The Second Battle of Fallujah has begun. After weeks of failed attempts to negotiate with the various indigenous local factions, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has declared a state of emergency and has given the vast forces arrayed against Fallujah the permission to attack. The Adventures of Chester provides the order of battle, which is a mix of American Marines, The British Black Watch Regiment and 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, Iraqi forces and possibly the U.S. Army’s 10th Special forces. According to CENTCOM, the “Iraqi forces will comprise a major element of the assault including five Iraqi army battalions,…

“First we’re going to cut it off, and then we’re going to kill it.” General Colin Powell, Gulf War I The battle to retake the untamed region of Iraq commonly known as the Sunni Triangle has been underway for several months. While there has been reporting of the discrete assaults on individual cities and towns, I have yet to read a comprehensive report on the scope of the conflict. This post is an attempt to piece together the individual accounts and draw a picture of the ongoing battle that is leading up to the showdown in Fallujah. There is little…
