Brutal Urban Combat: Battle of Fallujah (2004) | Animated History

we've just added two new posters to our store over at store.armchairhistory.tv [Music] the pointman steadies himself against the door frame the sounds of artillery and gunfire are everywhere drowning out his thoughts a tap on his shoulder sends adrenaline coursing through his veins it's time to breach inside the concrete house an insurgent keeps to the shadows twice in his lifetime the americans have come to his country and twice his people have had to endure bitter defeat this time will be different he pulls a grenade from his belt the pointman racks his shotgun the insurgent pulls his pin the marine takes a breath the insurgent touches a photo both men pray before the door is blasted open hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian the second battle of fallujah in november 2004 is one of the most notorious of the war in iraq it was a bloody slog of urban warfare during which u.s british and iraqi forces attempted to drive out islamist insurgents under the leadership of abu musab al-zarqawi a jordanian jihadist known for masterminding a series of terrorist attacks fallujah marked a turning point in the war it was the first major battle to be fought entirely against insurgents rather than loyalists of saddam hussein's bath party although ultimately a victory for the u.s and its allies this phyric triumph came at the cost of many civilian lives and failed to break the back of the insurgency which would continue to thrive in the region in today's episode we'll examine how this brutal house by house battle unfolded and how it set the stage for conflict that raged on for years to come when settling down to relax and watch a long history documentary it's always nice to have something special to go along with it the sponsor of today's video bright cellars aims to help improve your viewing experience in style with a broad selection of wines delivered to your doorstep either once a month or on demand brightsellers uses a sophisticated algorithm to predict your tastes based on simple questions answered when you sign up ensuring your feedback really does make a difference each bottle even comes with an educational card giving insight into the vintage flavor notes and suggested pairings when i filled out the questionnaire i was pleased to receive a pleasant selection of fruity wines of which my favorite was definitely the albatround spygelt so i can vouch for its accuracy start refining your knowledge along with your palette and take advantage of a 50 off discount on your first six bottle box by signing up to bright sellers using the link in the description below u.s forces had tried to take control of fallujah once before in april of 2004 following the murder of four american private military contractors that operation known as vigilant resolve ended with a u.s withdrawal and an agreement that the local population would keep the insurgency out of the city but instead fallujah would become a significant stronghold for insurgents such as al qaeda and the islamic army in iraq among others as the number of insurgents swelled american concern grew to match and by september u.s commanders were planning a military operation to seize control of the city operation phantom fury the primary motivation was to provide security for iraq's first elections of the post-saddam era but another important strategic objective was the capture of zarqawi who was believed by the u.s to be holed up in fallujah u.s forces had kept a tight hold on fallujah's surroundings they maintained checkpoints on all roads leading out of the city and seized any iraqi police and national guard vehicles attempting to leave during the night ac-130 gunships destroyed every vehicle spotted with a weapon and conducted frequent bombardments of any house suspected to be harboring insurgents the civilian population recognizing the costly signs of an imminent american assault fled the city in droves many neighborhoods were totally abandoned including fallujah's southern district dubbed queens by u.s soldiers by october reconnaissance flights showed empty clothes lines and abandoned streets indeed the civilian population was estimated to have fallen from around 280 000 to as little as 30 000 these empty neighborhoods were swiftly filled by more than 3 000 insurgents who took to operating in small groups of between 4 and 20 fighters amid the abandoned homes these dispersed groups were able to weather the american bombardment in fallujah's resilient cement houses unable to blast them from their shelters the americans would have to clear them out room by room it would be a hard fight to even get to that point since april the insurgents numbers had doubled as they drew in combatants from virtually every armed group in iraq trenches were dug roads blocked with concrete barriers or collections of cars and trucks jury-rigged emplacements of earthworks and sandbags prepared the insurgents had even managed to capture some weaponry from coalition forces among the most effective defenses however were the improvised explosive devices or ieds with which the insurgents riddled the city fallujah was covered in booby traps buried under the streets taped to the side of telephone poles and hidden in rubble abandoned vehicles or empty houses ready to explode the moment a marine passed by marine expeditionary force planners knew they would be walking into an enormous urban death trap but the americans had their own advantages most notably their large force of professional and experienced soldiers for operation phantom fury commanding officer major general richard natanski believed it important to attack fallujah with as much strength as possible his forces reinforced by two u.s armored battalions and a u.s army armored brigade consisted of 10 500 marines