
Muqtada al-Sadr
Muqtada al-Sadr (; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He inherited the leadership of the Sadrist Movement from his father, and founded the now dissolved Mahdi Army militia in 2003 that resisted ...
. In September, with the blessings of the Americans, Allawi disbanded the discredited Fallujah Brigade and privately gave the Marines permission to begin planning an offensive to retake Fallujah. In early October, Allawi stepped up his efforts, demanding that the representatives of Fallujah hand over Zarqawi or face a renewed assault. They refused. Shortly before the Marine offensive began, Sheikh
Harith al-Dhari
Harith or Hareth (; ) is a common Arabic name that means “good provider.” It also has the meanings “plowman” or “cultivator”, and “collector” and stems from the Arabic root ḥ-r-ṯ.
Given name
* Al-Harith ibn Hilliza al-Yas ...
, leader of the pro-insurgent
Association of Muslim Scholars
The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq () is a group of religious leaders in Iraq. It was formed on the 14 April 2003, four days after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S.-led invasion demolished the Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction), Ba'athi ...
, said that "the Iraqi people view Fallujah as the symbol of their steadfastness, resistance and pride."
Insurgency in 2004
Despite the return of sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government on 28 June, the insurgency was still viewed by many Iraqis as legitimate and the Iraqi government as agents of the United States. In late 2004, DIA officer
Derek Harvey
Derek J. Harvey is a retired US Army Colonel who previously served on the staff of Congressman Devin Nunes, ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Harvey is a former National Security Council (NSC) staffer in Pre ...
said that insurgents in Ramadi were receiving financing via Syria "to the tune of $1.2 million a month". This was disputed by a CIA officer, explaining that they "didn't see clear financing coming from Syria". The insurgency continued to enjoy broad-based support throughout Iraqi society, showing few of the sectarian divisions which would become pronounced following the 2006 al-Askari Mosque bombing. Shia Iraqis attacked Iraqi military units moving towards Fallujah, Shia leaders called on their supporters to donate blood for insurgents, and Muqtada al-Sadr referred to the insurgents in Fallujah as "holy warriors". Some Shi'ia attempted to join the fighting.
The first in a series of execution videos was released on 11 May by AQI, of its leader al-Zarqawi executing American citizen
Nick Berg
Nicholas Evan Berg (April 2, 1978 – May 7, 2004) was an American freelance radio-tower repairman who went to Iraq after the United States' invasion of Iraq. He was abducted and beheaded according to a video released in May 2004 by Islamist m ...
. Many of these hostages, such as
Kim Sun-il
Kim Sun-il (; 13 September 1970 – ) was a South Korean interpreter and Christian missionary who was kidnapped and murdered by decapitation in Iraq.
Early life and education
Kim was born into a poor family and his biological mother died when ...
,
Eugene Armstrong
Members of the Iraqi insurgency began taking foreign hostages in Iraq beginning in April 2004. Since then, in a dramatic instance of Islamist kidnapping they have taken captive more than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis; among them, dozen ...
Kenneth Bigley
Kenneth is a given name of Gaelic origin. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byname ...
, were taken to Zarqawi's base in Fallujah for execution.
After the initial push into Fallujah, the US argued that Zarqawi was behind a series of car bombings throughout Iraq. There had been no large car bombings in Baghdad during the siege, and enough munitions and contraband had been uncovered to conclude that many "bombs and car bombs detonated elsewhere in Iraq may have been manufactured in Fallujah." In contrast, there were 30 large car bombs in the two months following the creation of the Fallujah Brigade, and the brigade was now seen by the US and Iraqi governments as a front for the insurgency. The suicide bombings and the hostage videos made Zarqawi the public face of the Iraqi insurgency in 2004, even though his leadership was disputed by many Sunni nationalist commanders. By late 2004 the US government's bounty on his head matched
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
's. However, a senior US military intelligence official described the core of the insurgency in December 2004 as "the old Sunni oligarchy using religious nationalism as a motivating force."
Second Battle of Fallujah
The order by Allawi to attack Fallujah again came on 6 November, just four days after George W. Bush was reelected as president.
1st Marine Division
The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine (military), Marine Division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine E ...
commander General Richard F. Natonski assembled an ad hoc force of six Marine battalions, three Army battalions, three Iraqi battalions, and the British Black Watch Regiment. The insurgents, loosely led by Zarqawi,
Abdullah al-Janabi
Abdullah al-Janabi (; born ) is the former Sunni chief of the Mujahideen Shura Council in Fallujah, Iraq. He gained power following his involvement in the insurgency at the First Battle of Fallujah in which the insurgents captured Fallujah.
He ...
, and Zarqawi's lieutenant Hadid, had replaced their losses and reportedly now had between 3,000 and 4,000 men in the city. They planned to hinder the Marine advance with roadblocks,
berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of Soil compaction, compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a b ...
s, and mines, while conducting attacks outside the city to tie down Marine units.
The attack began on 7 November when General Natonski had the 3rd LAR and 36th Iraqi battalions seize the city's hospital, located on a peninsula just west of the city. The main attack began the night of 8 November. Coalition forces attacked from the north, achieving complete tactical surprise.
The insurgents responded by attacking the Marines in small groups, often armed with RPGs. According to General Natonski, many insurgents had seen pictures of the Abu Ghraib scandal and were determined not to be taken alive. By 20 November, Marines had reached the southern boundary of the city, but pockets of insurgents still remained. The assault battalions divided the city into areas and crisscrossed their assigned areas in an attempt to find the insurgents. Four days later Zarqawi released an audiotape condemning Sunni Muslim clerics for their lack of support, claiming "hundreds of thousands of the nation's sons are being slaughtered." The fighting slowly ebbed and by 16 December the US had begun to reopen the city and allow residents to return.
The battle was later described by the US military as "the heaviest urban combat Marines have been involved in since the battle of Hue City in Vietnam." The official Marine Corps history recorded that 78 Marines, sailors, and soldiers died and another 651 were wounded retaking Fallujah (394 were able to return to duty). One-third of the dead and wounded came from a single battalion,
3rd Battalion 1st Marines
3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (3/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Horno on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed the "Thundering Third", the battalion consists of approximately 1,200 ...
. Eight Marines were awarded the Navy Cross, the US military's second-highest award for valor, three of them posthumously. Sergeant Rafael Peralta was also unsuccessfully nominated for the Medal of Honor.
Officials estimated they had killed between 1,000 and 1,600 insurgents and detained another 1,000 out of an estimated 1,500 to 3,000 insurgents who were believed to be in the city. Aircraft dropped 318 precision bombs, launched 391 rockets and missiles, and fired 93,000 machine gun or cannon rounds on the city, while artillery units fired 5,685 rounds of
155 mm
The 155 mm calibre is widely used for artillery guns.
Land warfare
Historic calibres
France - 1874
The caliber originated in France after the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871).
A French artillery committee met on 2 February 1874 to dis ...
shells. The
Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
estimated that 250,000 out of 300,000 residents had left the city during the fighting. A Baghdad Red Cross official unofficially estimated that up to 800 civilians were killed.
