The 2004 Battle That Saw American Troops Involved in the Heaviest Urban Combat They'd Seen Since Vietnam

Samantha Franco

Source Link

The Second Battle of Fallujah took place between November 7 and December 23, 2004, as part of the Iraq War. It's considered the heaviest urban combat involving American troops since the Battle of Huế in 1968. Fought exclusively against insurgents, it's also considered the bloodiest American engagement to have occurred during the conflict.

Impetus for the First Battle of Fallujah

Before the Second Battle of Fallujah came the first, provoked by insurgents who'd captured and killed four private military contractors from Blackwater. Their bodies were burned and hung from a bridge in the city, in what the insurgents saw as an act of superiority. On the American side, some likened the incident to the Battle of Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War .

American political leaders knew a significant military response was required and thus ordered the 1st Marine Division to retake Fallujah. The battle commenced on April 28, 2004, under the codename Operation Vigilant Resolve , and ended in an agreement that saw control of the city placed in the hands of a locally-run Iraqi security force.