Battle of Ramadi (2006)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Ramadi was a battle fought during the Iraq War from June 2006 to November 2006 for control of the capital
of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A combined force of U.S. Soldiers, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy SEALs and Iraqi Security Forces
fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi, including the Government Center and the General Hospital. Coalition strategy relied on establishing a number of patrol bases called Combat Operation Posts throughout the city.
U.S. military officers believe that insurgent actions during the battle led to the formation of the Anbar Awakening. In August, insurgents executed a tribal sheik who was encouraging his kinsmen to join the Iraqi police, and prevented the body from being buried in accordance with Islamic laws. In response, Sunni sheiks banded together to drive insurgents from Ramadi. In September 2006, Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha
formed the Anbar Salvation Council
, an alliance of around forty Sunni tribes.
U.S. Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor
was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
for actions during the battle. On September 29, 2006, he threw himself upon a grenade which threatened the lives of the other members of his team. Monsoor had previously been awarded the Silver Star in May for rescuing an injured comrade in the city.
The battle also marked the first use of chlorine bombs
by insurgents during the war. On October 21, 2006, insurgents detonated a car-bomb with two 100-pound chlorine tanks, injuring three Iraqi policemen and a civilian in Ramadi.
Since the fall of Fallujah in 2004, Ramadi had been the center of the insurgency in Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for Al-Qaida in Iraq, had declared the city to be its capital. The city of 500,000, located 110 kilometres west of Baghdad, had been under the control of the insurgency except for a few places where the Marines had set up remote outposts, that were virtually under siege. Law and order had broken down, and street battles were common.
began Operation Together Forward, an operation intended to curb the sectarian killings in the capital.
In early June 2006, the 1st Brigade Combat Team
of the 1st U.S. Armored Division
and elements from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division were deployed to the Ramadi area from Tal Afar
and Kuwait
respectively and began preparations to take on the insurgents in the capital of Al Anbar province, Ramadi. Word of an offensive already gotten to the 400,000 citizens of the city who feared another Fallujah style attack. But the U.S. commander of 1/1 AD decided to take it slowly and softly, without using heavy close air support
, artillery
or tank fire
. By June 10, U.S. troops had "cordoned off" the city. U.S. air strikes on residential areas were escalating, and US troops took to the streets with loudspeakers to warn civilians of a fierce impending attack.
Preparations for the attack had been under way for weeks. The objective of the operation was to cut off resupply and reinforcements to the insurgents in Ramadi by gaining control of the key entry points into the city. U.S. forces also planned to establish new combat outposts (COPs) and patrol bases throughout the city, moving off their forward operating base
s in order to engage the population and establish relationships with local leaders.
On June 17, there were several skirmishes with the insurgents which killed two American soldiers.
units pushed north into the city's suburbs, cutting off two major entrances to the city for the first time during the war. At the same time, 3rd Battalion 8th Marines
held on to the western half of the downtown area and patrolled the river and its two bridges (the only northbound exits from the city) on foot and in boats, and the 1-506th Infantry, 1-6th Infantry (Baumholder, Germany), and 1-35th Armor continued to hold the main thoroughfare and the eastern exits. While A CO. 40th Engineer BN was responsible for the rural western edge of the city and route "Mobile" the main supply route to Syria. 3rd Battalion 5th Marines
set up a number of outposts to the east of Ramadi along "Route Michigan", the main highway between Baghdad and Syria through Ramadi and Fallujah, which had been nicknamed "IED
Alley".
Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops, backed by an AC-130 "Spectre" gunship
overhead, pushed into an insurgent-controlled section of eastern Ramadi. Six insurgents were thought to have been killed by fire from the Spectre gunship in the initial hours of the operation. Sporadic gunfire between U.S. troops and insurgent sniper
s echoed throughout the neighborhood. The troops were trying to establish a new outpost in Ramadi's eastern Mulaab neighborhood that would allow U.S. and Iraqi troops to better patrol a troublesome area where insurgents had frequently attacked. The outpost would be less than a mile deeper into the city from their current base. Soldiers also scoured through dozens of homes in the area, finding several weapons caches and equipment used to construct roadside bombs. During the first day of the battle only one American soldier suffered a broken leg from a roadside bomb. But that would soon change.