The Second Battle of Fallujah was unique in the Anbar campaign, in that it was the only time the US military and the insurgents waged a division-levelconventional engagement. During the rest of the Anbar campaign, the insurgents never stood and fought in numbers that large. The official Marine Corps history claimed that the battle was not decisive, because most of the insurgent leadership and non-local insurgents had fled beforehand. Summing up the Marine Corps view, the United States Naval Institute's official magazine ''Proceedings'' said, "The Battle of Fallujah was not a defeat—but we cannot afford many more victories like it."
2005
January–April 2005
Following the Second Battle of Fallujah, the Marines faced three main tasks: providing humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands of refugees returning to the city, retaking the numerous towns and cities they had abandoned along the Euphrates in the run-up to the battle, and providing security for the Iraqi parliamentary elections scheduled for 30 January. According to top Marine officials, the elections were designed to help enfranchise the Iraqi government by including Iraqi citizens in its formation. Only 3,775 voters (2 percent of the eligible population) cast ballots in Anbar Province due to a Sunni boycott. The simultaneous elections for the provincial council were won by the Iraqi Islamic Party, which suffered from a perceived lack of legitimacy but nevertheless would dominate the Anbar legislature until 2009.
During the run-up to the elections, a
CH-53E
The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
crashed near Al-Rutbah on 26 January, killing all 31 Marines and sailors, most of whom were members of 1st Battalion 3rd Marines and who had survived the Second Battle of Fallujah. This was the single deadliest incident for US troops in the Iraq War. On 20 February, the Marines launched Operation River Blitz, their first major offensive of the year, centered in the western Euphrates River Valley against the cities of Ramadi, Hīt, and Baghdadi. Different units adopted different strategies. In Fallujah, the Marines surrounded the city with berms, banned all vehicles, and required residents to carry identification cards. In Ramadi, the 2nd BCT of the 28th Infantry Division focused on controlling the main roads and protecting the governor and government center. In western Anbar, the 2nd Marine Regiment conducted
search and destroy
Seek and destroy (also known as search and destroy, or S&D) is a military strategy which consists of inserting infantry forces into hostile territory and directing them to search and then attack enemy targets before immediately withdrawing. Fi ...
missions, described as "
cordon and search
Cordon and search is a military tactic to cordon off an area and search the premises for weapons or insurgents. It is one of the basic counterinsurgency operations. Two types of cordon and search operations are cordon and knocklaunched a major attack, described as "one of the most sophisticated" seen to date, on the
Abu Ghraib prison
Abu Ghraib prison (, ''Sijn Abū Ghurayb'') was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, located west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1960s and served as a maximum-security prison. From the 1970s, the prison was used by Saddam Hus ...
. The insurgents used a barrage of mortars, coupled with a suicide car bomb, in an unsuccessful attempt to breach the prison, wounding 44 US troops and 13 detainees.
Improvised Explosive Devices
By late February, a new threat emerged—the
improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...
(IED). In 2005, 158 Marines and soldiers were killed by IEDs or suicide bombers, more than half (58 percent) of that year's combat deaths in Anbar. These numbers reflected a nationwide trend. While IEDs had been used since the beginning of the insurgency, the early models had been crudely designed, using "
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
or
gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
mixed with nails and buried beside a road". By mid-2005 the insurgents had refined their technique, triggering them by
remote control
A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...
, stringing artillery shells or missiles together, using solid foundations to magnify the explosion, and burying them under roadways to inflict maximum damage. The US responded with a series of progressively more-sophisticated electronic jamming devices and other electronic warfare programs which eventually consolidated into the
Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization
The Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization (JIDO) is a combat support organization of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) organization under the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)
.
On 17 February, Brigadier General Dennis Hejlik filed an urgent request with the Marine Corps for 1,200
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected
Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAPV), also known as MRAP vehicle, is a type of armoured personnel carrier that is designed specifically to withstand land mines, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, and ambushes to save troops' li ...
(MRAP) vehicles, specifically designed to withstand IED attacks, for use in Al Anbar Governorate. In his request, General Hejlik added, "The arinescannot continue to lose ... serious and grave casualties to IED " The Marine Corps did not formally act on the request for 21 months. Hejlik later claimed that he was referring to IEDs which "tore into the sides of vehicles", and that the Marine Corps had determined that simply adding more armored Humvees would provide adequate protection.
Whistleblower
Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
Franz Gayl disagreed, and wrote a report for Congress claiming that the request was shelved because the Marine Corps wanted to use the funds to develop the
Joint Light Tactical Vehicle
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), known and marketed under Oshkosh development as the L-ATV (Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle), is a light utility/combat multi-role vehicle. The Oshkosh-developed JLTV was selected for acquisiti ...
, a replacement for the Humvee not scheduled to become operational until 2012. Some Army personnel complained that the Marines took an almost casual attitude towards IEDs. One Army officer in Ramadi complained that, after warning about the large number of IEDs on a particular route, he was told, "Unless there are people melting inside of Humvees, then it's not a real problem."
Western Euphrates River Valley
By the spring of 2005, both the US and Iraqi governments concluded that the biggest problem facing Iraq was AQI's car bombings in Baghdad. But while the Iraqis wanted to concentrate on Baghdad's suburban belts where the vehicles were being assembled,A strategy eventually implemented in the summer of 2007 by General David Petraeus called Operation Phantom Thunder. MNF–I commander General George Casey concluded the real problem was pro-insurgent foreign fighters coming across the Syrian border. He ordered the Marines to launch a campaign that summer to secure the Western Euphrates River Valley (WERV).
On 7 May a platoon from
3rd Battalion 25th Marines
3rd Battalion, 25th Marines (3/25) is a reserve infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps. The battalion was first formed in 1943 for service in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II, taking part in a number of signifi ...
near Haditha was nearly overrun by insurgents, but ultimately rescued by one of its
non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...
s who was later awarded the Navy Cross. The next day the 2nd Marine Regiment began clearing insurgent havens in the WERV. The first major attack was Operation Matador, against the town of Ubaydi, which CENTCOM claimed was an insurgent staging area. Both 3rd Battalion 25th Marines and
3rd Battalion 2nd Marines
3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines (3/2) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based in Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Comprising approximately 1000 marines and sailors and nicknamed the "Betio Bastards", they fall ...
participated in the attack. In most cases the insurgents vanished, leaving behind
booby trap
A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or an animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may b ...
s and mines. At least nine Marines were killed and 40 wounded in the operation, but the insurgents apparently returned to the town afterwards.
AQI was interested in the WERV too. Zarqawi had reclaimed his base in western Anbar, declared Al Qaim as his capital, and was also operating in Hit and the Haditha Triad. On 8 May, the insurgent group
Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna
Jamaat Ansar al-Sunnah (), also known as Jaish Ansar al-Sunna ('Army of the Helpers of Sunnah'), Ali ibn Abi Talib Battalion or simply as Ansar al-Sunnah was an Iraqi Sunni insurgent group that fought against United States troops and their loc ...
ambushed and killed a dozen
mercenaries
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...
near Hīt. Two days later, Anbar Governor Raja Nawaf Farhan al-Mahalawi was kidnapped and killed by insurgents near Rawah. He was replaced by Maamoon Sami Rasheed al-Alwani.
