Battle of Ramadi (2006)

Battle of Ramadi (2006)
Part of Iraq War

1st Armored Division soldiers take up positions on a street corner during a foot patrol in Ramadi, August 2006
DateMarch 15 – November 15, 2006
(8 months)
Location
Result Coalition victory[3][4]
Belligerents
United States United States
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Iraq New Iraqi Army

Mujahideen Shura Council

Islamic State of Iraq[2]
Commanders and leaders

United States COL Sean MacFarland
United States LTC Ronald Clark

United States MAJ Matthew J Van Wagenen
United States LCDR Jocko Willink
United States LtCol Stephen Neary USMC
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Strength
United States 5,500 troops
United Kingdom 500 troops
~5,000 insurgents (U.S. estimate)
Casualties and losses

United States 94 killed
200+ wounded
United Kingdom 4 killed
9 wounded

Iraq 30 killed
749 confirmed killed (roughly 1,100 estimated killed)[5]

The Battle of Ramadi was fought during the Iraq War from March 2006 to November 2006, for control of the capital of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A joint US military force under the command 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division and Iraqi Security Forces fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi. Coalition strategy relied on establishing a number of patrol bases called Combat Operation Posts throughout the city.

U.S. military officers believe that insurgent actions during the battle led to the formation of the Anbar Awakening. In August, insurgents executed a tribal sheik who was encouraging his kinsmen to join the Iraqi police and prevented his body from being buried in accordance with Islamic laws. In response, Sunni sheiks banded together to drive insurgents from Ramadi. In September 2006, Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha formed the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of approximately 40 Sunni tribes.[6]

U.S. Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the battle. On September 29, 2006, he threw himself upon a grenade which threatened the lives of the other members of his team. Monsoor had previously been awarded the Silver Star in May for rescuing an injured comrade in the city.

The battle was marked with the first death of a U.S. Navy SEAL in Iraq, Marc Alan Lee, August 2, 2006.[7]

The battle also marked the first use of chlorine bombs by insurgents during the war. On October 21, 2006, insurgents detonated a car-bomb with two 100-pound chlorine tanks, injuring three Iraqi policemen and a civilian in Ramadi.

  1. ^ Urban, Mark (2012). Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 178. ISBN 978-1250006967.
  2. ^ Urban, Mark (2012). Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 183. ISBN 978-1250006967.
  3. ^ Fumento, Michael. "Return to Ramadi" (PDF). The Weekly Standard. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
  4. ^ Couch, Dick (September 2010). The Sheriff of Ramadi: Navy Seals and the Winning of al-Anbar. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-147-1.
  5. ^ Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the SAS and the Secret War in Iraq by Mark Urban
  6. ^ Pitman, Todd (2007-03-25). "Iraq's Sunni sheiks join Americans to fight insurgency". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  7. ^ "I lost my Navy SEAL son in Ramadi. The city's future still matters to me". Washington Post. 2021-10-27. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-04-13.

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