:Second Battle of Fallujah

In February 2004, control of Fallujah and the surrounding area in the Al Anbar Governorate was transferred from the United States 82nd Airborne Division to the 1st Marine Division. Shortly afterward, on 31 March 2004, four American private military contractors from Blackwater – Wesley Batalona, Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, and Michael Teague – were ambushed and killed in the city.{{Cite book |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-59184-745-8 |last1=Prince |first1=Erik |last2=Coburn |first2=Davin |title=Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror |location=New York |date=2014}} Images of their mutilated bodies were broadcast around the world.{{cite news|work=Frontline |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/contractors/highrisk.html |publisher=PBS|title=Frontline: Private Warriors: Contractors: The High-risk Contracting Business}} Journalist Jeremy Scahill later called this incident the Mogadishu moment of the Iraq War (referencing the Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the "Black Hawk Down" incident).{{cite book |last1=Scahill |first1=Jeremy |title=Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army |date=2008 |publisher=Nation Books |isbn=9781568583945}} Although tactical commanders in Iraq considered these deaths militarily insignificant, U.S. political leaders disapproved of a measured approach targeting the perpetrators and instead requested a larger assault into the city.{{cite book |last1=Rayburn |first1=Joel D. |title=The U.S. Army in the Iraq War |date=January 2019 |publisher=Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press |page=283}} A leak later revealed that the main factor behind this{{clarify|date=December 2022}} wasn't the killings themselves, but the circulation of images of the event which served as a symbol of opposition to American forces in Iraq.{{cite journal |last1=Barski |first1=Justin |date=July 2018 |title=Spectacular Atrocity: The capture and dissemination of images for terrorist aims |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2100787857 |journal=Afterimage |volume=45 |issue=4 |page=9 |doi=10.1525/aft.2018.45.4.6|s2cid=159357159 |id={{ProQuest|2100787857}} |url-access=subscription }}

Within days, U.S. Marine Corps forces launched Operation Vigilant Resolve (5 April 2004) to take back control of the city from insurgent forces. On 28 April 2004, Operation Vigilant Resolve ended with an agreement where the local population was ordered to keep the insurgents out of the city. The Fallujah Brigade, composed of local Iraqis under the command of a former Ba'athist officer named Muhammed Latif, took control of the city.{{cite news |title=Trouble in town |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/30/1088488026064.html |newspaper=The Age |date=1 July 2004 |access-date=25 December 2010}}

Insurgent strength and control began to grow to such an extent that by 24 September 2004, a senior U.S. official told ABC News that catching Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said to be in Fallujah, was now "the highest priority," and estimated his troops at 5,000 men, mostly non-Iraqis.{{cite web |author=Brian Ross |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=131414 |title=Tracking Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi |publisher=ABC News |date=24 September 2004 |access-date=19 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128205514/http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=131414 |archive-date=28 January 2017 |url-status=dead }} However, the stated purpose of the military operation in Fallujah was to weaken the insurgency in preparation for the planned Iraqi elections in January 2005.{{cite web |title=U.S. hits Fallujah from air, ground |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2884045 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041109043356/http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2884045 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 November 2004 |date=4 November 2004}}

File:US Navy 041117-N-4388F-004 Construction Electrician 3rd Class Joe Tank mans a turret mounted M-240B machine gun atop a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) to provide security while Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile.jpg and HMMWV providing security while Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Four (NMCB-4) clear debris from the streets of Fallujah, Iraq.]]

File:I Marine Expeditionary Force - November 2004.svg

Before beginning their attack, U.S. and Iraqi forces had established checkpoints around the city to prevent anyone from entering, and to intercept insurgents attempting to flee. In addition, overhead imagery was used to prepare maps of the city for use by the attackers. American units were augmented by Iraqi interpreters to assist them in the planned fight. After weeks of withstanding air strikes and artillery bombardment, the militants in the city appeared to be vulnerable to direct attack.

U.S., Iraqi and British forces totaled about 13,500. The U.S. had gathered some 6,500 Marines and 1,500 Army soldiers that would take part in the assault with about 2,500 Navy personnel in operational and support roles. U.S. troops were grouped in two Regimental Combat Teams: Regimental Combat Team 1 comprised 3rd Battalion/1st Marines, 3rd Battalion/5th Marines, and U.S. Army 2d Battalion/7th Cavalry. Regimental Combat Team 7 comprised the 1st Battalion/8th Marines, 1st Battalion/3rd Marines, U.S. Army 2d Battalion/2d Infantry, 2d Battalion/12th CavalryLowry, Richard S. (2010). New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah. Savas Beatie. pp. 269–279. {{ISBN|1-932714-77-4}}. About 2,000 Iraqi troops assisted with the assault. All were supported by Marine fixed and rotary-winged aircraft, Navy and Air Force fixed-wing aircraft; and USSOCOM Sniper Elements.

The 850-strong 1st Battalion of the Black Watch was ordered to help U.S. and Iraqi forces with the encirclement of Fallujah.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/black-watch-ordered-to-join-us-cordon-for-assault-on-fallujah-544600.html |work=The Independent |location=London |title=Black Watch ordered to join US cordon for assault on Fallujah |date=22 October 2004 |access-date=1 July 2011}} As part of Task Force Black, D Squadron of the British SAS prepared to take part in the operation, but British political nervousness about the possible scale of casualties stopped any direct UK involvement in the ground battle.Urban, Mark, Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq , St. Martin's Griffin, 2012 {{ISBN|1250006961}} {{ISBN|978-1250006967}}, p.65

In April, Fallujah was occupied by about 500 "hardcore" and 1,000+ "part time" insurgents. By November, it was estimated that the numbers had doubled.{{cite book|title=No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah|author=Bing West|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=978-0-553-80402-7|year=2005|page=[https://archive.org/details/notruegloryfront00west/page/256 256]|url=https://archive.org/details/notruegloryfront00west/page/256|author-link=Bing West}} Another estimate put the number of insurgents at 3,000; however, a number of insurgent leaders escaped before the attack.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/08/international/08CND_IRAQ.html?_r=1&ex=1114401600&en=2bb5b33cda9ccdd9&ei=5070|title=With Airpower and Armor, Troops Enter Rebel-Held City|work=The New York Times |date=8 November 2004|access-date=27 December 2008|first=Dexter|last=Filkins|author2=James Glanz|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602200017/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/08/international/08CND_IRAQ.html?_r=1&ex=1114401600&en=2bb5b33cda9ccdd9&ei=5070|archive-date=June 2, 2023 }}

Fallujah was occupied by virtually every insurgent group in Iraq: al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI), Ansar al-Sunna, Army of Mohammed (AOM), the Army of the Mujahedeen and the Secret Islamic Army of Iraq. Three groups, (AQI, IAI and the National Islamic Army (1920 Revolution Brigade)) had their nationwide headquarters in Fallujah. An estimated 2,000 insurgents were from the Army of Mohammed (made up of ex Fedayeen Saddam fighters), Ansar al-Sunna and various smaller Iraqi groups.Nance, Malcolm W., The Terrorists of Iraq: Inside the Strategy and Tactics of the Iraq Insurgency 2003–2014, CRC Press, 2014 {{ISBN|1498706894}} {{ISBN|978-1498706896}}