The main target throughout the campaign was the Ramadi Government Center which was garrisoned by U.S. Marines who had sandbagged and barricaded the building. In an attempt to reduce attacks, U.S. forces demolished several buildings around the government center and planned to convert it into a park area.
Roadside bomb attacks and ambushes of patrols on the streets happened nearly every time the Marines went outside the wire. Sniper attacks were also a constant threat to Marines during the battle. There were also several suicide-bombing attacks on the outposts. One sniper had used the fourth story of the Ramadi General Hospital to kill a number of Marines before he was counter-sniped.
. The insurgents hid the body in a field rather than returning it for a proper burial, violating Islamic law and angering Jassim's tribesmen. Following this, 40 sheiks from 20 tribes from across Al Anbar organised a movement called the Sahwa Al Anbar (Anbar Awakening). On September 9, Sheik Sittar organised a tribal council attended by over fifty sheiks and Col. MacFarland. During this council, Sittar officially declared the Anbar Awakening underway.
Shortly after the council, the tribes began attacking al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents in the suburbs of Ramadi. By October, nearly every tribe in northern and western Ramadi had joined the awakening. By December, attacks had dropped 50% according to the U.S. military.
In late September, Pentagon officials announced that the troops of the 1st brigade, 1st Armored Division would have their tour extended by 46 days. This extension was ordered to give the relieving brigade, the 1st brigade, 3rd Infantry Division time to prepare for their deployment at the start of 2007.
In mid-October, 1-6 conducted its first major offensive, taking the large building on 17th Street in the Jumaiyah neighborhood where they established the 17th Street Security Station. This was the first joint Marine-Iraqi outpost in the city.
correspondent in Ramadi supported eyewitness statements that there were civilian deaths during the fighting. Residents said the houses in an old Iraqi army officers quarters had been destroyed, including one being used as an Internet cafe. News photos showed bodies of civilians allegedly killed by coalition forces.
A Marine spokesman disputed the account, saying that an airstrike on November 14 targeted a bridge 10 miles east of Ramadi and there were no casualties in the attack. He said that on the 13th and 14th, Coalition forces killed 16 suspected insurgents, who had been placing IEDs and firing mortars and RPGs, in fighting in three separate incidents in Ramadi
. At least one U.S. soldier was also killed in the fighting. The spokesman did not respond to inquiries about the number of civilian dead, but admitted that it was often difficult for coalition forces to distinguish between insurgents and civilians and did not deny that some collateral damage had occurred. He neither responded to inquiries made by The Times regarding the number of homes destroyed or tank rounds fired in the fighting.
, stated that, "if Ramadi fell the whole province (Al Anbar) goes to hell". Two years later, a classified report written by Marine
Col. Pete Devlin in August 2006 and leaked to the Washington Post in mid-September 2006, said Al Anbar had been lost and there was almost nothing that could be done. Devlin was the chief Intelligence Officer for the Marine units operating in the province. The report said that not only were military operations facing a stalemate, unable to extend and sustain security beyond the perimeters of their bases, but also local governments in the province had collapsed and the weak central government had almost no presence.
On November 28, 2006 another part of the classified Marine Corps intelligence report was published by the Washington Post which said US forces could neither crush the insurgency in western Iraq nor counter the rising popularity of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in the area. According to the report, "the social and political situation has deteriorated to a point that US and Iraqi troops are no longer capable of militarily defeating the insurgency in al-Anbar." The report describes Al-Qaeda in Iraq as the "dominant organization of influence" in the province, more important than local authorities, the Iraqi government and US troops "in its ability to control the day-to-day life of the average Sunni."
On December 1, 2006, a 900-strong task force centered around the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment (1-37) launched a month-long operation known as Operation Squeeze Play targeting the "Second Officers District" in central Ramadi. On December 6, six American soldiers were killed in heavy street fighting. Three of these, two soldiers and a Marine, were killed in an area of western Ramadi controlled by the Abu Alwan tribe, which was aligned with the Awakening movement. According to Col. MacFarland, the tribe saw the killings as a personal attack by the insurgents against their tribe and killed or captured all of the insurgents involved in the attack within ten days. By the end of the operation on January 14, 2007, US forces had killed 44 insurgents and captured a further 172. Four additional Iraqi police stations were established during the operation, which brought the total to 14.