MEF then began a series of operations in July, under the aegis of Operation Sayeed; in addition to clearing AQI from the WERV, Sayeed was also an attempt to set the conditions for the Anbaris to participate in the December constitutional referendum. They carried out countless operations, with names like New Market, Sword, Hunter, Zoba, Spear, River Gate, and Iron Fist, ultimately culminating in November's
Operation Steel Curtain
Operation Steel Curtain (Arabic: الحجاب الفولاذي Al Hejab Elfulathi) was a military operation executed by coalition forces in early November 2005 to reduce the flow of foreign insurgents crossing the border and joining the Iraqi ...
. In August, the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines conducted Operation Quick Strike, a cordon and search operation in the Haditha Triad. Twenty Marines were killed in two days: six snipers were ambushed and killed by Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna on 1 August, and fourteen Marines were killed on 3 August when their
Amphibious Assault Vehicle
The Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV)—official designation AAVP-7A1 (formerly known as Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Personnel-7 abbr. LVTP-7)—is a fully tracked amphibious landing vehicle manufactured by BAE Systems Platforms & Services (prev ...
was hit by a mine outside of Haditha.
By October, more Americans had been killed in Anbar than anywhere else in Iraq and senior Marines had switched from talk about victory to simply "containing the violence and smuggling at a level that Iraqi forces can someday handle."
October–December 2005
On 5 November, the 2nd Marine Regiment launched
Operation Steel Curtain
Operation Steel Curtain (Arabic: الحجاب الفولاذي Al Hejab Elfulathi) was a military operation executed by coalition forces in early November 2005 to reduce the flow of foreign insurgents crossing the border and joining the Iraqi ...
against the border town of Husaybah. The Marines reported that ten Marines and 139 insurgents died in the offensive. Medical workers in Husaybah claimed that 97 civilians were killed. On 1 December, ten Marines from 2nd Battalion 7th Marines were killed by a massive IED while on a foot patrol in Fallujah.
On 15 October, the people of Anbar went to the polls to decide whether or not to ratify the new constitution. While the turnout (259,919 voters or 32% of eligible voters) was significantly higher than in the January elections, the results were similar: about 97% of the voters rejected the constitution. On 15 December, there was a follow-up election for the
Iraqi parliament
The Council of Representatives is the '' de facto'' unicameral legislature of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, it is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the country. As of 2020, it comprises 329 seats and meets in Baghd ...
. Turn-out was even greater: 585,429 voters, or 86% of eligible voters.
AQI launched a series of attacks in
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
in late 2005 that were partially based out of Anbar. The group had already unsuccessfully attacked the
Trebil
Trebil or Tarbil () is a border town in the Al Anbar Governorate of Iraq, on the Iraq–Jordan border. The Karameh Border Crossing near Trebil is the primary border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed ...
checkpoint along the Jordanian border with Anbar Governorate in December 2004. In August, two US warships in
Aqaba
Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...
, the USS ''Kearsarge'' and the USS ''Ashland'', were attacked with rockets; the cell which carried out the attacks then fled into Iraq. On 9 November, three Iraqis from Anbar carried out suicide bombings in Amman, killing 60. A fourth bomber, also from Anbar, was caught.
2006
Haditha killings
In May 2006, the Marine Corps was rocked by allegations that a squad from 3rd Battalion 1st Marines had gone "on a rampage" the previous November, killing 24 unarmed Iraqi men, women and children in Haditha. The incident had occurred on 19 November 2005, following a mine attack on a convoy that killed Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas. A squad of Marines led by
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services.
History of title
In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...
Frank Wuterich had been riding in the convoy and immediately assumed control of the scene. Following the mine attack, the Marines stopped a white Opel sedan carrying five Iraqi men and shot them after they tried to run away, before the platoon commander arrived and took charge. The Marines say they were then fired upon from a nearby house, and Wuterich's men were ordered "to take the house". Both Iraqi and Marine eyewitnesses later agreed that Wutterich's squad cleared the house (and several nearby ones) by throwing in grenades, then entering the houses and shooting the occupants. They differed over whether the killings had been permitted under the rules of engagement. The Marines claimed that the houses had been "declared hostile" and that training dictated "that all individuals in a hostile house are to be shot." Iraqis claimed the Marines had deliberately targeted civilians. In addition to the five Iraqi men killed by the sedan, nineteen other men, women, and children were killed by Wutterich's squad as they cleared the houses.
Internal investigations were started in February by the Multi-National Force – Iraq, the
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary investigative law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy. Its primary function is to investigate major criminal activities involving the Nav ...
(which examined the actual killings), and Major General Eldon Bargewell (who examined the Marines' response to the killings). A news article that alleged a massacre had occurred was published in March. Haditha became a national story in mid-May due to comments made by anti-war Congressman and former Marine John P. Murtha. Murtha incorrectly claimed the number of civilians killed was much higher than reported and that the Marines had "killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Murtha's broader point about troop misbehavior was reinforced by news of another killing where a squad of Marines executed an Iraqi man and then planted an AK-47 near his body in Hamdania, near
Abu Ghraib
Abu Ghraib ( or ; ) is a city in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq, located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000 (2003). The old road to Jordan passes through Abu Ghra ...
, as well as the controversial Internet video Hadji Girl, showing a Marine joking about killing members of an Iraqi family.
The military's internal investigation was concluded in June. Though Bargewell found no evidence of a cover-up, his report seriously criticized the Marine Corps for what he described as "inattention and negligence" as well as "an unwillingness, bordering on denial" by officers, especially senior officers, to investigate civilian deaths. MEF commander General Stephen Johnson later said that civilian deaths occurred "all the time", and did not find the high number of deaths to be particularly unusual. He referred to the deaths as "the cost of doing business on that particular engagement." On 21 December 2006, the US military charged eight Marines in connection with the Haditha incident. Four of the eight, including Wuterich, were accused of unpremeditated murder. On 3 October 2007, the
preliminary hearing
In common law jurisdictions, a preliminary hearing, preliminary examination, preliminary inquiry, evidentiary hearing or probable cause hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether the ...
investigating officer recommended that charges of murder be dropped and that Wuterich be tried for
negligent homicide
Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against a person who, through criminal negligence, allows another person to die. Other times, an intentional killing may be negotiated down to this lesser charge as a compromised resolution of a mur ...
instead. Six defendants subsequently had their cases dropped and one was found not guilty. In 2012, Wuterich pleaded guilty to negligent
dereliction of duty
Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform their duties (or follow a given ...
in exchange for all other charges against him being dropped. At least three officers, including battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, were officially reprimanded for failing to properly report and investigate the killings.