Unlike what most cities in Iraq saw, the Battle of Fallujah did not have internal disputes between insurgents. The fighters consisted of both Sunnis and Shi'as; Soldiers of the Mahdi army fought alongside Sunni and Ba'athist groups against the United States.{{Citation |title=قتال جيش المهدي في الفلوجة 2004 شاهد ترحيب الأهالي وهوسات صباح الجنابي | date=15 September 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f7nnOzzgjM |language=ar|access-date=2022-08-20|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623144711/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f7nnOzzgjM&themeRefresh=1|archive-date=June 23, 2023|trans-title=The Mahdi Army Fighting in Fallujah, 2004}}{{Cite web |last=براثا |first=وكالة انباء |date=2008-05-23 |title=اسرار من معركة الفلوجة عام 2004 كيف تعاون مقتدى الصدر مع البعثيين والتكفيريين وقاتل الى جانبهم |url=http://burathanews.com/arabic/articles/42142 |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=وكالة أنباء براثا |language=ar-iq|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418235752/http://burathanews.com/arabic/articles/42142|archive-date=April 18, 2023}}

The Iraqi insurgents and foreign Mujahideen present in the city prepared fortified defenses in advance of the anticipated attack.Lowry, Richard S. (2010). New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah. Savas Beatie. p. 20. {{ISBN|1-932714-77-4}}. They dug tunnels, trenches, prepared spider holes, and built and hid a wide variety of IEDs. In some locations, they filled the interiors of darkened homes with large numbers of propane bottles, large drums of gasoline, and ordinance, all wired to a remote trigger that could be set off by an insurgent when troops entered the building. They blocked streets with Jersey barriers and even emplaced them within homes to create strong points behind which they could attack unsuspecting troops entering the building. Insurgents were equipped with a variety of advanced small arms,{{cite web|url=https://smallarmsreview.com/insurgent-arsenal-of-fallujah/|title=Insurgent Arsenal of Fallujah|last=Cuney|first=Jonathan|publisher=Small Arms Review|date=October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031120256/https://smallarmsreview.com/insurgent-arsenal-of-fallujah/|archive-date= 31 October 2022}} and had captured a variety of U.S. armament, including M14s, M16s, body armor, uniforms and helmets.

They booby-trapped buildings and vehicles, including wiring doors and windows to grenades and other ordnance. Anticipating U.S. tactics to seize the roofs of high buildings, they bricked up stairwells to the roofs of many buildings, creating paths into prepared fields of fire which they hoped the troops would enter.{{Cite book|title=House to House: A Tale of Modern War |first=David |last=Bellavia| page=336 |publisher=Pocket Books |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84739-118-6|url=https://archive.org/details/housetohouseepic0000bell|url-access=registration}}

Intelligence briefings given prior to battle reported that coalition forces would encounter Chechen, Filipino, Saudi, Libyan, and Syrian combatants, as well as native Iraqis.Bellavia, David & Bruning, John. [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781416596608 House to House: An Epic Memoir of War] Free Press. (2007) {{ISBN|1-4165-7471-9}}.

Most of Fallujah's civilian population fled the city before the battle, which greatly reduced the potential for noncombatant casualties. U.S. military officials estimated that 70–90% of the 300,000 civilians in the city fled before the attack, leaving 30,000 to 90,000 civilians still in the city. The military used leaflets and broadcasts to encourage civilians to leave the city before the assault.{{cite book |last1=Estes |first1=Kenneth W. |title=Into the Fray |date=2011 |publisher=United States Marine Corps History Division |location=Washington, D.C. |page=60}} However, multiple news agencies reported that military-aged males were prevented from leaving or entering the city by the U.S. military.{{cite news |last=AFP |date=8 November 2004 |title=US troops ban men from entering, leaving Fallujah |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-11-08/us-troops-ban-men-from-entering-leaving-fallujah/581886 |work=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=18 December 2022}} Additionally, not all civilians had the means to leave Fallujah before the battle. Jane Arraf, who was embedded with U.S. troops, said that some families wrote "We are family" on the doors of their homes, hoping the Marines would not attack during the battle.{{cite book |last1=Gott |first1=Kendall D. |title=Eyewitness to War |date=2007 |publisher=Combat Studies Institute Press |location=Fort Leavenworth, Kansas |isbn=9780160773129 |page=309}}

File:US 1stCavDiv Fallujah, Nov 12, 2004.jpg

With Navy SEAL and Force Recon Scout Snipers providing reconnaissance and target marking on the city perimeter, ground operations began on the night of 7 November 2004. Attacking from the west and south, the Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion with their U.S. Army Special Forces advisers, 1st and 2nd Platoon Charlie Company, Manchu 1st Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment Mechanized, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division (U.S. Army) served as the main effort on the peninsula and supported by 3rd Platoon Alpha Company 2/72nd Tank Battalion (U.S. Army), and 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, reinforced by Bravo Company from the Marine Corps Reserve's 1st Battalion, 23rd Regiment, and supported by Combat Service Support Company 122.

2nd Infantry Division, Manchu, Charlie Co 1-9 Infantry Mechanized with 1st and 2nd platoons, (US Army) SEAL Sniper Task Elements from Naval Special Warfare Task Group Central and the U.S. Marine Corps Scout Platoons, captured Fallujah General Hospital, Blackwater Bridge, ING building, and villages opposite of the Euphrates River along Fallujah's western edge.Wise p. 75 Marines from 1/3 fired 81mm mortars in an operation in south Fallujah. The same unit then moved to the western approaches to the city and secured the Jurf Kas Sukr Bridge. These initial attacks, however, were a diversion intended to distract and confuse insurgents holding the city, preceding the all-out offensive. Two Marines died in the initial attacks when their bulldozer fell into the Euphrates River. 42 insurgents were killed along the Fallujah riverside.

File:Second Battle of Fallujah, mosque firefight and house searches.ogv and 3rd Battalion 5th Marines during the Second Battle of Fallujah.]]

After Navy Seabees from I MEF Engineer Group (MEG) and Army Civil Affairs soldiers interrupted and disabled electrical power at two substations located just northeast and northwest of the city, two Marine Regimental Combat Teams, Regimental Combat Team 1 (RCT-1) and Regimental Combat Team 7 (RCT-7) launched an attack along the northern edge of the city. They were joined by two U.S. Army heavy battalion mechanized units, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and Task Force 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), followed by four Marine infantry battalions tasked with clearing buildings. The Army's mechanized Second Brigade, First Cavalry Division, Marines' 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and A. Co 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, was tasked with infiltrating the city and destroying any fleeing enemy forces.{{cite news|url=http://www.strykernews.com/archives/2004/11/18/stryker_troops_rejoin_comrades_in_mosul.html|title=Stryker troops rejoin comrades in Mosul|first=Michael|last=Gilbert|publisher=Stryker Brigade News|date=18 November 2004|access-date=22 December 2008|archive-date=16 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716155632/http://www.strykernews.com/archives/2004/11/18/stryker_troops_rejoin_comrades_in_mosul.html|url-status=dead}} The British Army's 1st Battalion, The Black Watch, patrolled the main highways to the east. The RCTs were augmented by three 7-man SEAL Sniper Teams from Naval Special Warfare Task Group-Central and one platoon from 1st Recon, who provided advance reconnaissance in the city, Joint Terminal Aircraft Control (JTAC) and unilateral overwatch throughout the operation. The United States Air Force provided close air support for the ground offensive, employing F-15 Strike Eagles, F-16 Fighting Falcons, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, B-52 Stratofortresses, and AC-130 gunships to carry out close-quarter precision airstrikes against enemy strongholds within the city. The Air Force also employed MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and precision strikes, and the U-2 Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft for intelligence collection, surveillance and reconnaissance before, during, and after the battle.