(15th MEU), a reserve force on ships in the Persian Gulf
, deployed to Al Anbar as reinforcements. This force included members of Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment who were sent by General Abizaid to help in the fighting in Ramadi. In January 2007, as part of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq
, 4,000 Marines in Al Anbar had their tour extended by 45 days. The order included the 15th MEU and 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment fighting in Ramadi, as well as the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment fighting elsewhere in Al Anbar.
After the first 2004 tour in Ramadi, 503rd Infantry Regiment, reflagged to 1-9 Infantry, deployed back to Ramadi in October 2006. In the beginning months of 2007, 1-9 Infantry (1st Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment), 2ID (2nd Infantry Division (United States)), with direct fire support from "Chaos" 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment
, Navy SEALS, "Bushmaster" 1-26 Mechanized Infantry (an element from 1st Infantry Division (United States)), and 1/1/1 Iraqi Army
, launched an offensive in East Ramadi, Operation Murfreesboro. The operation was intended to cut off the Ma'Laab district from the rest of Ramadi in order to drive out the AQIZ. In February, the operation was in full force with tank support, airstrikes, and GMLRS and successfully divided the district by setting up a barrier of concrete walls. There were more than 40 engagements, 8 large weapons caches found, about 20 IEDs exploded, about 35 more found, 70 EKIA, 10 EWIA, and 32 detainees. The success of this operation led to the forming of the Ramadi Police Force working alongside with US and IA. 1-9 INF also worked with the head Shiek in the Sofia district which assisted in valuable information to the success of operations for the 1-9 INF in Ramadi. This led to the peaceful summer months of 2007 with the average of attacks of zero. Furthermore led into the succession of the The Anbar Awakening.
At this point, Ramadi was averaging around 35 attacks a day. Following heavy fighting over an 8-week campaign by the brigade, also known as Task Force Raider, attacks in the brigade's area of operations dropped to one a day. At one point in August 2007, Ramadi had gone 80 consecutive days without a single attack and the brigade commander, Col. John Charlton, stated that "al-Qaida had been defeated in Al Anbar". However, insurgents continued to launch attacks on Ramadi. On June 30, a group of between 50 and 60 insurgents trying to enter the city were intercepted and destroyed
, following a tipoff from Iraqi Police.They were intercepted by elements of the 1st Battalion 77th Armor on the 30th and on the 1st were finished off the by Bravo company 1st platoon second squad, 1st Battalion 18th Infantry Regiment.1-18 operated out of the Ta'Meem district of the citys west side. By March 2008, Ramadi had gone 300 days without an attack.
Ramadi
Ramadi is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad. It is the capital of Al Anbar Governorate.-History:Ramadi is located in a fertile, irrigated, alluvial plain.The Ottoman Empire founded Ramadi in 1869...
of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A combined force of U.S. Soldiers, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy SEALs and Iraqi Security Forces
Iraqi Security Forces
The Iraqi Armed Forces are the military forces of the Government of Iraq. They consist of the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Air Force, and the Iraqi Navy....
fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi, including the Government Center and the General Hospital. Coalition strategy relied on establishing a number of patrol bases called Combat Operation Posts throughout the city.
U.S. military officers believe that insurgent actions during the battle led to the formation of the Anbar Awakening. In August, insurgents executed a tribal sheik who was encouraging his kinsmen to join the Iraqi police, and prevented the body from being buried in accordance with Islamic laws. In response, Sunni sheiks banded together to drive insurgents from Ramadi. In September 2006, Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha
Abdul Sattar Abu Risha
Abdul Sattar Abu Risha - Sheikh Abdul Sattar Eftikhan al-Rishawi ad-Dulaimi الشيخ عبد الستار افتيخان الريشاوي الدليمي - was a high-profile Iraqi tribal sheikh...
formed the Anbar Salvation Council
Anbar Salvation Council
Anbar Salvation Council is a collection of tribal militias in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, formed by former Baathists and nationalists to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq and other associated terrorist groups. In Arabic the council is known as Sahawa Al Anbar, abbreviated SAA when referred to by the US Army...
, an alliance of around forty Sunni tribes.
