Operation Vigilant Resolve

Operation Vigilant Resolve was an abortive US operation to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the 2003 occupation of Iraq. The operation was motivated in part by the murder and mutilation of four private military contractors who were contracted by the Coalition.

Events before the campaign

On March 31, 2004, 4 American private contractors were ambushed and killed by guerillas as they drove through Fallujah. Following the attack, an angry mob mutilated and cremated the bodies, dragging them through the streets before they were hung on a bridge. This attack took place as the Marines were taking over responsibility for al-Anbar province, in which Fallujah is located, from the U.S Army. The intended Marine strategy of foot patrols, less aggressive raids, humanitarian aid, and close cooperation with local leaders was suspended in favor of a massive military operation to clear guerillas from Fallujah. The world witnessed the killing and mutilation of four Blackwater USA employees in Fallujah. At the time of their ambush, these employees were providing security for food shipments.[1] (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/03/31/civilian.deaths.ap/index.html) Some of Blackwater USA's employees have engaged in armed defense of installations. Insofar as these workers engage in aggressive combat, they could be considered as combatant mercenaries.

During the battle, which formed part on the 2004 spring unprisings,some 600 Iraqis were killed along with a number of U.S. soldiers.

The campaign

On April 4, the U.S. Marines and Iraqi security forces launched a major assault in an attempt to regain the city. They faced bloody urban combat from the guerillas, and after three days over 75% of the city was still under insurgent control. In the defense of Fallujah during the April 2004 siege by U.S marines, it was noted that insurgent forces used Soviet-style defense-in-depth tactics (this suggests that former members of the Iraqi Army, who were schooled in such tactics, organized Iraqi insurgency forces rather than foreign jihadis who would use tactics more akin to the mujehedin in Afghanistan).

Headed by the First Marine Expeditionary Force, American units surrounded the city with an aim towards pacifying it. This set off wide-spread fighting throughout Iraq centered on Fallujah starting on the morning of 7 April, 2004. An American helicopter fired a missile into a mosque on the first day of fighting, killing at least a dozen people.

The resultant fighting spread throughout the country with various elements of the Iraqi insurgency taking advantage of the situation and commencing simultaneous operations against the Coalition forces.

Elements of the Iraqi police and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps also turned on the occupation forces or simply abandoned their posts.

On 9 April, after the deaths of 30 Marines, the Coalition forces declared a unilateral ceasefire to allow for humanitarian relief. This led to complex negotiations between various Iraqi elements and the occupation force. During this period, a number of foreigners were captured. Some were killed outright, others were held as hostages in an attempt to barter for political or military concessions.

On 19 April, the ceasefire seemed to be strengthened with a plan to reintroduce joint US/Iraqi patrols into the city. Over time this arrangement broke down and the city returned to being a thorn in the side of Iraqi government.

Followed by Phantom Fury.

External Resources

• Operation Vigilant Resolve at GlobalSecurity (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/oif-vigilant-resolve.htm)
• Vigilant Resolve: Remembering the First Siege of Fallujah with Dahr Jamail (http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/covering_iraq/archives//000197.php)