11. Iraq Reconstruction Update #5: Retaking Fallujah
- Author:
- Michael Donovan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The insurgency in Iraq has grown in size and effectiveness in the months since a U.S.-led coalition invaded the country. By the summer of 2004, Pentagon officials were revising their initial estimates of the size of the insurgency by a factor of four. Baghdad and Mosul remained open cities to insurgents, and coalition casualty figures were rising steadily. Even as coalition authorities and the Iraqi interim government began to consider preparations for elections to be held in 2005, 20-30 towns in northeastern Iraq remained outside of coalition control. In an effort to pacify these predominantly Sunni areas, coalition officials devised a plan to retake key towns, and, it was hoped, strike at the heart of the insurgency. As a centerpiece to this plan, on Nov. 8, 2004, U.S. Marine and Army units, complemented by some Iraqi troops, embarked on Operation Phantom Fury, the retaking of the town of Fallujah.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Human Rights, and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Arab Countries