File:Fallujah 2004 M1A1 Abrams.jpg fires its main gun into a building to provide suppressive counterfire against insurgents.]]

The six battalions of U.S. and Iraqi forces, aided by Marine Corps Scout and Target Acquisition, SEAL Sniper, and JTAC elements pre-fire operations, moved into the city under the cover of darkness; and once aligned with the reconnaissance elements, began the assault in the early hours of 8 November 2004, preceded by an intense artillery barrage firing some 2500 155mm projectiles and air attack. This was followed by an attack on the main train station, which was then used as a staging point for follow-on forces. By that afternoon, under the protection of intense air cover, Marines entered the Hay Naib al-Dubat and al-Naziza districts. The Marines were followed by the Navy Seabees of NMCB 4 and NMCB 23 who bulldozed the streets clear of debris from the bombardment that morning. The Seabees used armored bulldozers to plow the streets while remaining safe and protected from enemy fire. Shortly after nightfall on 9 November 2004, Marines had reportedly reached Phase Line Fran at Highway 10 in the center of the city.

File:US Navy 041108-M-8205V-006 An air strike is called in on a suspected insurgent hideout at the edge of Fallujah, Iraq by U.S. Marines assigned K Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, during the openin.jpg

While most of the fighting subsided by 13 November 2004, U.S. Marines and Special Operations Forces continued to face determined isolated resistance from insurgents hidden throughout the city. By 16 November 2004, after nine days of fighting, the Marine command described the action as mopping up pockets of resistance. Sporadic fighting continued until 23 December 2004.

By late January 2005, news reports indicated U.S. combat units were leaving the area, and were assisting the local population in returning to the now heavily damaged city.

File:Gunnery Sergeant Ryan P. Shane shot while trying to rescue wounded Marine in Fallujah.jpg attempt to recover a Marine wounded by a sniper; an insurgent machine-gunner hits one of the rescuers.{{cite news|last=McDonald|first=JoAnna M.|title=Photographing Fallujah|url=http://www.military.com/forums/0,15240,90858,00.html|access-date=4 December 2011|newspaper=Leatherneck Magazine via Military.com|date=14 March 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201213847/http://www.military.com/forums/0,15240,90858,00.html|archive-date=1 February 2012}}]]

Staff Sergeant David Bellavia of the Army Task Force 2-2 Infantry was awarded the Medal of Honor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/bellavia|title=Staff Sergeant David Bellavia | Medal of Honor Recipient|website=Army.mil|access-date=13 February 2022}}

Ten Marines were awarded the Navy Cross:

• Sergeant Rafael Peralta of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines{{cite news|url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/09/marine_peralta_091708/|title=Peralta to be given Navy Cross posthumously|work=Marine Corps Times|date=22 September 2008|access-date=21 December 2008|first=Gidget|last=Fuentes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202015219/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/09/marine_peralta_091708/|archive-date=2 December 2008|url-status=dead}}
• First Sergeant Bradley Kasal of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines{{cite news |url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/01/mcnavycross070119/ |title=Parris Island DI earns Navy Cross |newspaper=Marine Corps Times |date=19 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122150213/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/01/mcnavycross070119/ |archive-date=22 January 2007}}
• Sergeant Robert Mitchell, Jr. of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2006/07/29/marine-given-navy-cross/|title=Marine given Navy Cross|website=Ocregister.com|date=29 July 2006|access-date=13 February 2022}}
• Corporal Jeremiah Workman of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines{{Cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3648|title=Jeremiah Workman - Recipient -|website=Valor.militarytimes.com|access-date=13 February 2022}}
• Lance Corporal Christopher S. Adlesperger of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines{{Cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3651|title=Christopher Adlesperger - Recipient -|website=Valor.militarytimes.com|access-date=13 February 2022}}
• Corporal Jason S. Clairday of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines{{Cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3653|title=Jason Clairday - Recipient -|website=Valor.militarytimes.com|access-date=13 February 2022}}
• Sergeant Jarrett Kraft of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines{{Cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3640|title=Jarrett Kraft - Recipient -|website=Valor.militarytimes.com|access-date=13 February 2022}}
• Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines{{cite web|url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3637|title=Aubrey L. McDade, Jr.|work=Military Times|access-date=15 August 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107081955/http://projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=3637|archive-date=7 November 2014}}
• Staff Sergeant Shaun Zysk 2nd Force Recon Scout Sniper (Wounded by insurgent mortars after engaging a insurgent with a RPG from a rooftop 267 yards away)from{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
• Corporal Dominic Esquibel of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines

Corporal Esquibel refused the award, citing "personal reasons".{{cite web|url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3631|title=Dominic Esquibel|work=Military Times|access-date=15 August 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130731104121/http://projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=3631|archive-date=31 July 2013}}

The following were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for actions during the battle:

• U.S. Army Task Force 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
• U.S. Army Task Force 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division
• Naval Special Warfare Task Group-Central{{cite web|url=http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SS_051805_Honor,00.html|title=Troops Honored for Efforts at Fallujah|work=Stars and Stripes|first=Steve|last=Liewer|date=18 May 2005|access-date=21 December 2008}}

File:USwounded fallujah2004.JPG helicopter during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004.]]

The battle proved to be the bloodiest of the war and the bloodiest battle involving U.S. Marines since the Vietnam War.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/iraq-war-fallujah-battle-documentary-excerpt/#:~:text=Eighty%2Dtwo%20U.S.%20servicemembers%20died,continue%20for%20years%20to%20come | title=Surviving the Iraq War's Bloodiest Battle: An Iraqi Mother's Story | website=PBS }} Comparisons with the Battle of Hue City and the Pacific campaign of World War II were made. {{cite book |title=Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq |last=Ricks |first=Thomas E. |author-link=Thomas E. Ricks (journalist) |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/fiascoamericanmi0000rick/page/400 400] |isbn=978-0-14-303891-7 |location=United States |url=https://archive.org/details/fiascoamericanmi0000rick/page/400 }} Coalition forces suffered a total of 107 killed and 613 wounded during Operation Phantom Fury. U.S. forces had 54 killed and 425 wounded in the initial attack in November. By 23 December when the operation was officially concluded, the casualty number had risen to 95 killed and 560 wounded.{{cite book|title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia |last=Mikaberidze |first=Alexander |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |page=304 |isbn=978-1-59884-336-1 |location=United States}} British forces had 4 killed and 10 wounded in two separate attacks in the outskirts of Fallujah. Iraqi forces suffered 8 killed and 43 wounded. Estimates of insurgent casualties are complicated by a lack of official figures. Most estimates place the number of insurgents killed at around 1,200{{cite web |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=24798 |title=DefenseLink News Article: Fallujah Secure, But Not Yet Safe, Marine Commander Says |publisher=Defenselink.mil |access-date=19 May 2011 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070414075859/http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=24798 |archive-date=14 April 2007}} to 1,500, with some estimations as high as over 2,000 killed. Coalition forces also captured approximately 1,500 insurgents during the operation.

The 1st Marine Division fired a total of 5,685 high-explosive 155mm artillery rounds during the battle.{{cite web|url=http://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/ocn744863322|title=U.S. Marines in Iraq, 2004–2005 into the fray|website=Search.library.wisc.edu|access-date=22 February 2015|archive-date=12 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012003625/http://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/ocn744863322|url-status=dead}} The 3rd Marine Air Wing (aviation assets only) expended 318 precision bombs, 391 rockets and missiles, and 93,000 machine gun and cannon rounds.

