The Battle for Fallujah: Battle Reconstruction Support Document, Volume IV: Battle Site Survey

On 31 March 2004 four U.S. contractors were ambushed in Fallujah. The charred remains of two of the brutally beaten and burnt bodies were hung from the ramparts of the old North Bridge near the hospital. During the savage demonstration, locals cheered, and one Iraqi held a sign underneath one of the lynched bodies that read: Fallujah is the cemetery for Americans.1 During the next month the Coalition would in succession 1. Commit, via Operation Vigilant Resolve, the 1st Marine Division to gain control of the city and demonstrate Coalition resolve; 2. Accede to a cease-fire under national (Iraqi), regional, and international pressures; and 3. Cede control of Fallujah to the Fallujah Brigade, a political solution. The Fallujah Brigade, an ad hoc organization consisting of former Saddam Iraqi military leaders, residents, Jundi, and insurgents, was lauded by the Iraqis as Fallujans securing Fallujah. By July Fallujah was infested with insurgents, and the Fallujah Brigade was characterized as a failed experiment. The strategic outcome of Vigilant Resolve for the Coalition was much worse--for many Iraqis, Fallujah represented defeat for the Coalition and a victory for the insurgents. The Iraq Interim Government and the Coalition finally regained control of Fallujah during Al Fajr (Fallujah II) in November/December 2004. Described by General Casey as A great study in political-military interaction,2 Fallujah II was one of the significant events that led to successful Iraqi elections in January 2005.