Second Battle of Ramadi
In June 2006, Colonel Sean MacFarland and the 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) of the 1st Armored Division were sent to Ramadi. Colonel MacFarland was told to "Fix Ramadi, but don't do a Fallujah." Many Iraqis assumed the 1st BCT was preparing for exactly that type of operation, with over 77
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams () is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare, it is one of the heavies ...
tanks and 84
Bradley Fighting Vehicle
The Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) is an American continuous track, tracked armored fighting vehicle of the United States developed by FMC Corporation and now manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, formerly United Defense. It is named for ...
s, but Colonel MacFarland had another plan. Prior to Ramadi, the 1st BCT had been stationed in the northern city of
Tal Afar
Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of SinjarH. R. McMaster in 2005 had pioneered a new type of operation: " Clear, Hold, Build". Under McMaster's approach, his commanders saturated an area with soldiers until it had been ''cleared'' of insurgents, then ''held'' it until Iraqi security forces were gradually ''built'' to a level where they could assume control. As in other offensive operations, many insurgents fled the city in anticipation of a big battle. The 1st BCT moved into some of Ramadi's most dangerous neighborhoods and, beginning in July, built four of what would eventually become eighteen Combat Outposts. The soldiers brought the territory under control and inflicted many casualties on the insurgents in the process. On 24 July, AQI launched a counterattack, launching 24 assaults, each with about 100 fighters, on American positions. Despite the reported presence of AQI leader
Abu Ayyub al-Masri
Abu Ayyub al-Masri ( ; , ', translation: "Father of Ayyub the Egyptian"; 1967 – 18 April 2010), also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
, the insurgents failed in all of their attacks and lost about 30 men. Several senior American officers, including General
David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus (; born 7 November 1952) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012. Pri ...
, later compared the fighting to the
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...
. Despite the success, Multi-National Force – Iraq continued to view Ramadi as a secondary front to the ongoing civil war in Baghdad and considered moving two of Colonel MacFarland's battalions to Baghdad. Colonel MacFarland even publicly described his operations as "trying to take the heat off Baghdad."
The Second Battle of Habbaniyah
U.S. Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, swept through urban sprawl between
Ramadi
Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...
and
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...
in a series of operations (i.e. Operations RUBICON and SIDEWINDER), disrupting flow of Al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents into both cities, and killing and capturing over 300 insurgents. Action centered around Kilo Company, nicknamed "Voodoo", in the towns of Husaybah, Bidimnah, and Julaybah on the outskirts of Ramadi. Kilo Marines killed or captured 137 insurgents; 4 Marines were killed in action, and 17 were wounded. Within Kilo itself, the squad most affected was "Voodoo Mobile", the vehicle-mounted element of the unit's HQ section. Of its 16 members, 12 were wounded and 3 killed between September and November 2006.
During the seven-month deployment, fighting between
Al Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
and the Marines was largely sporadic but intense. While only a handful of large-scale firefights developed—mostly in the suburbs of Ramadi between Habbaniyah and Julaybah—contact between the two sides was nearly continuous. Kilo Company officers reported sniper fire on a daily basis, as well as IED strikes on over 200 of the 250 + vehicle patrols they mounted.
Operations consisted of a mixed array of company-scale urban "sweep-and-clear" operations, census and suppression patrols, and static, fortified area-denial positions. The battalion was spread out along a 30 kilometer front from the western fringes of Fallujah to the eastern boundary of Ramadi.
During the battle, 14 Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines were killed and at least 123 were wounded. 12 of the 14 were killed by IED strikes, while the other two suffered mortal wounds from sniper fire.
Awakening movement
As the 1st Brigade pushed into Ramadi, it began aggressively courting the local tribes for police recruits. This was critical because, according to Colonel MacFarland, "without their help, we would not be able to recruit enough police to take back the entire city." After the Americans promised the tribal leaders in Ramadi that their men would not be sent outside of the city, the tribes began sending men into the police force. The number of Iraqis joining the police went from 30 a month before June 2006 to 300 a month by July. AQI tried to blunt police recruitment by attacking one of the new Ramadi police stations with a car bomb on 21 August, killing three Iraqi police. They simultaneously assassinated the Sunni sheikh of the Abu Ali Jassim tribe, who had encouraged many of his tribesmen to join the
Iraqi Police
The Iraqi Police (IP) is the uniformed police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law in Iraq. Its organisation, structure and recruitment were guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, ...
. The AQI fighters hid the body instead of leaving it for the tribe, violating Islam's
funeral rites
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
and angering the tribe. This was one of the catalysts for what became a tribal revolt against AQI. According to David Kilcullen, who would later serve as Senior Counterinsurgency Adviser to General Petraeus, the revolt began after AQI killed a sheikh over his refusal to give his daughters to them in marriage.
During this time, one of Colonel MacFarland's subordinates, Lieutenant Colonel Tony Deane, had kept contact with a low-level sheikh from the Abu Risha tribe, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha. In 2004 and 2005, Sattar's father and three of his brothers had been killed by AQI, but he had refused exile. In early September, Sattar told Deane that his tribe and several others were planning to ally with the United States and throw out the Baghdad-based government. Dean informed Colonel MacFarland, who pledged to support Sattar as long as Sattar continued to back the Government of Iraq. On 9 September, Sattar and former Anbar Governor Fasal al Gaood, along with 50 other sheikhs, announced the formation of the Anbar Awakening movement. Shortly after the meeting, Colonel MacFarland began hearing reports that off-duty Iraqi police operating as the military wing of the Awakening had formed a shadowy
vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...
organization called "Thuwar al-Anbar". Thuwar al-Anbar conducted terror attacks against known AQI operatives, while Colonel MacFarland and his soldiers turned a blind eye.
Colonel MacFarland asked his tribal adviser, Captain Travis Patriquin, to prepare a brief for the Iraqi government and the MEF's staff and journalists, all of whom remained skeptical about arming Sunni tribes who might someday fight the Shi'a-led government. Patriquin's brief, called "How to Win in Al Anbar", used stick figures and simple language to convey the message that recruiting tribal militias into the police force was a more effective strategy than using the US military. Ricks referred to the briefing as "perhaps the most informal one given by the US military in Iraq and the most important one." It later became a
viral phenomenon
Viral phenomena or viral sensations are objects or patterns that are able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. Analogous to the way in which viruses propagate, the te ...
on the Internet and is still used as a training aid.
Following the formation of the Awakening movement, violence in Ramadi continued to increase. On 29 September 2006 an insurgent threw a grenade onto a rooftop where a group of
Navy SEALs
The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...
were positioned. One of them, Master-at-ArmsSecond ClassMichael A. Monsoor, quickly smothered the grenade with his body and was killed. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor. On 18 October, AQI's umbrella organization, the Mujahideen Shura Council, formally declared Ramadi as a part of the
Islamic State of Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ') was a Salafi jihadist militant organization that fought the forces of the U.S.-led coalition during the Iraqi insurgency. The organization aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an ...
.