Fallujah suffered extensive damage to residences, mosques, city services, and businesses. The city, once referred to as the "City of Mosques", had over 200 mosques prior to the battle;{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} approximately 60 were destroyed in the fighting. Many of these mosques had been used as arms caches and weapon strongpoints by Islamist forces.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} Of the roughly 50,000 buildings in Fallujah, between 7,000 and 10,000 were estimated to have been destroyed in the offensive and from half to two-thirds of the remaining buildings had notable damage.{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7503610 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617233541/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7503610 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 June 2013 |title=Still locked down, Fallujah slow to rebuild |publisher=NBC News |date=14 April 2005 |access-date=19 May 2011}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64292-2005Apr18.html |title=Increased Security in Fallujah Slows Efforts to Rebuild |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=19 April 2005 |access-date=19 May 2011}}

While pre-offensive inhabitant figures are unreliable, the nominal population was assumed to have been 200,000–350,000. One report states that both offensives, Operation Vigilant Resolve and Operation Phantom Fury, created 200,000 internally displaced persons who are still living elsewhere in Iraq.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,2049355,00.html |title=The legacy of Fallujah |work=The Guardian |location=UK |access-date=19 May 2011 |first=Jonathan |last=Holmes |date=4 April 2007}} While damage to mosques was heavy, coalition forces reported that 66 out of the city's 133 mosques had been found to be holding significant amounts of insurgent weaponry.{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2004/d20041203entire.ppt|title=Telling the Fallujah Story to the World|publisher=IMEF and MNCI Effects Exploitation Team|date=3 December 2004|access-date=28 December 2008|format=PPT}}{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2023}}

File:US Navy 041114-M-8205V-005 Iraqi Special Forces Soldiers assigned to the 1st Marines, patrol south clearing every house on their way through Fallujah, Iraq, during Operation Al Fajr (New Dawn).jpg

In mid-December, residents were allowed to return after undergoing biometric identification, provided they wore their ID cards all the time. Reconstruction progressed slowly and mainly consisted of clearing rubble from heavily damaged areas and reestablishing basic utilities. Only 10% of the pre-offensive inhabitants had returned as of mid-January, and only 30% as of the end of March 2005.{{cite web |url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-31-voa6.cfm |title=Fallujah Four Months Later |publisher=Voice of America |date=31 March 2005 |access-date=19 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050418094059/http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-31-voa6.cfm |archive-date=18 April 2005}}

Nevertheless, the battle proved to be less than the decisive engagement that the U.S. military had hoped for. Some of the nonlocal insurgents, along with Zarqawi, were believed to have fled before the military assault, leaving mostly local militants behind. Subsequent U.S. military operations against insurgent positions were ineffective at drawing out insurgents into another open battle, and by September 2006, the situation had deteriorated to the point that the Al-Anbar province that contained Fallujah was reported to be in total insurgent control by the U.S. Marine Corps, with the exception of only pacified Fallujah, but now with an insurgent-plagued Ramadi.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/10/AR2006091001204.html?nav=rss_email/components|title=Situation Called Dire in West Iraq|author=Thomas E. Ricks|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 11, 2006|access-date=February 13, 2022}}{{Cite web |url=http://freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=20468 |title=US lost control of al-Anbar province - Free Market News Network |date=12 October 2007 |website= |access-date=February 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012204211/http://freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=20468 |archive-date=12 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}

After the U.S. military operation of November 2004, the number of insurgent attacks gradually increased in and around the city, and although news reports were often few and far between, several reports of IED attacks on Iraqi troops were reported in the press. Most notable of these attacks was a suicide car bomb attack on 23 June 2005 on a convoy that killed 6 Marines. Thirteen other Marines were injured in the attack. However, fourteen months later insurgents were again able to operate in large numbers.

A third push was mounted from September 2006 and lasted until mid-January 2007. Tactics developed in what has been called the "Third Battle of Fallujah," when applied on a larger scale in Ramadi and the surrounding area, led to what became known as "the Great Sunni Awakening." After four years of bitter fighting, Fallujah was turned over to the Iraqi Forces and the Iraqi Provincial Authority during the autumn of 2007.

Al Qaeda-linked Sunni insurgents from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant subsequently took over Fallujah and parts of Ramadi in early 2014 and the city was reclaimed by the Iraqi Army and Special Operations Units in June 2016."[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/topiraqi-commander-vows-to-recapture-fallujah-and-ramadi-after-alqaidalinked-fighters-take-control-of-key-cities-9039681.html Top Iraqi commander vows to re-capture Fallujah and Ramadi after al-Qa'ida-linked fighters take control of key cities]", The Independent, 5 January 2014

File:Defense.gov News Photo 041109-M-2789C-095.jpg

Regimental Combat Team 1 (RCT-1) built around the 1st Marine Regiment:

• 3rd Battalion 1st Marines (Infantry)
• 3rd Battalion 5th Marines (Infantry)
• 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry (1st Cavalry Division)
• 2nd Tank Battalion, Co. C
• 1st Force Reconnaissance Company
• 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company
• 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (Mechanized) (Armored)
• 1st Platoon, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, 39th Brigade Combat Team
• Companies C and D, 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion (Armored)
• 1st, 2nd and 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion Armored
• 1st Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment "Manchu" Mechanized, 1st and 2nd Platoon, C.Co, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division(U.S. Army)
• Military Police/EOD Platoon [MWSS 373]
• Combat Service Support Company 113, Combat Service Support Battalion 1
• Combat Service Support Company 122, Heavy Equipment/Ordnance Platoon, 1st Maintenance Battalion
• Counter Battery Radar Platoon, 14th Marine Regiment (Artillery)
• 4th Battalion 14th Marines – Mike Battery Palehorse (Provisional Infantry, Scout and Targeting Forward Observation Sections, and Primary Direct Support Artillery)
• Company C, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, (U.S. Army)
• 2nd Platoon, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry (U.S. Army)
• 2D Platoon, Alpha Company, 876 Combat Engineer Battalion
• 3rd Platoon, Company E, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion Armored
• TOW Platoon (-), 23rd Marines
• Scout Platoon, Headquarters & Service Company, 4th Tank Battalion
• Scout Platoon, 2nd Tank Battalion (Attached to HQ Btry. 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines Battalion 10th Marines)
• Company A, MP Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, 2nd Marine Division
• Company B, (reinforced), 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division
• Military Police Company A, 4th Marine Logistics Group, 4th Marine Division
• Detachment 4, 4th Civil Affairs Group
• Combat Logistics Company 115, Combat Logistics Battalion 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group
• Bravo Surgical Company, 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group
• Shock Trauma Platoon, 1st Marine Logistics Group
• Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines
• Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines
• Evac Platoon, Company C, 181 SPT Battalion, 81 HBCT
• 2nd Battalion 11th Marines, Kilo 3/12, Golf, HQ Btry (Artillery- Serving as Provisionary Rifle Companies)
• Charlie Btry. 1st Battalion 10th Marines (Artillery- Serving as Provisional Infantry Company, attached to 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines, w/direct support by 2 teams from STA Platoon, HQ Btry. 2nd Battalion 10th Marines)
• Lima Battery, 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines Battalion, 10th Marines (Artillery- Serving as Provisional Infantry Company, attached to 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines w/direct support from 2 teams of STA Platoon, HQ Btry. 2/10)
• 4th Battalion 14th Marines, Kilo Btry (Artillery- Serving as Provisional Infantry Company, Attached to 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines, 2 Mar Div.)
• Motor Transport Platoon (HQ Btry. 2nd Battalion 10th Marines)
• Task Force ECHO (NMCB (Naval Mobile Construction Battalion) FOUR, NMCB TWO THREE, and Company A, 120th Engineer Battalion Oklahoma National Guard)
• Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 (VMU-1) at Al Taquaddum Airbase
• Marine Aircraft Group 39 – HMLA-367, HMLA-169 DET A, HMM-161, HMM-364 and HMM-268 at Al Taqaddum Airbase
• VMFA(AW)-242, VMA-542, HMM-365 at Al Asad Air Base
• 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, A Co, 44th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Inf Div
• 3rd Platoon, A Co, 2/72 Tank Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division (U.S. Army)
• B Company, 9th Psychological Operations Battalion, Airborne (U.S. Army)
• H&S and C Cos. 4th Combat Engineer Battalion
• Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 (Seabees)
• Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 23 (Seabees)
• Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 (Seabees)

