Editing Second Battle of Fallujah (section)

==Background==
In February 2004, control of [[Fallujah]] and the surrounding area in the [[Al Anbar Governorate]] was transferred from the United States [[82nd Airborne Division (United States)|82nd Airborne Division]] to the [[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division]]. Shortly afterward, on 31 March 2004, four American [[private military company|private military contractors]] from Blackwater – Wesley Batalona, [[Scott Helvenston]], Jerry Zovko, and Michael Teague – were [[March 31, 2004 Fallujah ambush|ambushed and killed]] in the city.<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-59184-745-8 |last1=Prince |first1=Erik |last2=Coburn |first2=Davin |title=Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror |location=New York |date=2014}}</ref> Images of their mutilated bodies were broadcast around the world.<ref>{{cite news|work=Frontline |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/contractors/highrisk.html |publisher=PBS|title=Frontline: Private Warriors: Contractors: The High-risk Contracting Business}}</ref> Journalist [[Jeremy Scahill]] later called this incident the [[Mogadishu]] moment of the Iraq War (referencing the [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]], also known as the "Black Hawk Down" incident).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scahill |first1=Jeremy |title=Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army |date=2008 |publisher=Nation Books |isbn=9781568583945}}</ref> Although tactical commanders in Iraq considered these deaths militarily insignificant, U.S. political leaders disapproved of a measured approach targeting the perpetrators and instead requested a larger assault into the city.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rayburn |first1=Joel D. |title=The U.S. Army in the Iraq War |date=January 2019 |publisher=Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press |page=283}}</ref> A leak later revealed that the main factor behind this{{clarify|date=December 2022}} wasn't the killings themselves, but the circulation of images of the event which served as a symbol of opposition to American forces in Iraq.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barski |first1=Justin |date=July 2018 |title=Spectacular Atrocity: The capture and dissemination of images for terrorist aims |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2100787857 |journal=Afterimage |volume=45 |issue=4 |page=9 |doi=10.1525/aft.2018.45.4.6|s2cid=159357159 |id={{ProQuest|2100787857}} |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Within days, U.S. Marine Corps forces launched [[Operation Vigilant Resolve]] (5 April 2004) to take back control of the city from insurgent forces. On 28 April 2004, Operation Vigilant Resolve ended with an agreement where the local population was ordered to keep the insurgents out of the city.<ref name="ricks2" /> The Fallujah Brigade, composed of local Iraqis under the command of a former [[Ba'athist]] officer named [[Muhammed Latif]], took control of the city.<ref>{{cite news |title=Trouble in town |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/30/1088488026064.html |newspaper=[[The Age]] |date=1 July 2004 |access-date=25 December 2010}}</ref>

Insurgent strength and control began to grow to such an extent that by 24 September 2004, a senior U.S. official told [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] that catching [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]], said to be in Fallujah, was now "the highest priority," and estimated his troops at 5,000 men, mostly non-Iraqis.<ref>{{cite web |author=Brian Ross |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=131414 |title=Tracking Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi |publisher=ABC News |date=24 September 2004 |access-date=19 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128205514/http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=131414 |archive-date=28 January 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the stated purpose of the military operation in Fallujah was to weaken the insurgency in preparation for the planned Iraqi elections in January 2005.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. hits Fallujah from air, ground |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2884045 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041109043356/http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2884045 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 November 2004 |date=4 November 2004}}</ref>