who would be fighting alongside 2 000 troops from the recently established iraqi security forces and 850 soldiers from the famous scottish blackwatch battalion from the british armed forces this coalition vastly outnumbered the insurgents the americans also had the advantage of formidable air power with ac-130 gunships on hand to provide close air support during the fighting however these aircraft would only operate at night for fear of being targeted by surface-to-air missiles this caused serious consternation among commanders on the ground with one officer remarking they would be fighting with one hand tied behind our backs nevertheless their presence was a major boon to the us during the brutal urban warfare that was to come understanding the scale of the challenge ahead of them american planners worked to ensure there would be no logistical disruptions during the battle fearing possible attacks on convoys along the highway that could delay shipments and cause shortages a vast excess of fuel ammunition and supplies would be sent to the forces around fallujah to prevent any need for risky resupply major general natanski divided the city into two halves and assigned to each a regimental combat team made up of mostly u.s marines and reinforced by an army armored battalion these were rct1 and rct7 built around the 1st and 7th marine regiments respectively each was hidden behind a large railway berm to the north of the city which they would have to break through to begin the assault rct-1 would provide the main thrust of the attack entering the city from the north which was less heavily defended than the city's southern and eastern entrances in order to lend an element of surprise to the attack some elements of rct-1 would launch diversionary attacks in the south meanwhile rct-7 would advance from the northeast to support the main assault its primary objectives were to ensure the jolan district where the insurgent forces were thought to be the most concentrated and seized control of the makadi mosque which housed the enemy headquarters heavy army task forces would lead the way on both thrusts driving as rapidly as possible toward the city center while the marines took on the difficult task of house to house clearing in their wake meanwhile the black watch would maintain the perimeter around fallujah and prevent other insurgent forces from cutting the city off finally three battalions of relatively well-trained but poorly equipped iraqi security forces were brought in to support the americans and provide peacekeeping after the battle the battle began in the er on the night of november 7th the iraqi 36th commando battalion and their u.s army special forces advisers captured fallujah general hospital and several minor targets in the west and the south seeking to distract and confuse enemy combatants they were watched closely by marines 10 miles away through the infrared camera of a pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle who relayed their observations to the forces on the ground via radio two other uavs were surveying the city that night seeking out the dark outlines of insurgents clustering in place or manning a heavy weapon these positions would be relayed to basher the code name given to the ac-130 gunships waiting to unleash their deadly payload of 105 millimeter artillery shells these attacks meant certain doom for their targets the only escape was to take shelter in a mosque targeting a religious building is a war crime making mosques guaranteed protection from aerial bombardment fallujah known as the city of mosques had 200 of these to choose from mosques were also reported to house significant amounts of armaments making them extremely useful locations for insurgent forces the diversion was successful securing the peninsula west of the city and the two bridges across the euphrates river allowing the regimental combat teams to prepare for the main assault to begin the following day the daylight hours were spent striking key targets with artillery unmanned predator drones and guided bomb units to soften up the city's defenses after dark the marines began their attack along the northern edge of the city with support from tanks and artillery they first captured the railway station before advancing into the city proper entering the heinem al-dibat and al-naziza districts by the afternoon of the 8th the night was cold with intermittent rain showers but the marine's path was regularly lit by the detonation of dozens of rockets and mortars from the insurgents as well as tank artillery mortar and aircraft fire from the americans themselves however some units struggled to break through the railway berm and were stuck for hours as engineers attempted to blast through amid withering fire and rain the coalition forces made significant progress during the night but when sun rose on november 9th the momentum of the battle shifted the insurgents began to aim their mortars more precisely and effectively and their fighters took full advantage of the dense urban landscape to whittle down their foes small groups of insurgents would dash through the narrow alleys emerging briefly to fire rpg rounds at their enemies before darting away out of sight while others used these sturdy cement buildings as pill boxes from which to fire upon the approaching marines the fighting was at its most brutal inside the houses as they advanced squads of marines would search each home one by one clearing them of enemy fighters in slow exhausting urban fighting they found no combatants in most but sometimes without warning they would enter a house to see grenades rolling across the floor toward them and a hail of gunfire bursting out of the shadows clearing a house required incredible persistence and overwhelming firepower including the use of mk-153 rocket launchers if even