File:US Navy 041116-N-1438S-004 Chief Engineering Aide Ardell Ball, center, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction battalion Four (NMCB-4), studies an aerial photograph of the streets in Fallujah, Iraq.jpg

Regimental Combat Team 7 (RCT-7) built around the 7th Marine Regiment:

• 1st Battalion 3rd Marines (Infantry)
• 1st Battalion 8th Marines (Infantry)
• 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
• 2nd Tank Battalion, Co. A
• 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion
• 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company
• 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Co. C
• 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Co. A
• Tactical PSYOP Team 1171 (USAR), 1/3 Marines (attached)
• 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 82nd Engineer Battalion
• F Troop, 4th Cavalry (Brigade Reconnaissance Troop)
• Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment
• Bravo Company 1st Battalion, 63rd Armored Regiment
• 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 82nd Engineer Battalion
• 1st Platoon, Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment (M109A6, 155mm SP)
• 1st Battalion 12th Marines – Battery "C" (Artillery)
• F Troop, 4th Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Reconnaissance Troop, 1st Infantry Division (U.S. Army)
• Company C, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion
• 2nd Platoon, C Company, 44th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (U.S. Army)
• Company C, 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion (Armored)
• Company B, MP Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group
• 3rd Platoon, Combat Engineer Company, Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
• 2nd Platoon, Company C, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion
• 1st Platoon, Engineer Company C, 6th Engineer Support Battalion
• MEU Service Support Group 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit
• Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit THREE
• B Company, 445th Civil Affairs Battalion (U.S. Army)
• A Troop 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry (U.S. Army)
• Alpha Company, 458th Engineer Battalion, Engineer Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (U.S. Army)
• 759th Military Police Battalion Composite (U.S. Army)
• HHD, 759th Military Police Battalion (FWD)
• 148th Military Police Team (FWD) (Police Intelligence)
• 21st Military Police Company (Airborne) (Combat Support)
• 630th Military Police Company (Combat Support)
• 984th Military Police Company (Combat Support)
• 15th Forward Support Battalion
• 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division TAC (Bravo Company, 13th Signal, E-31; Bravo Company, 312th Military Intel)
• 689th Engineer Company (Clearance) (U.S. Army Reserve)
• 1st Squadron, 124th Cavalry
• CROWS Team One
• Small Craft Company Special Operations River Recon

File:Defense.gov News Photo 041109-A-1067B-004.jpg

Ninth Air Force (United States Air Forces Central Command) (U.S. Air Force)

• 24th Special Tactics Squadron
• 187th Fighter Wing (Alabama Air National Guard) (F-16 Fighting Falcon){{Cite web |url=http://www.187fw.ang.af.mil/resources/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=14104&page=1 |title=U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet THE HISTORY OF THE 187TH FIGHTER WING. Retrieved Sep 14, 2016 |access-date=14 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111134721/http://www.187fw.ang.af.mil/resources/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=14104&page=1 |archive-date=11 November 2016 |url-status=dead}}
• 379th Air Expeditionary Wing (F-15 Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt II, AC-130 Gunship)
• 2d Bomb Wing (B-52 Stratofortress)
• 9th Reconnaissance Wing (U-2 Dragon Lady)
• 116th Air Control Wing (E-8 Joint STARS){{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6462834|title=Above Fallujah, layers of U.S. air cover|website=Nbcnews.com|date=11 November 2004 |access-date=February 13, 2022}}
• 432d Air Expeditionary Wing (MQ-1 Predator drones, operated remotely from Creech Air Force Base, Nevada)

U.S. Special Operations Command

• Naval Special Warfare Task Group-Central (Sniper Elements Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie from SEAL Teams 3, 5, 8, and SDVT-1)
• 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-09-medals-fallujah_x.htm |work=USA Today |first1=Oren |last1=Dorell |first2=Gregg |last2=Zoroya |title=Battle for Fallujah |date=9 November 2006}}
• Det One
• 5th Special Forces Group{{Cite book|title=Special Forces in the War on Terror|last=Neville, Leigh|isbn=9781472807908|location=Oxford|pages=178|oclc=889735079|date = 19 May 2015}}

• 1st Specialized Special Forces Battalion (Iraqi National Guard), Companies D and B{{cite web|url=http://www.mnfwest.usmc.mil/Public%2FInfolineMarines.nsf/0/3943F40BC1B52B26432573D30047AFF9/$File/1st%20Marines%27%20History.doc|title=History of the 1st Marine Regiment|publisher=MNF-West|access-date=22 December 2008|format=DOC}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
• Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion{{cite web|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2004/11/retooling.php|title=Retooling|first=Bill|last=Roggio|work=Long War Journal|date=12 November 2004|access-date=22 December 2008}}
• Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces Battalion
• Emergency Response Unit (Iraqi-Ministry of Interior) – Attached to RCT-7
• 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, Iraqi Intervention Force (ICDC) – Operated independently of Coalition forces{{cite web|url=http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/nov2004/a111004a.html|title=Forces Retake Key Civic Centers in Fallujah|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|date=10 November 2004|access-date=22 December 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416195752/http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/nov2004/a111004a.html|archive-date=16 April 2009}}
• 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, Iraqi Intervention Force (IIF) – Attached to RCT-7
• 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, Iraqi Intervention Force (IIF) – Attached to RCT-1
• 5th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, Iraqi Intervention Force (IIF) – Attached to RCT-7{{Cite book |last=1. Zacchea 2. Kemp |first=1. Michael Zacchea 2. Ted Kemp |title=The Ragged Edge: A U.S. Marine's Account of Leading the Iraqi Fifth Battalion |publisher=Chicago Review Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1613738412 |location=United States}}
• 6th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, Iraqi Intervention Force (IIF) – Attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division

• 1st Battalion, The Black Watch{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/black-watch-ordered-to-join-us-cordon-for-assault-on-fallujah-544600.html|title=Black Watch ordered to join U.S. cordon for assault on Fallujah|work=The Independent|location=UK |first=Colin|last=Brown|date=22 October 2004|access-date=22 December 2008 }}

File:Defense.gov News Photo 041108-M-8205V-003.jpg

There were numerous criticisms relating to the United States' tactics during the battle, including the weapons used, civilian casualties, and collateral damage.