U.S. Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor
Michael A. Monsoor
Michael Anthony Monsoor was a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during the Iraq War and posthumously received the Medal of Honor. Monsoor enlisted in the United States Navy in 2001 and graduated from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in 2004...
was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for actions during the battle. On September 29, 2006, he threw himself upon a grenade which threatened the lives of the other members of his team. Monsoor had previously been awarded the Silver Star in May for rescuing an injured comrade in the city.
The battle also marked the first use of chlorine bombs
Chlorine bombings in Iraq
Chlorine bombings in Iraq began as early as October 2006, when insurgents in Al Anbar province started using chlorine gas in conjunction with conventional vehicle-borne explosive devices....
by insurgents during the war. On October 21, 2006, insurgents detonated a car-bomb with two 100-pound chlorine tanks, injuring three Iraqi policemen and a civilian in Ramadi.
Background
Prelude
On June 14, U.S. and Iraqi forces in BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
began Operation Together Forward, an operation intended to curb the sectarian killings in the capital.
In early June 2006, the 1st Brigade Combat Team
Brigade combat team
The brigade combat team is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the US Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its attached support and fire units. A brigade combat team is generally commanded by a colonel , but in rare instances it is commanded by...
of the 1st U.S. Armored Division
1st Armored Division (United States)
The 1st Armored Division—nicknamed "Old Ironsides"—is a standing armored division of the United States Army with base of operations in Fort Bliss, Texas. It was the first armored division of the U.S...
and elements from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division were deployed to the Ramadi area from Tal Afar
Tal Afar
Tal Afar is a city and district in northwestern Iraq in the Ninawa Governorate located approximately 30 miles west of Mosul and 120 miles north west of Kirkuk.While no official census data exists, the city which had been...
and Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
respectively and began preparations to take on the insurgents in the capital of Al Anbar province, Ramadi. Word of an offensive already gotten to the 400,000 citizens of the city who feared another Fallujah style attack. But the U.S. commander of 1/1 AD decided to take it slowly and softly, without using heavy close air support
Close air support
In military tactics, close air support is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are close to friendly forces, and which requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces.The determining factor for CAS is...
, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
or tank fire
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is a third-generation main battle tank produced in the United States. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. The M1 is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for...
. By June 10, U.S. troops had "cordoned off" the city. U.S. air strikes on residential areas were escalating, and US troops took to the streets with loudspeakers to warn civilians of a fierce impending attack.
Preparations for the attack had been under way for weeks. The objective of the operation was to cut off resupply and reinforcements to the insurgents in Ramadi by gaining control of the key entry points into the city. U.S. forces also planned to establish new combat outposts (COPs) and patrol bases throughout the city, moving off their forward operating base
Forward Operating Base
A forward operating base is any secured forward military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support tactical operations. A FOB may or may not contain an airfield, hospital, or other facilities. The base may be used for an extended period of time. FOBs are traditionally supported...
s in order to engage the population and establish relationships with local leaders.
On June 17, there were several skirmishes with the insurgents which killed two American soldiers.
The battle
The offensive opened on June 18 when two columns of U.S. mechanized troops and Iraqi ArmyIraqi Army
The Iraqi Army is the land component of the Iraqi military, active in various forms since being formed by the British during their mandate over the country after World War I....
units pushed north into the city's suburbs, cutting off two major entrances to the city for the first time during the war. At the same time, 3rd Battalion 8th Marines
3rd Battalion 8th Marines
3rd Battalion 8th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina consisting of approximately 1,100 Marines and Sailors...
held on to the western half of the downtown area and patrolled the river and its two bridges (the only northbound exits from the city) on foot and in boats, and the 1-506th Infantry, 1-6th Infantry (Baumholder, Germany), and 1-35th Armor continued to hold the main thoroughfare and the eastern exits. While A CO. 40th Engineer BN was responsible for the rural western edge of the city and route "Mobile" the main supply route to Syria. 3rd Battalion 5th Marines
3rd Battalion 5th Marines
3rd Battalion 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps. The battalion, nicknamed "Dark Horse", is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and consists of approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors...
set up a number of outposts to the east of Ramadi along "Route Michigan", the main highway between Baghdad and Syria through Ramadi and Fallujah, which had been nicknamed "IED
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
Alley".
Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops, backed by an AC-130 "Spectre" gunship
Lockheed AC-130
The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily-armed ground-attack aircraft variant of the C-130 Hercules transport plane. The basic airframe is manufactured by Lockheed, while Boeing is responsible for the conversion into a gunship and for aircraft support...
overhead, pushed into an insurgent-controlled section of eastern Ramadi. Six insurgents were thought to have been killed by fire from the Spectre gunship in the initial hours of the operation. Sporadic gunfire between U.S. troops and insurgent sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
s echoed throughout the neighborhood. The troops were trying to establish a new outpost in Ramadi's eastern Mulaab neighborhood that would allow U.S. and Iraqi troops to better patrol a troublesome area where insurgents had frequently attacked. The outpost would be less than a mile deeper into the city from their current base. Soldiers also scoured through dozens of homes in the area, finding several weapons caches and equipment used to construct roadside bombs. During the first day of the battle only one American soldier suffered a broken leg from a roadside bomb. But that would soon change.
Insurgents attack Ramadi Government Center
The operation had some initial success but the effect that the Americans wanted to achieve did not happen. Very soon the American forces were bogged down in heavy street fighting throughout the city. Insurgents launched hit and run attacks on the newly established outposts, which were sometimes assaulted by as many as 100 insurgents at a time. In a major battle on July 24, al Qaeda forces sustained heavy casualties when they launched a number of attacks throughout the city.The main target throughout the campaign was the Ramadi Government Center which was garrisoned by U.S. Marines who had sandbagged and barricaded the building. In an attempt to reduce attacks, U.S. forces demolished several buildings around the government center and planned to convert it into a park area.
Roadside bomb attacks and ambushes of patrols on the streets happened nearly every time the Marines went outside the wire. Sniper attacks were also a constant threat to Marines during the battle. There were also several suicide-bombing attacks on the outposts. One sniper had used the fourth story of the Ramadi General Hospital to kill a number of Marines before he was counter-sniped.
Ramadi General Hospital captured
At the beginning of July the American forces managed to push deep enough in to the city to reach the Ramadi General Hospital, which was captured by the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment on July 5. The Marines reported that members of al-Qaida in Iraq had been using the seven-story building, which was equipped with some 250 beds, to treat their wounded and fire on U.S. troops in the area. They said wounded Iraqi police officers who had been taken to the hospital were later found beheaded. Though there was no resistance during the operation, the Marines found about a dozen triggering devices for roadside bombs hidden above the tiled ceiling of one office. They knocked down dozens of locked doors and searched medicine chests and storage closets for additional weapons. Hospitals are considered off-limits in traditional warfare. In western Ramadi, however, insurgents have fired on Marines from the rooftop of a women and children's hospital so often that patients were moved to a wing with fewer exposed windows.Formation of the Anbar Awakening Council
On August 21, insurgents killed Abu Ali Jassim, a Sunni sheik who had encouraged many of his tribesmen to join the Iraqi PoliceIraqi Police
The Iraqi Police Service are the uniformed Territorial police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law within Iraq.The current organisation, structure and recruitment practice was guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority following the 2003 invasion of Iraq...
. The insurgents hid the body in a field rather than returning it for a proper burial, violating Islamic law and angering Jassim's tribesmen. Following this, 40 sheiks from 20 tribes from across Al Anbar organised a movement called the Sahwa Al Anbar (Anbar Awakening). On September 9, Sheik Sittar organised a tribal council attended by over fifty sheiks and Col. MacFarland. During this council, Sittar officially declared the Anbar Awakening underway.
Shortly after the council, the tribes began attacking al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents in the suburbs of Ramadi. By October, nearly every tribe in northern and western Ramadi had joined the awakening. By December, attacks had dropped 50% according to the U.S. military.
September–October
In mid-September 2006, the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines (1-6) relieved the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines in western Ramadi. The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jurney, deployed his companies throughout the city. Alpha Company was deployed to OP VA, a combat outpost close to a large three-story building on 17th Street. OP VA was the target of a major insurgent attack in April 2006. Insurgents drove a dump truck loaded with 1000 pounds of explosive up to the outpost and detonated it. Insurgents with small arms and RPGs moved in on the post and a major firefight ensued. The Marines eventually defeated the attack with no serious casualties. Bravo Company took up position in the Ramadi Government Center and Charlie Company was deployed to OP Hawk, the main combat outpost around Ramadi General Hospital.In late September, Pentagon officials announced that the troops of the 1st brigade, 1st Armored Division would have their tour extended by 46 days. This extension was ordered to give the relieving brigade, the 1st brigade, 3rd Infantry Division time to prepare for their deployment at the start of 2007.
