Anbar campaign (2003–2011): Difference between revisions

On 6 April, a force of 300 insurgents [[Battle of Ramadi (2004)|attacked Marine patrols throughout Ramadi]] in an attempt to relieve pressure on Fallujah. Sixteen US Marines and an estimated 250 insurgents were killed in heavy street fighting over four days.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-07-12-ramadi_x.htm|title=Fight for Ramadi exacts heavy toll on Marines | newspaper=USA Today | first1=Gregg|last1=Zoroya|date=12 July 2004|accessdate=10 December 2011}}</ref>

 

 

Attempting to emulate the perceived success in Fallujah, US commanders in Ramadi responded to the 28 June transfer of sovereignty from the CPA to the [[Iraqi Interim Government]] by pulling most forces back to camps outside the city and focusing on securing a highway that ran through its center.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tyson|first=Ann Scott|title=Fallujah parallels in Ramadi|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0723/p06s01-woiq.html|accessdate=10 December 2011|newspaper=Christian Science Monitor|date=23 July 2004}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|West|2005|pp=237, 245–246}}</ref> Fighting continued to escalate throughout Anbar Province. On 21 June, a four-man [[Scout Sniper]] team operating with 2nd Battalion 4th Marines in Ramadi was executed by a group of insurgents who had infiltrated their observation post.<ref name="Jarhead"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lowe|first=Christian|title=Rooftop Execution: NCIS report provides details of sniper deaths|url=http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/SIA_RooftopExecution.asp|accessdate=10 December 2011|newspaper=Marine Corps Times|date=5 August 2006|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121142812/http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/SIA_RooftopExecution.asp|archivedate=21 November 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release | title = Darkhorse snipers kill insurgent sniper, recover stolen Marine sniper rifle | publisher = United States Department of Defense | date = 22 June 2006 | url = http://www.dvidshub.net/news/6922/darkhorse-snipers-kill-insurgent-sniper-recover-stolen-marine-sniper-rifle |accessdate =12 January 2013}}</ref> In mid-July, General Mattis predicted that Anbar would "[go] to hell" if the Marines could not hold Ramadi.<ref>{{cite news|last=Zoroya|first=Gregg|title=If Ramadi falls, 'province goes to hell'|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-07-11-ramadi-usat_x.htm|accessdate=15 December 2011|newspaper=USA Today|date=11 July 2004}}</ref> On 5 August, Anbar Provincial Governor [[Abd al-Karim Barjas]] resigned following the kidnapping of his two sons by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Barjas appeared on television and publicly apologized for "cooperation with the infidel".<ref>{{cite news|title=Al-Zarqawi group releases sons of Al-Anbar governor, threatens Allawi|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=BBAB&d_place=BBAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1044DD3AAF263F17&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|accessdate=24 December 2011|newspaper=British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |date=5 August 2004}}</ref> He was replaced by an interim governor until January 2005.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fierce Fighting Escalates In Iraq|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1054202.html|accessdate=10 December 2011|newspaper=Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty|date=6 August 2004}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|West|2005|p=238}}</ref><ref name="USATodayGovernor">{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Kimberly|title=Governor not backing off in violent Anbar|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-27-anbar-governor_x.htm|accessdate=10 December 2011|newspaper=USA Today|date=27 June 2006}}</ref> The head of the Ramadi police force was subsequently arrested for complicity with the kidnappings.<ref>{{harvnb|West|2005|pp=245–246}}</ref>

*{{cite news| last=Devlin| first=Peter| title=State of the Insurgency in al-Anbar| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/thegamble/documents/Devlin_Anbar.pdf|format=PDF| publisher=United States Marine Corps|year=2006|ref=harv}}

*{{cite book|last=Estes |first=Kenneth |title=U.S. Marine Corps Operations in Iraq, 2003–2006 |year=2009 |publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps |url=http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/PDF_Files/Pubs/OIF/U.S%20Marines%20in%20Iraq%202004-2006%20%5Bgm%5D.pdf |format=PDF |ref=harv |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615062111/http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/PDF_Files/Pubs/OIF/U.S%20Marines%20in%20Iraq%202004-2006%20%5Bgm%5D.pdf |archivedate=15 June 2011 |df= }}

*{{cite book|title=[[Cobra II]]|year=2007|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=0-375-42262-5|last1=Gordon|first1=Michael R.|author1link=Michael R. Gordon|author2link=Bernard E. Trainor|last2=Trainor|first2=Bernard E.|ref=harv}}

*{{cite book|title=The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama|year=2012|publisher=Pantheon|isbn=0307377229

*{{cite book |last=Ricks|first=Thomas|authorlink=Thomas E. Ricks (journalist)|title=[[Fiasco (book)|Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq]] |publisher=Penguin Press|year=2006 |isbn=0-14-303891-5|ref=harv}}

*{{cite book |last=Ricks|first=Thomas|authorlink=Thomas E. Ricks (journalist)|title=[[The Gamble (book)|The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006–2008]] |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2009 |isbn=1-59420-197-8|ref=harv}}

*{{cite book|last=Shadid|first=Anthony|authorlink=Anthony Shadid|title=Night Draws Near|year=2005|publisher=Henry Holt and Co|isbn=978-0-8050-7602-8|ref=harv}}

* [[Richard H. Shultz|Shultz, Richard H., Jr.]] ''The Marines Take Anbar: The Four-Year Fight against Al Qaeda'' (Naval Institute, 2013) 293 pp.