US occupation of Fallujah: Encyclopedia - US occupation of Fallujah

US occupation of Fallujah

The US occupation of Fallujah began in April 2003, one month following the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Fallujah was one of the most peaceful areas of the country just after the fall of Saddam, and the arrival of US soldiers was received peacefully. However, misteps on both sides caused a spiral of violence, including a siege and two reinvasions of the city by US forces. The city is now largely ruined, with 60% of buildings damaged or destroyed, and a population at 30%-50% of pre-war levels.

US occupation of Fallujah - 2003 Invasion of Iraq

Fallujah was one of the most peaceful areas of the country just after the fall of Saddam because the majority of the residents were Sunni and supported Saddam's Rule. There was very little looting and the new mayor of the city — Taha Bidaywi Hamed, selected by local tribal leaders — was staunchly pro-American. When the U.S. Army entered the town in April 2003, they positioned themselves at the vacated Ba'ath Party headquarters — an action that erased some goodwill, especially when many in the city had been hoping the U.S. Army would stay outside of the relatively calm city. A Fallujah Protection Force composed of local Iraqis was set up by the U.S.-led occupants to help fight the rising resistance.

On the evening of April 28, 2003, a crowd of 200 people defied the Coalition curfew and gathered outside a local school to protest the presence of U.S. Coalition forces in the city. This developed into an altercation with U.S. troops in the city in which 15 Iraqi civilians were killed by U.S. gunfire. There were no coalition casualties in the incident.

US occupation of Fallujah - Insurgency

Prior to 2004, Fallujah was the most dangerous area for coalition military troops during the occupation of Iraq. Since the occupation began, more than 300 Americans have died in Fallujah — more than any city except Baghdad.

US occupation of Fallujah - Instability March 2003 - March 2004

Approximately one year after the invasion, the city's Iraqi police and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps were unable to establish law and order. Insurgents launched attacks on police stations in the city killing 20 police officers.

Beginning in early March, 2004, the Army's 82nd Airborne Division commanded by Major General Swannack gave a transfer of authority of the Al Anbar Province to the I Marine Expeditionary Force commanded by Lt. General Conway. The 82nd AD policy was to leave Fallujah alone if possible.

On March 29, 2004, several hundred residents protested the US Army's occupation of a school in Fallujah. As reported by the BBC, the US Army attempted to make the crowd disperse with announcements, but failed, and decided to use harsher tactics. The military said the protesters were armed; eyewitnesses said they were not. 17 protesters were killed by the US Army (1st Battalion / 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne). Three more protesters were killed in a separate demonstration in front of the Fallujah Baath party headquarters and mayor’s office (which sit next to one another) on March 31 (Fox Troop, 2/3 Cav.). The day following the first incident, the 82nd Airborne was replaced in Fallujah by a battalion sized element of the 3d Cavalry Regiment (2/3 Cav). The 3d. Cavalry Regiment was in control of the entire Al Anbar province at this time and it quickly became evident a larger force was needed. The battalion of the 3rd Cav in Fallujah was replaced by 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division for nearly 2 months before the entire 3rd Infantry Division was finally sent home. 2/3 Cavalry was once again put in control of Fallujah and again was only able to devote one battalion to Fallujah. In September of 2003, 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne was deployed to replace the 3d Cav in Ramadi and Fallujah. The 3rd Cav was then left to control all of the Al Anbar province except for these two cities. The 82nd Airborne would control Fallujah until the Marines replaced both the 82nd and the 3rd Cav in March of 2004. At this point in the war the Marines then controlled the entire Al Anbar province (including Fallujah and Ramadi).

In a highly publicized attack on March 31, 2004, four private military contractors from the U.S. company Blackwater USA were dragged from their vehicle and killed. Their bodies were then mutilated and burned. A crowd of militants and townsfolk, estimated to number over a thousand, beat and dragged the burnt corpses behind automobiles, then hanged the dismembered remains from the girders of Fallujah's bridge over the Euphrates River. These acts were videotaped by journalists and broadcast worldwide.

