Fallujah Redux: The Anbar Awakening and the Struggle with Al-Qaeda - Hardcover

Green, Daniel R.; Mullen III, William F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1612511422 ISBN 13: 9781612511429

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 2014

Synopsis

Fallujah Redux is the first book about the Fallujah Awakening written by Operation Iraqi Freedom military veterans who served there, providing a comprehensive account of the turning of Fallujah away from the al-Qaeda insurgency in 2007. The city of Fallujah will long be associated with some of the worst violence and brutality of the Iraq War. Initially occupied by U.S. forces in 2003, it eventually served as the headquarters for numerous insurgent groups operating west of Baghdad, including al-Qaeda in Iraq and its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, until forcibly retaken at the end of 2004.

Once the city was finally cleared, U.S. forces settled into the routine of waging a low-intensity warfare campaign against insurgent forces and trying to set the conditions for Iraqi government control. Even though U.S. forces were winning tactically, they struggled with a population that still strongly supported the insurgency. By the middle of 2007, four years after the initial invasion of Iraq, the city of Fallujah and its surrounding countryside were still mired in a seemingly intractable insurgency. As Anbar Province's tribes began to turn against al-Qaeda, Fallujah's residents were waiting for the movement to push eastward to help them eliminate al-Qaeda but they needed the help of U.S. forces. A concerted pacification campaign, in coordination with tribal efforts, was implemented by U.S. and Iraqi security forces that fundamentally altered local security conditions in Fallujah.

This book describes the campaign that turned Fallujah from a perennial insurgent hotspot to an example of what can be achieved by the right combination of leadership and perseverance. Many books have told of the major battles in Fallujah--this book tells the rest of the story that never made the news.

About this title

About the Author:

Daniel R. Green is a defense fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, D.C. He served in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2007 as a tribal and leadership engagement officer and is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He received his PhD in political science from The George Washington University in 2012.

Brig. Gen. William F. Mullen, IIII USMC is a twenty-seven-year Marine infantry officer based in Quantico, Virginia, whose experience with Fallujah began when he served in the city as the operations officer for a Marine regimental combat team from 2005 to 2006, then as an infantry battalion commander in charge of the city for most of 2007.

Review:

"Fallujah Redux provides important information on how that battle was fought through a combination of replicating the successful counterinsurgency tactics of Ramadi, and engaging the local tribes and government. The U.S. did a lot of the heavy lifting but without Iraqi partners they could only do so much. It was only through a successful partnership between the Americans and Iraqis that things were turned around during this period." --Musings on Iraq

"The volume is both excellently crafted and well informed by a depth of knowledge of counterinsurgency doctrine and experience. It is reminiscent of Francis J. West's great book on counterinsurgency, The Village (New York, 1972), and it is likely that Fallujah Redux will one day become required reading for future counterinsurgency warfighters."--Army History

"Daniel Green and William Mullin's Fallujah Redux is a valuable installment in an emerging genre: the Iraq Surge memoir. Unlike the best previous studies of the Surge, which have centered on military planning and political processes within Multi-National Force, Iraq (MNF-I), this book recounts the experiences of two counterinsurgency practitioners at the tactical level of pacification. Fallujah Redux is an excellent starting place for both students and experts to learn about the Marine Corps' role in the 2007-8 pacification of Iraq, an uncommon example in post-1945 military history of America's ability to 'do counterinsurgency.'"--Michigan War Studies Review

"The book is quite good, and that makes me wish for more. In Fallujah Redux, Green and Mullen give us in abundance honor, courage and commitment-that of these two writers, and of the men with whom they served."--Marine Corps Gazette

"This is a great work that fills a much needed gap in explaining why the surge was successful in reducing violence in Iraq from 2006-2008. Fallujah Redux tells a story our Armed Forces should be proud of for the hard-fought accomplishments in a very difficult situation, and it should help the reader understand some of the complexities facing today's military. One hopes that many of the lessons of this book will be incorporated by our policy makers and military leaders so that we can end this cycle of deployments to a troubled but very important country to our security."--Naval History Book Reviews (NHF)

"The book is written from the perspective of the veterans who fought there. It is a comprehensive look at the events that transformed Fallujah from just another Iraqi city to a name catapulted to the world stage."--Military Heritage

"This insightful book presents a model of how determined, patient Americans can nurture local indigenous leaders and succeed in defeating a vicious insurgency inside a city. It is also a warning. The principles set forth in the book are sound. But the success of the Marines and the benevolent power gained by the Fallujah city council collapsed due to sectarian misrule by the central government in Baghdad. Authors Green and Mullen should be translated into Arabic as required reading for all Iraqi officials."--BING WEST, author of One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War

"The heart of the book focuses on Operation Alljah and the decisive four months from June to September 2007 during which the mythical 'tipping point' was reached and the population shifted overwhelmingly to the side of the local government. The story brings to life the central tenets of counterinsurgency theory and doctrine, illustrating the synergistic effects than can be achieved by a well-prepared, flexible and professional counterinsurgency force operating hand in hand with a representative, credible and legitimate host nation government. Moving beyond the cliché of 'hearts and minds,' the more power themes of trust, ownership, restraint, patience and perseverance take on real meaning. This is what rights looks like when it comes to operating 'by, with and through' at the tactical level."--Leatherneck

"Green and Mullen hit the nail on the head. Fallujah Redux is a finely-woven tale of the challenges U.S. service members faced in the campaign to wrest control of Fallujah from Iraq's insurgency. It underscores the reality that, once the initial kinetic phase of a counterinsurgent campaign concludes, the real work has only just begun. Green and Mullen reveal counterinsurgency for what it is: grinding, complex work that rarely bears immediate, tangible fruit. A timely contribution to the current body of literature, Fallujah Redux is a must-read for anyone seeking to insight into a war that the American people are quickly forgetting." --LtCol Seth W.B. Folsom, USMC, author of In the Gray Area: A Marine Advisor Team at War

"I met one of these authors, Dan Green, in Fallujah back in 2007. Dan knows Fallujah and he knows al-Anbar. This is a good book and it's an important book--one I hope our national leaders will read. Fallujah Redux has much to offer our policymakers as the ISIS challenge the government we left behind in Iraq."--DICK COUCH, author of Always Faithful, Always Forward: The Forging of a Special Operations Marine and Act of Revenge

About this edition

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1612511422
• ISBN 13: 9781612511429
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192