In the Battle of Fallujah, Marines swept in to take the city away from insurgent forces, only to have politicians pull them out — and send them right back in months later.
The first and second Battles of Fallujah have entered Marine Corps lore, alongside Iwo Jima and Chapultepec. But what many don’t know is what happened at the Battle of Najaf, which played out before the 2nd Battle of Fallujah kicked off. Najaf is another sacred city in Iraq. It has approximately seven square miles of cemeteries — as above, so below. Under the cemeteries are miles of catacombs, haunting places where enemy fighters could be hiding, concealed in the dark.
A major player in the battle was the insurgent leader Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shia cleric who brought disgruntled Iraqis together under the idea of an Islamic democracy. To enforce that idea, he established a military wing, known as Jaysh al-Mahdi, also referred to as the Mahdi Army. He suddenly turned on the coalition, demanding an immediate withdrawal of all coalition forces from Iraq.
Though the mayor of An Najaf brokered a ceasefire between the coalition and the Mahdi Army in June 2004, this only lasted until the end of August that year. In July 2004, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit took over operational command from Task Force Dragon. That’s when the fighting in the city started to escalate.
In August, the Mahdi Army attacked the 1st Battalion 4th Marines, starting a significant battle of the new Iraq War. The next days were long and drawn out, characterized by house-to-house fighting, open-street engagements, and fighting across open farm fields. For eight days, the battle raged through the city.
Much like what happened in Fallujah a few months earlier, Marines and soldiers were taking the fight to insurgents. American troops were surprised by incoming small arms fire and indirect fire. Although the enemy forces were not well-trained, they were numerous, which compensated for their lack of effective infantry tactics.
At one point, the battle swept over the city’s huge cemetery, which was the stage for some of the most intense fighting of the entire Iraq War. Surrounded by the resting dead, Marines fought against extreme numbers and both sides suffered heavy casualties. Fighting on the surface was so brutal that soldiers and Marines were also forced to fight in the catacombs below.
Fallujah had been the largest urban battle since Hue City during the Vietnam War, and An Najaf saw the first tunnel fighting since Vietnam. The end of the fight brought with it a final tally of dead and wounded. Twelve Americans were killed in action, and 94 were wounded. Iraqi soldiers also saw significant losses. The numbers for the Mahdi Army, however, are far greater, with 1,500 killed in action and an unknown number wounded, estimated to be in the thousands.
The battle forced Al-Sadr and most of those loyal to him out of the city. Marines began to secure their area of operations and returned to rebuilding Najaf and the surrounding region. However, some of the Mahdi Army’s militiamen stayed in the city, challenging the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines at every opportunity.
Instead of their traditional black militia uniforms, they began to wear street clothes, which allowed them to blend in with the local populace. Coalition troops could no longer differentiate between friend and foe when the streets turned into a battlefield.
Marines and soldiers at the Battle of Najaf should be proud of the accomplishment of securing the city. As time passes, they remain hopeful that Americans will learn about the heroes who emerged from the battle and the ones who fell there — that we never let this battle be lost to history. It will be remembered just as much as the battles in Fallujah.