[[File:Fallujah White Phosphorus.jpg | thumb | 220x124px | right | alt= Night time air burst of white phosphorus as seen through night vision optics. |

White phosphorus air burst during the Second Battle of Fallujah {{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/once-upon-a-time-in-iraq-fallujah/ | title=Once Upon a Time in Iraq: Fallujah | website=PBS }}]]

The use of white phosphorus during the battle was first reported on November 10, 2004, by Washington Post reporters who were embedded with Task Force 2-2, Regimental Combat Team 7 reported that they witnessed artillery guns firing white phosphorus projectiles which "create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water. Insurgents reported being attacked with a substance that melted their skin, a reaction consistent with white phosphorous burns."{{cite news|last=Spinner|first=Jackie|title=U.S. Forces Battle Into Heart of Fallujah|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35979-2004Nov9_2.html|accessdate=4 December 2022|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=10 November 2004}} The article also reported, "The corpses of the mujaheddin which we received were burned, and some corpses were melted."

On November 8, 2005, the national public broadcasting company of Italy, Radiotelevisione Italiana S.p.A. aired a documentary titled "Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre", which reported that the United States had used white phosphorus as a weapon in Fallujah, and which showed that insurgents and civilians had been killed or injured by chemical burns. Included were graphic video and photos of severe and deep chemical burns that penetrated the flesh and bones of men, women, and children. The filmmakers claimed that the United States used incendiary MK-77 bombs in violation of Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, a convention to which the United States was not a party until 2009.{{Cite web |title=UNODA Treaties |url=https://treaties.unoda.org/a/ccwc_p3/unitedstatesofamerica/CON/un |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=treaties.unoda.org}}

According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, quoted in the documentary, white phosphorus is permitted for use as an illumination device and as a weapon with regard to heat energy, but not permitted as an offensive weapon with regard to its chemical properties.{{cite news|last=Reynolds |first=Paul |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4442988.stm |title=OPCW Spokesman Peter Kaiser elucidates the OPCW position on white phosphorus |publisher=BBC News |date=16 November 2005 |accessdate=19 May 2011}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1875728,00.html |title=OPCW agrees with U.S. Military that use of white phosphorus as an incendiary agent is not prohibited |access-date=25 January 2008 |archive-date=5 January 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060105024105/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1875728,00.html |url-status=dead }}

On November 15, 2005, the US ambassador to the United Kingdom, Robert Tuttle, wrote to The Independent denying that the United States used white phosphorus as a weapon in Fallujah. However, later the same day, US Department of Defense spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable confirmed to the BBC that US forces had used white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon there. Venable also stated "When you have enemy forces that are in covered positions that your high explosive artillery rounds are not having an impact on and you wish to get them out of those positions, one technique is to fire a white phosphorus round into the position because the combined effects of the fire and smoke – and in some case the terror brought about by the explosion on the ground – will drive them out of the holes so that you can kill them with high explosives."{{cite news |title=US forces used 'chemical weapon' in Iraq |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-forces-used-chemical-weapon-in-iraq-515551.html |access-date=23 January 2020 |work=The Independent |date=16 November 2005 |archive-date=1 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301191202/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-forces-used-chemical-weapon-in-iraq-515551.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-official-admits-phosphorus-used-as-weapon-in-iraq-1.557818 |title=U.S. official admits phosphorus used as weapon in Iraq |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=16 November 2005 |access-date=19 May 2011 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005153305/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-official-admits-phosphorus-used-as-weapon-in-iraq-1.557818 |url-status=live }}

On November 16, 2005, BBC News reported that an article published in the March–April 2005 issue of Field Artillery, a U.S. Army magazine, noted that white phosphorus had been used during the battle. According to the article, "WP (White Phosphorus) proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes where we could not get effects on them with HE [High Explosives]. We fired "shake and bake" missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out."

On 16 November 2004, NBC News aired footage that showed a U.S. Marine killing a wounded Iraqi fighter. In this video, the Marine was heard saying that the Iraqi was "playing possum". NCIS investigators later determined that the Marine was acting in self-defense.{{cite news|url=http://cnn.com/2005/US/05/05/falluja.marine/index.html |title=Marine cleared in videotaped shooting |publisher=CNN |date=5 May 2005 |access-date=19 May 2011}}

Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other news agencies reported that military-age males, 15 to 50 years old, were prevented from leaving the city before the battle began by the U.S. military. All entrances to the city were controlled by U.S. forces.

The Guardian's George Monbiot wrote:

{{Blockquote

|text=Before attacking the city, the marines stopped men "of fighting age" from leaving. Many women and children stayed: the Guardian's correspondent estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 civilians were left. The marines treated Falluja as if its only inhabitants were fighters. They leveled thousands of buildings, illegally denied access to the Iraqi Red Crescent and, according to the UN's special rapporteur, used "hunger and deprivation of water as a weapon of war against the civilian population".{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/22/usa.iraq1|title=Behind the phosphorus clouds are war crimes within war crimes |last=Monbiot |first=George |date=22 November 2005 |website=guardian.co.uk |publisher=The Guardian |accessdate=2 December 2022}}}}

File:Manifs à londres contre la guerre en irak.JPG against the war and the consequences of the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2006.]]

The Red Cross estimated directly following the battle that some 800 civilians had been killed during the offensive.{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2004/11/17/red_cross_estimates_800_iraqi_civilians |title=Red Cross Estimates 800 Iraqi Civilians Killed in Fallujah |publisher=Democracynow.org |access-date=19 May 2011}}{{cite book|last=Pettegrew|first=John|title=Light It Up: The Marine Eye for Battle in the War for Iraq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NfEyCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT184|year=2015|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9781421417868|page=184}}{{cite book|last=Gurman|first=Hannah|title=Hearts and Minds: A People's History of Counterinsurgency|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AnIRBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA258|year=2013|publisher=New Press, The|isbn=9781595588258|page=258}} The Iraq Body Count project reported between 581 and 670 civilian deaths resulting from the battle. Mike Marqusee, in a November 2005 article for The Guardian, wrote that "The US claims that 2,000 died, most of them fighters. Other sources disagree. When medical teams arrived in January they collected more than 700 bodies in only one third of the city. Iraqi NGOs and medical workers estimate between 4,000 and 6,000 dead, mostly civilians".{{Cite news |last=Marqusee |first=Mike |date=2005-11-10 |title=A name that lives in infamy |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/10/usa.iraq |work=The Guardian |location=Fallujah |access-date=3 December 2022 }}

{{Blockquote |text="There were American snipers on top of the hospital shooting everyone," said Burhan Fasa'am, a photographer with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. "With no medical supplies, people died from their wounds. Everyone in the street was a target for the Americans."}}