Operation Al Majid
Even as the Awakening progressed, Anbar continued to be viewed as a lost cause. In mid-August, Colonel Peter Devlin, chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq, had given a particularly blunt briefing on the Anbar situation to General
Peter Pace
Peter Pace (born November 5, 1945) is a retired United States Marine Corps General (United States), general who served as the 16th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace was the first Marine officer appointed as chairman and the first Marine ...
,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...
. Devlin told Pace that the US could not militarily defeat AQI in Anbar, as "AQI has become an integral part of the social fabric of western Iraq." He added that AQI had "eliminated, subsumed, marginalized, or co-opted" all other Sunni insurgents, tribes, or government institutions in the province. Devlin believed that the only way to reestablish control over the province was to deploy an additional division to Anbar, coupled with billions of dollars of aid, or by creating a "sizeable and legally approved paramilitary force". He concluded that all the Marines had accomplished was preventing things from being "far worse". In early September, Colonel Devlin's report was leaked to ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''. MEF commander Major General Richard Zilmer responded to press queries about the statement that Anbar Governorate was lost. Zilmer said that he agreed with the assessment, but added that his mission was only to train Iraqi security forces. He added that if he were asked to achieve a wider objective he would need more forces, but that sending more Americans to Anbar would not pacify the province—that the only path to victory was for the Sunnis to accept the Government of Iraq.
Some of the first offensive operations outside of Ramadi also began in late 2006, with the construction of high dirt berms around several Iraqi cities in western Anbar: Haditha,
Haqlaniyah
Al-Haqlaniyah (Arabic: الحقلانية, al-Ḥaqlānīyah) is an Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey bo ...
Rutbah
Ar-Rutbah ( ''ar-Ruṭba'', also Romanized ''Rutba'', ''Rutbah'') is an Iraqi town in western Al Anbar province, predominantly inhabited by Sunni Arabs. The population is approximately 28,400. It occupies a strategic location on the Amman–Baghd ...
, and
Anah
Anah or Ana (, ), formerly also known as Anna, is an Iraqi town on the Euphrates approximately midway between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Persian Gulf. Anah lies from west to east on the right bank along a bend of the river just before it tu ...
. The berming was part of Operation Al Majid, an American-led operation to clear and hold more than in western Anbar. Prior to Al Majid, a previous battalion commander had observed that his unit lacked the manpower to control both the main roads and towns of the Haditha Triad, that the Iraqi Army was as blind as they were, and that the insurgents were killing anyone who spoke to Coalition forces. The
2nd Battalion 3rd Marines
2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines (2/3) was an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii consisting of approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors. The battalion fell under the command of the 3rd Marine Regi ...
had lost over 23 Marines in just two months trying to hold the area. In addition to the berms and the help of a local strongman known as Colonel Faruq, the Marines set up checkpoints in key locations to regulate entry and exit. By early January, attacks in the Triad had dropped from 10 to 13 per day to one every few days.
The
Iraq Study Group Report
''The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward – A New Approach'' is the report of the Iraq Study Group, as mandated by the United States Congress. It is an assessment of the state of the war in Iraq as of December 6, 2006, when the ISG release ...
, released on 6 December, acknowledged that the Awakening movement had "started to take action", but concluded that "Sunni Arabs have not made the strategic decision to abandon violent insurgency in favor of the political process" and that the overall situation in Anbar was "deteriorating". On the same day, Captain Patriquin was killed by a roadside bomb in Ramadi along with Major
Megan McClung
Megan Malia Leilani McClung (14 April 1972 – 6 December 2006) was the first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat during the Iraq War, and the first female graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy to be killed in action. Major ...
, the first female Marine officer to die in Iraq. Following the
execution of Saddam Hussein
Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was executed on 30 December 2006. Saddam was sentenced to death by hanging, after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for the Dujail massacre—the killing of 148 Iraq ...
, Saddam's family considered interring him in Ramadi because of the improved security situation. On 30 December, an unknown number of loyalists near Ramadi staged a march carrying pictures of Saddam Hussein and waving Iraqi flags.
2007
Surge
In his
State of the Union Address
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of most calendar years on the current condit ...
on 23 January 2007, President Bush announced plans to deploy more than 20,000 additional soldiers and Marines to Iraq in what became known as the Surge. Four thousand were specifically earmarked for Anbar, which Bush acknowledged had become both an AQI haven and a center of resistance against AQI. Instead of deploying new units, the Marine Corps chose to extend the deployments of several units already in Anbar:
1st Battalion 6th Marines
The 1st Battalion, 6th Marines (1/6) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It consists of approximately 1,100 marines and sailors. They fall under the command of the 6th Marine Regiment ...
, 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, and the
15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (15th MEU) is one of seven such units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) with a strength of about 2,200 pe ...
(MEU). The 15th MEU would later be replaced by the
13th MEU
The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (13th MEU) is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 pe ...
as the last surge unit.
AQI had its own offensives planned for 2007. In the first two months of 2007, it shot down eight helicopters throughout Iraq, including two in Anbar. One was brought down by a sophisticated SA-14 or SA-16 shoulder-fired missile on 7 February, near Karmah, killing five Marines and two sailors. AQI also began a series of chlorine bombings near Ramadi and Fallujah. The first attack was on 21 October 2006, when a car bomb carrying twelve 120 mm mortar shells and two chlorine tanks was detonated in Ramadi. The AQI campaign intensified in January 2007. For five months, AQI carried out a series of suicide bombings in Anbar using conventional vehicle-borne explosive devices mixed with
chlorine gas
Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...
. The attacks in general were poorly executed, burning the chemical agent rather than dispersing it.
AQI also continued its assassination campaign. On 19 February, AQI tried to kill Sheikh Sattar in his compound with a pair of suicide car bombs that missed the sheikh, but killed eleven. Several days later the Habbaniyah mosque of an imam who had spoken out against AQI was hit by a suicide bomber during
Friday prayers
Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...
, with 39 killed and 62 wounded. In June, a group of Anbar sheiks meeting in Baghdad's Mansour Hotel was attacked by a suicide bomber, with 13 killed, including Fasal al Gaood, and 27 wounded. On 30 June, a group of 70 AQI fighters planned to carry out a major attack on Ramadi targeting tribal leaders and police in the city, including Sheikh Sattar. Instead they stumbled into a squad from the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regimentnear Donkey Island, and fought an all-night engagement that resulted in thirteen Americans dead or wounded and half the AQI fighters killed.
MRAPs
As the campaign in Al Anbar entered its fourth year the Marine Corps scored a major victory when it adopted a vehicle originally designed in the 1970s to withstand mine attacks: the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle. As early as 2004, the Marine Corps recognized that it needed a replacement for its armored Humvees. The few
Cougar
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...
MRAP initially deployed yielded impressive results. In 2004, the Marines reported that no troops had died in over 300 mine attacks on Cougars. In April 2007, General Conway estimated that the widespread use of the MRAP could reduce mine casualties in Anbar by as much as 80 percent. Now
Commandant of the Marine Corps Commandant of the Marine Corps may refer to:
* Commandant of the Marine Corps (Indonesia)
* Commandant of the Netherlands Marine Corps
* Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps
* Commandant of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps
* Commandant of th ...