US occupation of Fallujah - Siege April 2004

In response to the killing of the four Americans and intense political pressure, the U.S. Marines surrounded the city and attempted to capture the individuals responsible and any others in the region who may be involved in insurgency or terrorist activities. The Iraqi National Guard was supposed to work alongside with the U.S. Marines in the operation, but on the dawn of the invasion they all threw away their uniforms and ran away. The attempt by coalition forces to regain control of Fallujah, Operation Vigilant Resolve, led to about 40 U.S. Marine deaths. Estimates of the number of Iraqi deaths (both insurgents and civilians) in the attack range from 271 (according to Iraqi Ministry of Health officials [1]) to 731 (according to Rafie al-Issawi, the head of the local hospital [2]).

The occupying force on April 9 allowed more than 70,000 women, children and elderly residents to leave the besieged city, reportedly also allowing males of military age to leave. On April 10, the U.S. military declared a unilateral truce to allow for humanitarian supplies to enter Fallujah. U.S. troops pulled back to the outskirts of the city; local leaders reciprocated the ceasefire, although lower-level intense fighting on both sides continued. An Iraqi mediation team entered the city in an attempt to set up negotiations between the U.S. and local leaders, but as of April 12 had not been successful. The rebel forces capitalized on this 'ceasefire' to conduct the most aggressive counter-offensive of the cordon. Additionally, numerous weapons were found hidden in the humanitarian supply trucks that were attempting to enter the city. [3]

The ceasefire followed a wave of insurgency across southern Iraq, which included the capture of two American soldiers, seven contract employees of Kellogg, Brown and Root, and more than 50 other workers in Iraq. Several of the prisoners were released within days of their capture, while the majority were executed.

The U.S. forces sought to negotiate a settlement but promised to restart its offensive to retake the city if one was not reached. Military commanders said their goal in the siege was to capture those responsible for the numerous deaths of American and Iraqi security personnel. As the siege continued, even though U.S. Marines were under a unilateral ceasefire, insurgents continued to conduct hit-and-run attacks on U.S. Marine positions.

US occupation of Fallujah - Truce May 2004

At the beginning of May, 2004, U.S. Marines announced a ceasefire due to intense political pressure. Roughly one half of Fallujah was under US control at the time of the ceasefire. Most of the fighting was limited to the southern industrial district, which, though occupying a large area, has the lowest population density inside the city limits and the northwest corner of the city in the Jolan district. There were also Marine Battalions in the northeast and southern portion of the city. While both sides began preparations to resume offensives, General Conway took a risk and handed control of the city to a former Iraqi general with roughly 1,000 men who then formed the Fallujah Brigade, acknowledging that many of the people under control of the general were probably insurgents themselves. The general, Major General Muhammed Latif, replaced a U.S. choice, Muhammed Saleh, who was alleged to have been involved in the earlier atrocities against Kurds during the Iran-Iraq war [4]. The cease-fire terms were to give control of Fallujah to General Latif on condition that Fallujah becomes a secure region for coalition forces and halt incoming mortar and rocket attacks on the nearby US bases. Latif's militia wore Iraqi military uniforms from Saddam Hussein's era. Another tenet of the cease-fire was the establishment of a Traffic Control Point (TCP) on the eastern side of the city just west of the cloverleaf. This TCP was constantly manned by a platoon of Marines and a platoon from the Iraqi National Guard and saw almost daily firefights for the rest of the summer.

