20 years later, the Marine Corps can still learn from Fallujah
By Todd South
Nov 7, 2024, 05:49 PM
Twenty years ago, on Nov. 7, 2004, a coalition assault force of more than 15,000 troops, mostly Marines, launched a massive attack on the city of Fallujah, Iraq.
Over the next seven weeks they would retake the city, capturing or killing as many as 2,000 insurgents who had controlled the stronghold since April 2004 following the killing and mutilation of four private U.S. security contractors.
But the coalition and Marines did not fight through long days and nights unscathed. The Second Battle of Fallujah — known as Operation Phantom Fury — was the most intense urban fighting of the Iraq War, more even than the initial surge into Baghdad during the 2003 invasion.
The estimated population of Fallujah in 2004 was fewer than 300,000 residents. All but 30,000 fled the city ahead of the fight. Baghdad, meanwhile, had a population of more than 5.7 million.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2024/11/07/20-years-later-the-marine-corps-can-still-learn-from-fallujah/