, he requested an additional 3,000 MRAPs for Anbar and told the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he wanted to require every Marine traveling outside bases to ride in one. In April, the Deputy Commander for MEF said that in the 300 attacks on MRAPs in Anbar since January 2006, no Marines had been killed. On 8 May 2007, Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates
Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and retained b ...
stated that the acquisition of MRAPs was the
Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
's highest priority and earmarked 1.1 billion US dollars for them. The Marine Corps purchased and fielded large numbers of MRAPs throughout 2007. That October, General Conway described the MRAP as the "gold standard" of force protection. Deaths from mine attacks plummeted and in June 2008, ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' reported that roadside bomb attacks and fatalities in Iraq had dropped almost 90 percent, partially due to MRAPs.
Operation Alljah
In June the Marine Corps launched Operation Alljah to secure Fallujah, Karma, Zaidon, and the Tharthar regions of eastern Anbar. These regions fell under the umbrella of Operation Phantom Thunder, an overall offensive throughout Iraq using US and Iraqi divisions on multiple fronts in an attempt to clear the areas surrounding Baghdad. In late 2006, the 1st Battalion 25th Marines had turned Fallujah over to the Iraqi Army and Police, who preferred to stay in defensive checkpoints and not patrol the city. Colonel Richard Simcock, whose
6th Marine Regiment
The 6th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "6th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The regiment falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Division of th ...
would retake the city, later admitted that the Marines had pulled out too soon. In June, he sent the 2nd Battalion 6th Marines into Fallujah, dividing it up into ten precincts and sending Marines and Iraqi Police into each precinct in a duplication of 1st Battalion 6th Marines' operations in Ramadi.
In May, General Gaskin began planning to retake the city of Karmah, which sat astride a main supply route between Fallujah and Baghdad and was an important insurgent stronghold. Unlike other locales, Karmah had no definable perimeter, making it easy for outsiders to access, as when insurgents fled to Karmah after being pushed out of Baghdad. Gaskin sent one of his aides to Jordan to meet with Sheikh Mishan, head of Karmah's largest tribe, the Jumayli. Sheikh Mishan fled to Jordan in 2005 after receiving threats from AQI. Gaskin's aide was able to persuade the sheikh to return in June, partnered with
2nd Battalion 5th Marines
2nd Battalion 5th Marines (2/5 or "Two Five") is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps consisting of approximately 800 marines and sailors. They are based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and fall under the com ...
. By October, insurgent attacks had dropped to almost zero.
In May, the 13th MEU moved into Tharthar, a area that was AQI's last Anbar refuge. Their goal was to cut off insurgent travel between Anbar and
Saladin Governorate
The Saladin, Salah ad Din, or Salah Al-Din Governorate (, ) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with the capital being T ...
s into Baghdad and to uncover weapons caches. Resistance was light and many insurgents fled. The insurgents laid over 400 mines to slow the Marines down. In one operation, Marines found 18 tons of homemade explosives and of
ammonium nitrate
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, but does not form hydrates. It is predominantly us ...
fertilizer. They uncovered several
mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of exec ...
s, containing a total of over 100 victims left behind by AQI. Tharthar was cleared by August. Operation Alljah was one of the last significant Anbar offensives. By late October, weeks passed without casualties.
America declares victory
President Bush flew to Al Asad Airbase in western Anbar Governorate on 3 September, to showcase what he referred to as a "military success" and "what the future of Iraq can look like". While there, he met with top US and Iraqi leadership and held a "war council".
Frederick Kagan
Frederick W. Kagan (born 1970) is an American resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and a former professor of military history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Career
He and his father, Donald Kagan, who wa ...
, one of the "intellectual architects" of the Surge, referred to the visit as the " Gettysburg" of the Iraq War and observed that Bush thought Anbar was "safe enough for the war cabinet of the United States of America to meet there with the senior leadership of the government of Iraq to discuss strategy."
A week after Bush's visit, on 10 September, General David Petraeus, the Commanding General of Multi-National Force – Iraq, and United States Ambassador to Iraq
Ryan Crocker
Ryan Clark Crocker (born June 19, 1949) is a retired American diplomat who served as a career ambassador within the United States Foreign Service. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he served as United States ambassador to Afg ...
gave their Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq. General Petraeus specifically singled out Anbar Province as a major improvement, referring to the tribal uprisings there as "the most significant development of the past 8 months". He mentioned the dramatic improvements in security, stating that enemy attacks had decreased from a high of 1,350 in October 2006 to approximately 200 in August 2007. Ambassador Crocker referred to Anbar Governorate in his Congressional testimony. He was careful to credit the victory to AQI "overplay ngits hand" and to the tribal uprising being directed primarily against the "excesses" of AQI. He also referred to the Government of Iraq recruiting "21,000 Anbaris npolice roles", a carefully chosen phrase as many of them were tribal militia. The two referred to Anbar Province a total of 24 times in their testimony.
Three days later, on 13 September, Sheikh Sattar and three other men were killed by a bomb planted near his house in Ramadi. AQI claimed responsibility for the attack and twenty people were arrested in connection with the killing, including the Sheikh's own head of security. About 1,500 mourners attended Sheikh Sattar's funeral, including senior Iraqi and American officials. The leadership of the Anbar Salvation Council then passed to Sheikh Sattar's brother Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha. In December,
al-Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
deputy leader
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (; 19 June 195131 July 2022) was an Egyptian-born pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, his dea ...
released an interview where he denied that the tribes of Anbar Province were supporting the Americans, praising them as "noble and honorable" and referring to the Awakening as "scum".
2008–2011
Transition
Beginning in February 2008, US forces began returning political and military control of Anbar to Iraqis. On 14 February,
1st Battalion 7th Marines
The 1st Battalion, 7th Marines (1/7) is an infantry battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment of the United States Marine Corps. It is currently based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. Consisting of approximately 1,000 ...
withdrew from Hīt. Two days later, American and Iraqi forces conducted a joint heliborne operation meant to show off the Iraqi security forces. More significantly, in late March, both Iraqi Army divisions in Anbar Governorate, the
1st
First most commonly refers to:
* First, the ordinal form of the number 1
First or 1st may also refer to:
Acronyms
* Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array
* Far Infrared a ...
and 7th Divisions, were sent south to participate in the Battle of Basra. Their participation helped win the battle for the government forces and showcased the major improvements to the Iraqi Army. On 26 March 2008, B Squadron of the British SAS as part of Task Force Knight were called upon to hit a terrorist bomb-makers' house in the early hours. After trying to call him out and getting no response they stormed the house, receiving a hail of fire that left four men wounded while a terrorist from another building joined in the firefight. With helicopter support, they pressed on and chased their targets into another house that used civilians as hostages who were then accidentally killed alongside the terrorists. One SAS operator was killed.