Inside the city, mosques proclaimed the victory of the insurgents over the United States. Celebratory banners appeared around the city, and the fighters paraded through the town on trucks. Iraqi governing council member Ahmed Chalabi, after a bombing that killed fellow IGC member Izzadine Saleem, blamed the U.S. military's decisions in Fallujah for the attack, stating "The garage is open and car bombs are coming repeatedly." [5]

Fallujah, according to reporters who have visited in mid-Summer, had since become a sort of Islamist mini-state, with Sharia law enforced by mujahedin and warlordism and inter-faction fighting running rampant. [6]. The Fallujah Brigade was soon marginalized and ceased to be more than another faction in what had effectively become a no-go area for Coalition troops.

US occupation of Fallujah - Counter-insurgency May - November 2004

Throughout the summer and fall of 2004, the U.S. military conducted sporadic airstrikes on Fallujah, often on residential areas. U.S. forces claimed that these were targeted, intelligence-based strikes against houses used by the group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an insurgency leader linked to al-Qaida. Civilians were also killed in these attacks.

In the first week of Operation Phantom Fury, government spokesman Thair al-Naqeeb said that many of the remaining fighters have asked to surrender and that Iraqi authorities "will extend amnesty" to those who have not committed major crimes. [7]

In October and early November, 2004, the U.S. military prepared for a major offensive against the rebel stronghold with stepped up daily aerial attacks using precision-guided munitions [8] against alleged militant "safe houses," restaurants and meeting places in the city. U.S. Marines also engaged in firefights on a daily and nightly basis along the perimeter of the city. There were again conflicting reports of civilian casualties.

CNN incorrectly reported on October 14, 2004, that the US offensive assault on Fallujah had begun and broadcast a report from a young Marine outside Fallujah, 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert, who announced that "troops have crossed the line of departure." Hours later, CNN reported their Pentagon reporters had determined that the assault had not, in fact, begun. The Los Angeles Times reported on December 1, 2004, that, according to several unnamed Pentagon officials, the Marine's announcement was a feint--part of an elaborate "psychological operation" (PSYOP) to determine the Fallujah rebels' reactions if they believed attack was imminent.

On November 7, 2004, the Iraq interim government declared a 60 day state of emergency in preparation for the assault, as insurgents carried out several car bomb attacks in the Fallujah area which killed Iraqi army and police, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. The next day Prime Minister Iyad Allawi publicly authorized an offensive in Fallujah and Ramadi to "liberate the people" and "clean Fallujah from the terrorists". U.S. Marines and allied Iraqi soldiers stormed into Fallujah's western outskirts, secured two bridges across the Euphrates, seized a hospital on the outskirts of the city and arrested about 50 men in the hospital. About half the arrested men were later released. A hospital doctor reported that 15 Iraqis were killed and 20 wounded during the overnight incursions. The US armed forces have designated the offensive as Operation Phantom Fury.

US occupation of Fallujah - US-Iraqi offensive of Nov 8 2004

See Operation Phantom Fury

Journalists embedded with US military units, although limited in what they may report in order to protect the troops, have reported the following:

• On November 8, 2004, a force of over 6,000+\- U.S. and 1300+\- Iraqi troops began a concentrated assault on Fallujah with air strikes, artillery, armor, and infantry. They seized the rail yards North of the city, and pushed into the city simultaneously from the North, West and Southeast, taking control of the volatile Jolan and Askari districts. Rebel resistance was not as strong as expected, although some rebels fought very hard as they fell back. By nightfall on November 9, 2004, the U.S. troops had reached the heart of the city. U.S. military officials stated that 1,000 to 6,000 insurgents were believed to be in the city, but they did not appear to be well-organized, and fought in small groups, of three to 25. Many insurgents were believed to have slipped away amid widespread reports that the U.S. offensive was coming. During the assault, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers endured sniper fire and destroyed booby traps, but not as many as anticipated. Ten U.S. troops were killed in the fighting and 22 wounded in the first two days of fighting. Insurgent casualty numbers were estimated at 85 to 90 killed or wounded. Several more days of fighting were anticipated as U.S. and Iraqi troops conducted house-to-house searches for weapons, booby traps, and insurgents.