US forces used depleted uranium (DU) shells during the battle. Depleted uranium shells use very dense and non-fissile (but still radioactive) uranium left over from enrichment, for effective armor penetration. They also disperse DU dust into the environment during impact.{{cite journal|vauthors = Hindin R, Brugge D, Panikkar B|year = 2005|title = Teratogenicity of depleted uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective|journal = Environmental Health|volume = 4|page = 17|pmc=1242351|pmid = 16124873|doi = 10.1186/1476-069X-4-17|issue = 1 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2005EnvHe...4...17H }} A July 2009 paper by Buzby et al. reported a high level of cancer, birth defects and infant mortality, according to a house-to-house survey in Fallujah.{{Cite journal |last1=Busby |first1=Chris |last2=Hamdan |first2=Malak |last3=Ariabi |first3=Entesar |title=Cancer, infant mortality and birth sex-ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005-2009 |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |date=2010 |volume=7 |issue=7 |pages=2828–2837 |doi=10.3390/ijerph7072828|doi-access=free |pmid=20717542 |pmc=2922729 }} A 2011 study of elemental contaminants in the hair of parents children with abnormalities, by Alaani et al., concludes "these findings suggest the enriched Uranium exposure is either a primary cause or related to the cause of the congenital anomaly and cancer increases."{{cite journal |first1=Samira |last1=Alaani |first2=Muhammed |last2=Tafash |first3=Christopher |last3=Busby |first4=Malak |last4=Hamdan |first5=Eleonore |last5=Blaurock-Busch| title=Uranium and other contaminants in the hair from the parents of children with congenital anomalies in Fallujah, Iraq| journal=Conflict and Health |year=2011 | volume=5| page=15| doi=10.1186/1752-1505-5-15| pmid=21888647| pmc=3177876 |doi-access=free }} A 2012 journal article by Al-Hadithi et al., says existing studies and research evidence do not show a "clear increase in birth defects" or a "clear indication of a possible environmental exposure including depleted uranium". The article says "there is actually no substantial evidence that genetic defects can arise from parental exposure to DU in any circumstances."{{Cite journal|last1=Al-Hadithi |first1=Tariq S.|last2=Saleh |first2=Abubakir M. |last3=Al-Diwan |first3=Jawad K. |last4=Shabila |first4=Nazar P. |date=2012 |title=Birth defects in Iraq and the plausibility of environmental exposure: A review |journal=Conflict and Health |language=en |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=245–250 |doi=10.1186/1752-1505-6-3 |pmid=22839108 |pmc=3492088 |doi-access=free }} The results of a 2010 study at Fallujah General Hospital, published in 2012, concluded that, "the higher rates of congenital anomalies are believed to be caused by exposure to some genotoxic agent, possibly uranium."{{Cite journal|last1=Alaani |first1=Samira|last2=Al-Fallouji |first2=Mohannad AR |last3=Busby |first3=Christopher |last4=Hamdan |first4=Malak |date=2012 |title=Pilot study of congenital anomaly rates at birth in Fallujah, Iraq, 2010 |journal=Journal of the Islamic Medical Association of North America |language=en |volume=44 |issue=1 |doi=10.5915/44-1-10463 |pmid=23864991 |pmc=3708634 |doi-access=free }}

• Occupation: Dreamland, a 2005 documentary film that follows soldiers of the 1/505 of the 82nd Airborne Division in Fallujah, Iraq, in the beginning of 2004.
• Shootout! – Episode 1: D-Day: Fallujah (UPC: 733961741353), a 2006 A&E History Channel Special detailing various gun battles that occurred during the Second Battle of Fallujah.
• The Road to Fallujah, a 2009 documentary following the story of Mark Manning, the only westerner to live among the residents of Fallujah following the November 2004 battle.
• Fear Not the Path of Truth,{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsZi5JfUhVc|title=Fear Not the Path of Truth|date=22 November 2013|via=Youtube|first=Ross|last=Caputi}} a 2013 documentary film from Ross Caputi, a veteran of the 2nd siege of Fallujah who investigates atrocities that occurred and the legacy of US foreign policy in Fallujah.
• Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre, a documentary investigating the use of white phosphorus and the MK-77 by the U.S. Army during the battle.
• Once Upon a Time in Iraq,{{cite AV media|title=Once Upon a Time in Iraq, Episode 3|date=July 2020|via=dailymotion|first=James|last=Bluemel}} a 2020 BBC documentary series, featured the Battle of Fallujah in its third episode.
• Perfect Valor, a 2009 documentary. Chronicles the battle to control Fallujah, Iraq (known as "Operation Phantom Fury") from the perspective of six American troops who were there. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10850008/ Link for the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Neekki4T8Mw

• Pasaje al amanecer, a 2017 war drama which is based on the Christmas Eve before the war.{{cite journal |title=Pasaje al amanecer |url=http://www.fotogramas.es/Peliculas/Pasaje-al-amanecer |year=2017 |access-date=12 April 2018 |journal=Fotogramas |language=es |publisher=Hearst Communications}}

• Six Days in Fallujah, span of the six bloodiest days in the battle for Fallujah. It was dropped by Konami for the controversy surrounding it and remained in limbo until 2021. The restarted game was announced in 2021 with publishing of Victura and developed by Highwire Games. Early access release was in June 2023, and follows 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (3/1) as they fight the Iraqi insurgency in the city of Fallujah, Iraq.{{cite web | url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1548850/Six_Days_in_Fallujah/ | title=Six Days in Fallujah on Steam }}{{Cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/04/fallujahkonamicancel.html|title=Konami cancels Six Days in Fallujah video game|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Alex|last=Pham|date=27 April 2009|access-date=18 December 2010}}
• Close Combat: First to Fight, is a video game that was also designed with input from former and active-duty U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, who had participated in combat around Fallujah, Iraq during Operation Phantom Fury.
• Phantom Fury: The 2nd Battle for Fallujah, is a solitaire board game based on the actions of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in the Jolan district in November 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.nutspublishing.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=52%7ctitle=NutsPublishing|title=Nuts Publishing – Phantom Fury – 02-22-2015|access-date=22 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222220713/http://www.nutspublishing.com/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&product_id=52%7Ctitle%3DNutsPublishing|archive-date=22 February 2015|url-status=dead}}

• "In Old Yellowcake", song by Rasputina (2007)
• "Christmas in Fallujah", song by Jefferson Pepper (2005) (UPC: 669910486467)
• "Christmas in Fallujah", song by Cass Dillon and Billy Joel (2007) (Digital download, CD single)
• Fallujah, an opera with music by the Canadian composer Tobin Stokes and libretto by Heather Raffo.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19283695|title=Iraq war opera helps heal post-conflict trauma|work=BBC News|date=20 August 2012|access-date=22 February 2015}}
• "Fallujah" by Serbian roots reggae band FC Apartride Utd, On The Frontline Menu 2006, LP{{cite web |title=F.C. Apatride Utd* – On The Frontline Menu |url=https://www.discogs.com/FC-Apatride-Utd-On-The-Frontline-Menu/release/3716341 |website=Discogs.com |language=en}}{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzHT6dR2jIo| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109102911/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzHT6dR2jIo| archive-date=2016-01-09 | url-status=dead|title=FC Apatride Utd – Fallujah|date=25 April 2012|via=YouTube}}{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvh8XHUxhiw| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211102/Lvh8XHUxhiw| archive-date=2021-11-02 | url-status=live|title=FC Apatride UTD – Fallujah / HD|date=17 December 2014|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
• "Idhrib Ya Asad Al Fallujah(Strike oh Lions of Fallujah)", song by Ali Al-Faridawi and Hussein Ghazal{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB_cRR44hGc | title=اضرب يا اسد الفلوجة | website=YouTube | date=14 July 2019 }}
• Fallujah is an American technical death metal band from San Francisco, California, formed in 2007.