Earlier in January, AQI leader Ayyub al-Masri ordered his fighters in Anbar to "get away from the massive indiscriminate killings" and "refocus attacks on American troops, Sunnis cooperating closely with U.S. forces, and Iraq's infrastructure." AQI also ordered its fighters to avoid targeting Sunni tribesman, and even offered amnesty towards Awakening tribal leaders. On 19 April, al-Masri called for a month-long offensive against US and Iraqi forces. In Anbar, that offensive may have begun four days earlier on 15 April, when 18 people (including five Iraqi police) were killed in two suicide bombings near Ramadi. On 22 April, a suicide bomber drove his vehicle into an entry-control point in Ramadi manned by over 50 Marines and Iraqi police. Two Marines engaged the driver who detonated his bomb early, killing the guards and wounding 26 Iraqis. Both Marines were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. On 8 May, a group of insurgents crossed the Syrian border near Al Qaim and killed 11 Iraqi policemen and military officers. That same day, four Marines were killed in a roadside blast in Lahib, a farming village just east of Karmah. On 16 May, a suicide car bomber attacked a Fallujah police station, killing four and wounding nine.
In June, it was announced that Al Anbar Governorate would be the tenth province to transfer to
Provincial Iraqi Control
Provincial may refer to:
Government & Administration
* Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country
* Provincial city (disambiguation)
* Provincial minister (disambiguation)
* Provincial Secretary, a position in Cana ...
, the first such Sunni region. This handover was delayed by bad weather and a suicide bombing on 26 June in Karmah at a meeting between Sunni Sheikhs and US Marines which killed more than 23 people, including three Marines. In July, presidential candidate
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
visited Ramadi and met with Governor Rasheed, Sheikh Abu Rish, and 30 other sheikhs and senior military personnel. In the meeting, Obama promised that "the United States will not abandon Iraq" (his opponent,
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
, had visited Haditha in March 2008). On 26 August, Iraqi leaders signed the Command and Control Memorandum of Understanding in a ceremony at the Anbar Governance Center, a step towards taking full control and responsibility for security from Coalition forces. Less than a week later, on 1 September, the transition became official.
Drawdown
The last major military action in Al Anbar Governorate occurred on 26 October 2008, when a group of
Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is a branch of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC).
The core missionset of Special Forces ...
conducted a raid into Syria to kill Abu Ghadiya, the leader of a network of foreign fighters who were traveling through Syria. Anbar continued to play a large role in the Iraqi insurgency. That same month AQI announced the formation of the
Islamic State of Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ') was a Salafi jihadist militant organization that fought the forces of the U.S.-led coalition during the Iraqi insurgency. The organization aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an ...
(ISI), an umbrella group led by
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (; ; 1964 – 18 April 2010), born Hamid Dawud Mohamed Khalil al-Zawi () was an Iraqi militant who was the Emir of the Islamic militant umbrella organization Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC),Al-Qaeda names mystery man to su ...
, a cleric from Anbar. After both Al-Baghdadi and Al-Masri were killed in
Tikrit
Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000.
Originally created as a f ...
in April 2010, the US believed the new leader of AQI/ISI was Abu Dua al-Badri, a former Emir of Rawa who was married to a woman from Fallujah.
In late 2008, US forces began accelerating their move out of cities across Iraq, turning over the task of maintaining security to Iraqi forces. The Marines pulled out of both Fallujah and Haditha Dam in November and December. Lance Corporal Brandon Lara from 3rd Battalion 4th Marines was the last American service member killed in Anbar, on 19 July 2009. In early August, a unit of Marines operating in Anbar located and recovered the body of Navy Captain Scott Speicher, who had been missing in action since the 1991
Gulf War
, combatant2 =
, commander1 =
, commander2 =
, strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems
, page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
. By 6 October 2009, the last two Marine Regiments had left, ending the American combat presence. Experts and many Iraqis were worried that AQI might resurface and attempt mass-casualty attacks to destabilize the country. There was a spike in the number of suicide attacks, and AQI rebounded in strength through November 2009 and appeared to be launching a concerted effort to cripple the government.
There were a number of car bombings in Ramadi, Haditha and Al Qaim following the US withdrawal from Iraqi cities on 30 June. Throughout the last months of the year, additional attacks, mainly assassinations, occurred around Fallujah and Abu Ghraib. In October, twin bombings killed 26 people and wounded 65 at a reconciliation meeting in Ramadi. In December, a coordinated double suicide bombing outside Ramadi's government compound killed 25 people and severely wounded Governor Qasim Al-Fahdawi, who lost an arm.
Violence continued through the last months of 2011. In September, a bus carrying Shia pilgrims from neighboring
Karbala Governorate
Karbala Governorate (, ''Muḥāfażat Karbalāʾ'') is a governorate in central Iraq. Its administrative center is the city of Karbala, a holy city for Shia Muslims for housing the shrine of the revered Imam Hussein. The population is majority S ...
was stopped outside of Ramadi and 22 were executed, prompting threats from
Karbala
Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...
to annex parts of southern Anbar, including the city of
Nukhayb
An Nukhayb (, alt. ''Nukhaib'', ''Nkheeb'') is a town in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Prior to the 1940s and during a short period in the 1970s, the town was administered by the Karbala Governorate. There has been conflict regarding to which gove ...
. In November, the provincial council in Anbar announced that it was considering whether to form a semi-autonomous region with other governorates in the Sunni areas of Iraq.
As the Americans withdrew, many Iraqis and Americans questioned the ability of the Iraqi security forces, especially the police, to protect the province. Others expressed skepticism over whether Iran would dominate Iraq and whether the Iraqi government would be able to provide security. One angry Iraqi described the American legacy as "total destruction ... you just came in, destroyed, and left." Discussing the American withdrawal, a journalist in Fallujah predicted that the Government of Iraq would continue to have trouble with Anbar Province, saying, "Anbar was where instability began in Iraq. It was where stability returned. And it is where instability could start again."
Withdrawal
The United States military in Al Anbar Governorate had a series of reorganizations in late 2009 and early 2010. The last non-American foreign forces left Iraq on 31 July 2009 and Multi-National Forces West became United States Force – West. On 23 January 2010, the Marines formally left both Anbar Governorate and Iraq, transferring American military commitments over to the United States Army's 1st Armored Division. The Army promptly merged United States Division West with United States Division – Baghdad, creating United States Division – Center to advise Iraqi forces in both Anbar and Baghdad. In December 2010, the 25th Infantry Division assumed responsibility for Anbar Province. On 7 December, the United States transferred its last base in Anbar, Al Asad, to the Iraqi Government. One week later, hundreds of Fallujah residents celebrated the pullout by burning American flags in the city.
Human rights abuses
Both sides committed human rights abuses in Anbar Province, often involving civilians caught in the middle of the conflict. By late 2005, abuses had gotten so common that one American officer nonchalantly referred to "discovering ... 20 bodies here, 20 bodies there" and the head of MNF-W referred to them as "a cost of doing business." During Operation Steel Curtain, insurgents forced their way into peoples' houses and held them hostage while engaging in gun battles with American forces, who often destroyed the homes. One Sunni Iraqi family described how in 2006 they fled the sectarian violence in Baghdad to Hīt. During their yearlong stay in Hīt, they watched AQI fighters kidnap a man for talking back to them; the fighters later dumped the man's body on his doorstep. The family also watched an American patrol hit a mine in front of their house, and worried that the Americans would conduct reprisal killings on the family. An Iraqi sheikh spoke about how he was accidentally shot and arrested by the Americans and thrown in Abu Ghraib prison where he was tortured. After his release he was targeted by insurgents in Fallujah who thought he was an American spy.