• November 10, 2004 reports by the Washington Post suggest that US armed forces used white phosphorus grenades and/or artillery shells, creating walls of fire in the city. Doctors working inside Fallujah report seeing melted corpses of suspected insurgents.[9] The use of WP ammunition was confirmed from various independent sources, including US troops who had suffered WP burns due to 'friendly fire'. On November 16, 2005 The Independent reported that Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable "disclosed that (white phosphorus) had been used to dislodge enemy fighters from entrenched positions in the city"..."We use them primarily as obscurants, for smokescreens or target marking in some cases. However it is an incendiary weapon and may be used against enemy combatants." [10] But a day before, Robert Tuttle the US ambassador to London denied that white phosphorus was deployed as a weapon: "US forces do not use napalm or white phosphorus as weapons." [11] [12]

• On November 13, 2004 a Red Crescent convoy containing humanitarian aid was delayed from entering Fallujah by the U.S. army.

• On November 13, 2004, a U.S. Marine was videotaped shooting a wounded, unarmed alleged insurgent to death in a mosque. The incident, which came under investigation, created controversy throughout the world. [13] On November 10, the shooting of a wounded rebel fighter by an US Marine was also caught on video; due to this person being hidden behind a door, it could not be determined if it had posed any threat at the time, though circumstances suggest that he was incapable of further hostile action. The Marine involved in the November 13th incident was acquitted of the charge of manslaughter in May 2005 on grounds that he had reason to believe the man was armed.

• Some of the tactics said to be used by the insurgents included playing dead and attacking, surrendering and attacking, and rigging dead or wounded with bombs. In the November 13th incident mentioned above, the US Marine apparently believed the insurgent was playing dead.

• Of the 100 mosques in the city, about 60 were used as fighting positions by the insurgents. The US and Iraqi military swept through all mosques used as fighting positions, destroying them, leading to great resentment from local residents.

• As of November 18, 2004, the US military reported 1200 insurgents killed and 1000 captured. US casualties were 51 killed and 425 wounded, and the Iraqi forces lost 8 killed and 43 wounded. [14]

• On December 2, 2004, the US death toll in Fallujah operation reached 71 killed. [15]

US occupation of Fallujah - Aftermath

Residents were allowed to return to the city in mid-December after undergoing biometric identification, provided they wear their ID cards all the time. US officials report that "more than half of Fallujah's 39,000 homes were damaged, and about 10,000 of those were destroyed" while compensation amounts to 20 percent of the value of damaged houses, with an estimated 32,000 homeowners eligible, according to Marine Lt. Col. William Brown [16]. According to the NBC [17], 9,000 homes were destroyed, thousands more were damaged and of the 32,000 compensation claims only 2,500 have been paid as of April 14, 2005. According to Mike Marqusee of Iraq Occupation Focus writing in the Guardian [18], "Falluja's compensation commissioner has reported that 36,000 of the city's 50,000 homes were destroyed, along with 60 schools and 65 mosques and shrines". Reconstruction is only progressing slowly and mainly consists of clearing rubble from heavily-damaged areas and reestablishing basic utility services. This is also due to the fact that only 10% of the pre-offensive inhabitants had returned as of mid-January, and only 30% as of the end of March 2005 [19].

Pre-offensive inhabitant figures are unreliable; the nominal population was assumed to have been 200-350,000. Thus, over 150,000 individuals are still living as IDPs in harsh conditions in tent cities outside Fallujah or elsewhere in Iraq.

Since the US military operation of November 2004, the number of insurgent attacks has gradually increased in and around the city, and although news reports are often few and far between, several reports of IED attacks on Iraqi troops have been reported in the press. Most notable of these attacks, was a suicide car bomb attack on June 23 2005 on a convoy that killed 6 Marines. Thirteen other Marines were injured in the attack.

See also

• "Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre"
• Mark 77 bomb, also controversial in its usage in Falluja by US forces

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