• No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2vxAAAAMAAJ | title=No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah | isbn=9780553804027 | last1=West | first1=Francis J. | last2=West | first2=Bing | year=2005 | publisher=Bantam Books }}
• My Men are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CWnxAAAAMAAJ | title=My Men are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story | isbn=9780696232367 | last1=Kasal | first1=Brad | last2=Helms | first2=Nathaniel R. | year=2007 | publisher=Meredith Books }}
• We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines Who Took Fallujah{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}
• New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CWYeHy7Q6YC | title=New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah | isbn=9781611210514 | last1=Lowry | first1=Richard | date=5 May 2010 | publisher=Savas Beatie }}
• Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TYGayCy8NAC | title=Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq | isbn=9781616732530 | last1=Camp | first1=Dick | date=15 December 2009 | publisher=Zenith Press }}
• Sunrise Over Fallujah{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTuID4iRe2gC | title=Sunrise over Fallujah | isbn=9780545232029 | last1=Myers | first1=Walter Dean | date=February 2010 | publisher=Scholastic }}
• Fallujah Memoirs: A Grunt's Eye View of the Second Battle of Fallujah{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zz1zzgEACAAJ | title=Fallujah Memoirs: A Grunt's Eye View of the Second Battle of Fallujah | isbn=9798740492940 | last1=Saxby | first1=Alexander | date=21 April 2021 | publisher=Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp }}
• Ghosts of Fallujah{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hyXpswEACAAJ| title=Ghosts of Fallujah | isbn=9781947309043 | last1=Tyler | first1=Coley D. | date=18 September 2018 | publisher=Coley Daniel Tyler }}
• ''U.S. Marines in Battle: Fallujah, November–December 2004{{cite book |last1=McWilliams |first1=Timothy |last2=Schlosser |first2=Nicolas |title=U.S. Marines in Battle |date=23 July 2014 |publisher=Military Bookshop |isbn=9781782667018 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdy1oQEACAAJ}}
• House to House: An Epic Memoir of War{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}
• Code Red Fallujah: A Doctor's Memoir at War{{cite web | url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55554024-code-red-fallujah# | title=Code Red Fallujah: A Doctor's Memoir at War }}
• Fallujah, with Honor; First Battalion, Eighth Marine's Role in Operation Phantom Fury; Expanded 2nd Edition{{cite web | url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1948160.Fallujah_with_Honor_First_Battalion_Eighth_Marine_s_Role_in_Operation_Phantom_Fury_Expanded_2nd_Edition | title=Fallujah, with Honor; First Battalion, Eighth Marine's … }}
• All Of Which I Saw{{cite web | url=https://www.amazon.com/Lucian-Read/e/B07RGS1P48%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share | title=Lucian Read | website=Amazon }}
• American Sniper

{{Portal|Iraq}}

• 2003 invasion of Iraq
• 2004 in Iraq
• Battle of Mosul (2004)
• Operation Alljah

{{Reflist}}

{{cite book| last=Tucker| first=Spencer C. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zMmUAwAAQBAJ&q=Battles+That+Changed+American+History:+100+of+the+Greatest+Victories+and+Defeats| title=Battles That Changed American History: 100 of the Greatest Victories and Defeats| year=2014| publisher=ABC-CLIO| isbn=978-1440828614| ref=Tucker

}}

• No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah, by Bing West (2005) ({{ISBN|978-0-553-80402-7}})
• We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines Who Took Fallujah, by Patrick O'Donnell (2006) ({{ISBN|978-0-306-81469-3}})
• Fighting For Fallujah: A New Dawn for Iraq, by John R. Ballard (2006) ({{ISBN|978-0-275-99055-8}})
• Fallujah With Honor: First Battalion, Eighth Marine's Role in Operation Phantom Fury, by Gary Livingston (2006) ({{ISBN|1-928724-06-X}})
• Battle for Fallujah (book)|Battle of Fallujah: Occupation, Resistance And Stalemate in the War in Iraq, by Vincent L. Foulk (2006) ({{ISBN|0-7864-2677-2}})
• Among Warriors in Iraq: True Grit, Special Ops, and Raiding in Mosul and Fallujah, by Mike Tucker (2006) ({{ISBN|978-1-59228-732-1}})
• Iraq 1941: The Battles For Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad, by Robert Lyman (2006) ({{ISBN|978-1-84176-991-2}})
• My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story, by Brad Kasal as told to Nathaniel R. Helms (2007) ({{ISBN|0-696-23236-7}})
• On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story, by Cdr. Richard Jadick (2007) ({{ISBN|0-451-22053-6}})
• House to House: An Epic Memoir of War, by SSG David Bellavia (2007) ({{ISBN|978-1-4165-7471-2}})
• The Navy Cross (book)|The Navy Cross: Extraordinary Heroism in Iraq, Afghanistan and Other Conflicts, by James E. Wise, Scott Baron (2007) ({{ISBN|1-59114-945-2}})
• Marakat Al-Fallujah: Hazimat Amrika Fi Al-Iraq, by Ahmad Mansur (2008) ({{ISBN|978-977-427-309-4}})
• Sunrise over Fallujah (2008) ({{ISBN|978-0-439-91625-7}})
• Fallujah: Shock & Awe (2009) ({{ISBN|978-0-85124-706-9}})
• Inside Fallujah: The Unembedded Story, Ahmed Mansour (2009) ({{ISBN|978-1-56656-778-7}})
• The Daily Thoughts of a Fallujah Marine by Josh Daugherty (2009) ({{ISBN|978-1-60836-044-4}})
• {{cite book|title=Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery|first1=Nicholas|last1=Popaditch|first2=Mike|last2=Steere|year=2008|publisher=Savas Beatie |isbn=978-1-932714-47-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oncemarineiraqwa0000popa}}
• Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq, by Dick Camp (2009) ({{ISBN|978-0-7603-3698-4}})
• New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah, by Richard S. Lowry (2010) ({{ISBN|1-932714-77-4}}) plus [https://web.archive.org/web/20130704091736/https://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/Home/richard-lowry.aspx Presentation] at the Pritzker Military Library on 3 November 2011
• {{cite book |title=Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning |year=2019 |author=Elliot Ackerman |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-0525559962}}

{{commons category|Battle of Fallujah}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070621001758/http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/tv_guide/full_details/Conflict/programme_2939.php Shootout: Fallujah – History Channel documentary about the Battle of Fallujah]
• [http://www.channel4.com/news/2004/12/week_4/fallujah.html Eyewitness Fallujah: A British TV Cameraman's account of Operation Phantom Fury] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612072217/http://www.channel4.com/news/2004/12/week_4/fallujah.html |date=12 June 2008 }}
• [http://law.bepress.com/expresso/eps/1959/ "The Legality of the Use of White Phosphorus by the United States Military during the 2004 Fallujah Assaults"] (24 January 2007). Berkeley Electronic Press Preprint Series. Working Paper 1959.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101207023527/http://marinecorpsmoms.com/archives/2004_12.html 3/1 Update from Fallujah, 29 Dec. 2004.], Marine Corps Moms

{{Iraq War}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallujah, 2}}

Category:Battles of the Anbar campaign (2003–2011)

Category:Battles of the Iraq War in 2004

Category:Battles of the Iraq War involving Iraq

Category:Battles of the Iraq War involving the United States

Category:Fallujah in the Iraq War

Category:Operations involving American special forces

Category:United States Marine Corps in the Iraq War

Category:Urban warfare

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:November 2004 in Iraq

Category:December 2004 in Iraq

Category:Violations of medical neutrality during the Iraq War

Category:Iraq War crimes by the United States

Category:Sieges of the Iraq War

Category:Battles of the Iraq War involving Sunni insurgent groups