By the Coalition
For the American forces, abuses were typically either a disproportionate use of firepower or servicemen committing
extrajudicial killing
An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, ...
s (such as in Haditha). Many accusations of human rights violations against the United States were connected with the First and Second Battles of Fallujah. Following the assault, the United States military admitted it had employed white phosphorus artillery rounds, the use of which is not permitted in civilian areas under the United Nations
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
The United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC), concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980, and entered into force in December 1983, seeks to prohibit or restrict the use of certain conventional weapons which are cons ...
. Several Marines, all of them from the 3rd Battalion 1st Marines, were later charged (but not convicted) with executing Iraqi prisoners. Some British advisers also complained that the Marines had little regard for civilian casualties and had used munitions containing
depleted uranium
Depleted uranium (DU), also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy, or D-38, is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope Uranium-235, 235U than natural uranium. The less radioactive and non-fissile Uranium-238, 238U is the m ...
that caused
birth defect
A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can range from mild to severe. Birth de ...
s for years after the battle.
American forces also killed civilians through aerial bombing. Between 2003 and 2007, 1,700 Iraqis on all sides were killed by aerial attack in Anbar Governorate. On 19 May 2004, 42 civilians were killed near Al Qaim when American planes mistakenly bombed a wedding party. In November 2004, 59 civilians were killed when the US bombed Fallujah's Central Health Center. In November 2006, an American airstrike in Ramadi killed 30 civilians. Some accusations, such as the alleged bombing of a Fallujah mosque in April 2004 that killed 40, were later proven to be exaggerated or false.
An unknown number of Iraqis in Anbar were also killed through Escalation of Force (EOF) incidents, where American troops were allowed to fire at suspicious-looking Iraqi vehicles and persons under their rules of engagement. These incidents typically occurred at both coalition checkpoints and near coalition convoys on the road. One civil affairs officer recounted two separate incidents in Ramadi where families in cars were fired on for not stopping at checkpoints: in one incident the husband was killed; in another, the wife died and a boy was critically wounded.
Other violations involved detainee abuse. An August 2003 memo on detainee interrogations prompted one soldier with the 3rd ACR in Anbar to reply that "the gloves need to come off." In November 2003, former Iraqi general
Abed Hamed Mowhoush
Abed Hamed Mowhoush () was an Iraqi air vice-marshal believed to be in command of the transport, logistics and airlifting division of the Iraqi Air Force during the regime of Saddam Hussein immediately prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, until h ...
died at a detention facility near Al Qaim after US Army interrogators stuffed him inside a sleeping bag and beat him to death. In 2005, several members of the 82nd Airborne described how in 2003 they beat and abused prisoners at Camp Mercury, a forward operating base near Fallujah. Iraqi security forces also committed abuses. In 2007, a Marine commander near Tharthar uncovered several instances of Iraqi soldiers raping civilians and Iraqi police torturing prisoners.
Finally, while not an abuse, there was a perception among some Iraqis that Americans did not care about them. A leading cleric in Anbar later complained that:
By insurgents
The various insurgent groups regularly executed and tortured suspected Iraqi collaborators and captured Westerners, as well as Iraqis they considered insufficiently religious. One Iraqi Christian told
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
how he was stopped by insurgents in Anbar and ordered to convert to Islam or face death. Another Iraqi Shia related how insurgents from other Arab countries had expelled many
Kurd
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
s and Shi'ia from cities and executed others. After the Second Battle of Fallujah, American forces uncovered Al Qaeda torture and execution chambers, which had been used on Iraqis suspected of working with Westerners or the Iraqi government. Some of the chambers still contained victims. Some executions, like those of Nicholas Berg and Kim Sun-il, had been videotaped by their perpetrators. Some Fallujah residents stated that during the battle, Al Qaeda had shot anyone trying to leave.
In Haditha, after the Marines were withdrawn in order to fight in
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...
, insurgents "rounded up dozens of local police officers and publicly executed them in a soccer stadium." When the Marines were withdrawn a second time later in 2004 there were similar massacres of local police. They enforced strict Islamic laws, such as breaking the fingers of smokers, whipping those who drank alcohol, and banning shops from selling images of women. An Iraqi woman from Ramadi said Al-Qaeda banned women from driving or walking alone by themselves. AQI also abused local women, which antagonized some of the local tribes. Women, pretending to be seamstresses, were drafted to reconnoiter houses and report on the presence of Iraqi police in hiding. If they could not find the police, they would settle for killing their close relatives. They also murdered countless Iraqis: doctors, mullahs, college graduates, even women and children—anyone they thought might be connected to the Americans. In 2007, American Marines found several mass graves near
Lake Tharthar
Lake Tharthar (also Therthar), and known in Iraq as Buhayrat ath-Tharthar (), is an artificial lake created in 1956, situated 100 kilometers (62 mi) northwest of Baghdad between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers.
History
In 1956, the southern ...
containing a total of over 100 victims.
Reactions
According to Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha, many Iraqis became disaffected with AQI but were hesitant to take up arms against them out of fear. Sheikh Ahmed said that the biggest complaint about AQI was that they were unable to create a degree of normalcy, and that "people who are wearing masks ... cannot build the country". Other sheikhs specifically said that the large number of killings and kidnappings by AQI prompted the tribal revolt. AQI leader
Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
Abu Ayyub al-Masri ( ; , ', translation: "Father of Ayyub the Egyptian"; 1967 – 18 April 2010), also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
practically admitted as much in 2008 when he ordered fighters in Anbar to avoid harming Sunnis who were not working closely with coalition forces and "not interfere in social issues". However, David Kilcullen argued that the abuses themselves may have been less of an issue than AQI disrupting the tribes' smuggling businesses, the belief that AQI was linked to Iran, and their general "high-handed" behavior. He added that, whatever the spark, there was already a perception that AQI "had it coming".
In the United States, incidents like detainee abuse and the Haditha killings became front-page news, but many Iraqi deaths by American or Iraqi security forces went unreported. While the U.S. military claimed that "the vast majority" of Iraqi deaths were caused by other Iraqis, incidents like Fallujah and Haditha caused many Iraqis to become embittered towards the Americans. This later led to Iraqi outrage in 2011, when the U.S. unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a long-term presence in Iraq that would give immunity to American military personnel. Iraqis were further angered by what they perceived as a "travesty of justice" over the lack of convictions of American military personnel. Writing in the aftermath of the Haditha killings, retired U.S. Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich said:
See also
*
Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)
The Iraqi insurgency was an insurgency that began in late 2011 after the end of the Iraq War and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, resulting in violent conflict with the central government, as well as low-level sectarian violence among ...