In mid-October, 1-6 conducted its first major offensive, taking the large building on 17th Street in the Jumaiyah neighborhood where they established the 17th Street Security Station. This was the first joint Marine-Iraqi outpost in the city.
November incident
During heavy fighting between November 13 and November 15, U.S. forces were alleged to have killed at least 30 people, including women and children, in an airstrike in central Ramadi. Interviews by an unnamed Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
correspondent in Ramadi supported eyewitness statements that there were civilian deaths during the fighting. Residents said the houses in an old Iraqi army officers quarters had been destroyed, including one being used as an Internet cafe. News photos showed bodies of civilians allegedly killed by coalition forces.
A Marine spokesman disputed the account, saying that an airstrike on November 14 targeted a bridge 10 miles east of Ramadi and there were no casualties in the attack. He said that on the 13th and 14th, Coalition forces killed 16 suspected insurgents, who had been placing IEDs and firing mortars and RPGs, in fighting in three separate incidents in Ramadi
. At least one U.S. soldier was also killed in the fighting. The spokesman did not respond to inquiries about the number of civilian dead, but admitted that it was often difficult for coalition forces to distinguish between insurgents and civilians and did not deny that some collateral damage had occurred. He neither responded to inquiries made by The Times regarding the number of homes destroyed or tank rounds fired in the fighting.
Aftermath
By mid-November at least 75 American soldiers and Marines were killed along with an unknown number of Iraqi soldiers and police. The U.S. commander, Col. MacFarland, claimed 750 insurgents had been killed in fighting in Ramadi and that his forces had secured 70% of the city.The Devlin report
Two years before the battle, in 2004, then commander of the Marine garrison, MajGen James MattisJames Mattis
James N. Mattis is a United States Marine Corps general and the current commander of United States Central Command. Having replaced David Petraeus on August 11, 2010, he previously commanded United States Joint Forces Command from November 9, 2007 to August 2010 and served concurrently as NATO's...
, stated that, "if Ramadi fell the whole province (Al Anbar) goes to hell". Two years later, a classified report written by Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
Col. Pete Devlin in August 2006 and leaked to the Washington Post in mid-September 2006, said Al Anbar had been lost and there was almost nothing that could be done. Devlin was the chief Intelligence Officer for the Marine units operating in the province. The report said that not only were military operations facing a stalemate, unable to extend and sustain security beyond the perimeters of their bases, but also local governments in the province had collapsed and the weak central government had almost no presence.
On November 28, 2006 another part of the classified Marine Corps intelligence report was published by the Washington Post which said US forces could neither crush the insurgency in western Iraq nor counter the rising popularity of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in the area. According to the report, "the social and political situation has deteriorated to a point that US and Iraqi troops are no longer capable of militarily defeating the insurgency in al-Anbar." The report describes Al-Qaeda in Iraq as the "dominant organization of influence" in the province, more important than local authorities, the Iraqi government and US troops "in its ability to control the day-to-day life of the average Sunni."
Operation Squeeze Play
Insurgents still remained well entrenched in the city with coalition forces continuing combat operations throughout November and December. On November 28, 2006 six civilians, including five Iraqi girls, were killed when a U.S. tank fired into a building from which two insurgents were firing upon U.S. soldiers.On December 1, 2006, a 900-strong task force centered around the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment (1-37) launched a month-long operation known as Operation Squeeze Play targeting the "Second Officers District" in central Ramadi. On December 6, six American soldiers were killed in heavy street fighting. Three of these, two soldiers and a Marine, were killed in an area of western Ramadi controlled by the Abu Alwan tribe, which was aligned with the Awakening movement. According to Col. MacFarland, the tribe saw the killings as a personal attack by the insurgents against their tribe and killed or captured all of the insurgents involved in the attack within ten days. By the end of the operation on January 14, 2007, US forces had killed 44 insurgents and captured a further 172. Four additional Iraqi police stations were established during the operation, which brought the total to 14.