these big guns failed the marines would resort to smashing the windows tossing in grenades and sending hundreds of rifle rounds into the house before bursting in to mop up any remaining foes but this would be easier said than done with insurgents lurking in every shadow and booby traps exploding around them the marines advanced through the streets of fallujah at a snail's pace both sides would receive scant rest each night with mortar fire continuing to rain down around them americans did their best to hunker down inside houses and sleep in a bid to unsettle them the insurgents adopted unique psychological warfare tactics blasting incessant chants from loudspeakers in the city's mosques in return us army humvees roamed the streets playing everything from guns and roses songs to the predator sound effect in deafening volumes the next morning the urban warfare resumed in much the same way with brutal fighting for each and every city block the insurgents were relentless but by november 11th the northern half of fallujah had fallen to the americans a day later as u.s forces closed in on the insurgent headquarters american aggression increased it was estimated one in every 20 houses contained hostile troops compared to one in every 50 houses previously thought now anticipating enemy fire from every building the marine standing orders became enter every room with a boom as the units advanced insurgents who had slipped back behind the front line or had remained hidden emerged to trouble the rear of the advancing line marines had to remain behind to continually clear and re-clear houses we spoke to a veteran of the battle who recalls we were afraid of doors rigged to explode since we had to go door to door and clear the buildings and they didn't care whose house they rigged we had guys attempt to breach doors of regular civilian homes and as a result of the door being rigged it would send shrapnel and debris everywhere nevertheless at the end of the 12th rcts 1 and 7 had reached all of their major objectives but it would take more time for the marines to fully secure them often the americans would encounter not enemy fighters but civilians who had failed to escape ahead of the battle although they would typically wave white flags in warning as soon as they heard the marines approach sometimes things did not go smoothly hundreds of civilians were killed over the course of this bloody house by house warfare at some stage of the fighting american artillery units began to employ white phosphorus an extremely deadly incendiary agent to root out dug-in insurgent forces the use of this toxic caustic chemical weapon is considered legitimate if used to illuminate a battlefield or to produce smoke but its use against enemy personnel is a violation of international law and is a war crime some journalists accused the americans of deploying white phosphorus against civilian targets an accusation vigorously denied by the us military it has however been admitted to using the weapon against enemy combatants when conventional weapons became ineffective claiming to have ensured no civilians were present before using it by december 13th the fighting had begun to slow fallujah was under almost total coalition control although the occupying forces still faced stiff resistance from isolated pockets of insurgents some of the fiercest individual fights came in the battle's closing stages such as the so-called house of hell in which a marine battalion faced down a group of well-trained fanatical chechen fighters in a well-defended home around this time humanitarian operations were allowed to begin despite continued bouts of air strikes and small arms fire rct 7 set up a humanitarian center at the alhadra mosque and marines in the jolan district arranged for local iraqis to enter the city to recover the bodies of dead insurgents for the following two weeks mef command described the ongoing operations as simply mopping up the final pockets of militants sporadic combat would continue until the 23rd after nearly a month and a half of fighting since the battle allegations of war crimes massacres and human rights abuses have emerged this has made fallujah a focal point for opposition to the war in iraq and across the west the battle was brutal ultimately proving to be one of the bloodiest in the entire conflict coalition forces suffered 720 casualties with 107 killed and 613 wounded of these 95 of those killed and 500 of those wounded were american while four british soldiers were killed guarding the highway deaths among the insurgents are estimated as ranging from fifteen hundred to two thousand killed and another fifteen hundred captured fallujah's civilians suffered eight hundred lives lost over the course of the battle and in the years since there's been a marked rise in infant mortality cancer and congenital anomalies or birth defects a consequence of depleted uranium exposure from munitions the city too witnessed catastrophic destruction with nearly one-fifth of its buildings destroyed and over half of those remaining experiencing heavy damage fallujah once the city of mosques had seen 60 of its 200 places of worship destroyed during the battle although the city was captured the coalition had failed to land a decisive blow against the insurgents many of them simply slipped away into the surrounding al-anbar province including abu musab al-zarqawi by 2006 the province with the exception of the city of fallujah was reported to be in total insurgent control leaving the united states with the hard task of battling them for many years to come you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

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Length: 21min 2sec (1262 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 15 2021

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