Marine reserve force committed
In mid-November 2006, 2,200 Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel...
(15th MEU), a reserve force on ships in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, deployed to Al Anbar as reinforcements. This force included members of Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment who were sent by General Abizaid to help in the fighting in Ramadi. In January 2007, as part of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq
Iraq War troop surge of 2007
In the context of the Iraq War, the surge refers to United States President George W. Bush's 2007 increase in the number of American troops in order to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province....
, 4,000 Marines in Al Anbar had their tour extended by 45 days. The order included the 15th MEU and 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment fighting in Ramadi, as well as the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment fighting elsewhere in Al Anbar.
Manchu 1-9 Infantry : Operation Murfreesboro : Battle of Ma'Laab
3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment
The 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment is a United States Army combined arms battalion based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. 3–69 AR was the first conventional US unit to enter Iraq in 2003, and among the first units to serve four tours in Iraq...
, Navy SEALS, "Bushmaster" 1-26 Mechanized Infantry (an element from 1st Infantry Division (United States)), and 1/1/1 Iraqi Army
Iraqi Army
The Iraqi Army is the land component of the Iraqi military, active in various forms since being formed by the British during their mandate over the country after World War I....
, launched an offensive in East Ramadi, Operation Murfreesboro. The operation was intended to cut off the Ma'Laab district from the rest of Ramadi in order to drive out the AQIZ. In February, the operation was in full force with tank support, airstrikes, and GMLRS and successfully divided the district by setting up a barrier of concrete walls. There were more than 40 engagements, 8 large weapons caches found, about 20 IEDs exploded, about 35 more found, 70 EKIA, 10 EWIA, and 32 detainees. The success of this operation led to the forming of the Ramadi Police Force working alongside with US and IA. 1-9 INF also worked with the head Shiek in the Sofia district which assisted in valuable information to the success of operations for the 1-9 INF in Ramadi. This led to the peaceful summer months of 2007 with the average of attacks of zero. Furthermore led into the succession of the The Anbar Awakening.
"Raider" Brigade takes over Ramadi
In January 2007, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, on its third tour to Iraq, arrived in Ramadi and assumed responsibility from Macfarland's brigade on February 18 at a transfer ceremony at Camp Ramadi. During the ceremony, which was attended by Sheikh Sattar, MacFarland said that his brigade had lost 86 soldiers, sailors and Marines during the 8 month campaign.At this point, Ramadi was averaging around 35 attacks a day. Following heavy fighting over an 8-week campaign by the brigade, also known as Task Force Raider, attacks in the brigade's area of operations dropped to one a day. At one point in August 2007, Ramadi had gone 80 consecutive days without a single attack and the brigade commander, Col. John Charlton, stated that "al-Qaida had been defeated in Al Anbar". However, insurgents continued to launch attacks on Ramadi. On June 30, a group of between 50 and 60 insurgents trying to enter the city were intercepted and destroyed
Battle of Donkey Island
The Battle of Donkey Island was a skirmish that occurred on 30 June and 1 July 2007 between elements of the U.S. Army Task Force 1-77 Armor Regiment, the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines and a numerically superior force of Al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents on the banks of a canal leading from Ramadi to Lake...
, following a tipoff from Iraqi Police.They were intercepted by elements of the 1st Battalion 77th Armor on the 30th and on the 1st were finished off the by Bravo company 1st platoon second squad, 1st Battalion 18th Infantry Regiment.1-18 operated out of the Ta'Meem district of the citys west side. By March 2008, Ramadi had gone 300 days without an attack.
Participating Units
- 1st Armored Division1st Armored Division (United States)The 1st Armored Division—nicknamed "Old Ironsides"—is a standing armored division of the United States Army with base of operations in Fort Bliss, Texas. It was the first armored division of the U.S...
- 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry
- 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry
- 1st Battalion, 35th Armor35th Infantry Regiment (United States)The 35th Infantry Regiment was created on 1 July 1916 at Douglas, Arizona from elements of the 11th, 18th and 22nd Infantry Regiments. The 35th served on the Mexican Border during the First World War and was stationed at Nogales, Arizona in 1918...
- 1st Battalion 36th Infantry36th Infantry Regiment (United States)The 36th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment.-Lineage:The 36th Infantry was formed on 1 July 1916 at Brownsville, Texas from elements of the 4th Infantry, 26th Infantry and 28th Infantry...
- 1st Battalion 37th Armor
- 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor
- 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery3rd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)The 3rd Field Artillery Regiment is an Field Artillery regiment of the United States Army first formed in 1907-History:The 3rd Field Artillery Regiment was first activated in 1907 from numbered companies of artillery...
- 16th Engineer Battalion16th Engineer Battalion (United States)The 16th Engineer Battalion is a Combat Engineer Battalion in the United States Army, first establishedn in 1935-Lineage:*Constituted 11 December 1935 in the Regular Army as the 16th Engineer Regiment...
- 40th Engineer Battalion
- 46th Engineer Battalion46th Engineer Battalion (United States)The 46th Engineer Battalion is a military engineer unit in the United States Army first formed in 1917.-Lineage:Constituted 7 December 1917 in the National Army as the 46th EngineersOrganized March–April 1918 at Camp Sheridan, Alabama...
- 501st Forward Support Battalion
- 47th Forward Support Battalion
- Asymmetric Warfare GroupAsymmetric Warfare GroupThe Asymmetric Warfare Group is a United States Army unit created during the War on Terrorism to craft doctrine for asymmetric warfare. The unit is stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland and reports directly to the TRADOC.-Mission:...
- 2nd Infantry Division (United States)
- 2nd Infantry Division (United States)
- 1st Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment Task Force 1-9
- 3rd Infantry Division (United States)
- 3rd Infantry Division (United States)
- 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment3rd Battalion, 69th Armor RegimentThe 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment is a United States Army combined arms battalion based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. 3–69 AR was the first conventional US unit to enter Iraq in 2003, and among the first units to serve four tours in Iraq...
Task Force 1-9- 1st Infantry Division (United States)
- 1st Infantry Division (United States)
- 1st Battalion, 77th Armor77th Armor Regiment (United States)The 77th Armor is an armored regiment of the United States Army. The 77th Armor Regiment is part of the U.S. Army Regimental System with only a single battalion, the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, and is therefore classified as both a single battalion, and the remainder of the Regiment itself...
- 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment
- 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment Task Force 1-9
- I Marine Expeditionary Force
- I Marine Expeditionary Force
- Regimental Combat Team 5
- 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines
- 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines
- 1st Battalion, 6th Marines
- 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines
- 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines
- 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 15th MEU
- 2nd ANGLICO
- Combat Logistics Regiment 15Combat Logistics Regiment 15Combat Logistics Regiment 15 is a logistics regiment of the United States Marine Corps. They fall under the command of the 1st Marine Logistics Group and I Marine Expeditionary Force...
- 101st Airborne Division101st Airborne DivisionThe 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
- 101st Airborne Division
- 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment
- Navy SEALs
- Navy SEALs
- SEAL Team 3
- SEAL Team 5
- Navy SeabeesSeabeeSeabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...
- Navy Seabees
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- 9th Naval Construction Regiment
- Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Forty
- Iraqi ArmyIraqi ArmyThe Iraqi Army is the land component of the Iraqi military, active in various forms since being formed by the British during their mandate over the country after World War I....
- 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division
- 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division
External links
- Ramadi: ‘Heart of an Insurgent Hotbed’ - Veterans of Foreign Wars
- Young GIs get first taste of war in Ramadi - Stars and Stripes February 2007
- Anbar, the Washington Post and the Devlin Report - Discussion of the Devlin Report on The Long War Journal
- Anbar Awakens Part I: The Battle of Ramadi - Michael Totten
- U.S. and Iraq Take Ramadi a Neighborhood at a Time - New York Times
- Uneasy Alliance Is Taming One Insurgent Bastion - New York Times
- Ramadi is now a two-faced city - Stars and Stripes Mar. 2, 2007
- Formerly Al Qaeda � Sheikh Jassim Now Helps U.S. Forces - FOXNews
- Providing Security Force Assistance in an Economy of Force Battle, January-February 2010 MILITARY REVIEW