Editing First Battle of Fallujah (section)

== Blackwater deaths ==
{{Further|31 March 2004 Fallujah ambush}}

On 31 March 2004, Iraqi insurgents in [[Fallujah]] ambushed a convoy containing four American [[private military contractor]]s from [[Blackwater USA]] who were conducting delivery for food caterers [[Eurest Support Services|ESS]].<ref name = Frontline>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/contractors/highrisk.html |title=frontline: private warriors: contractors: the high-risk contracting business |publisher=PBS |access-date=19 May 2011}}</ref>

The four armed contractors, [[Scott Helvenston]], Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague, were killed by machine gun fire and a grenade thrown through a window of their SUVs. A mob then set their bodies ablaze, and their corpses were dragged through the streets before being hung over a bridge crossing the [[Euphrates]].<ref name=autogenerated5>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/05/iraq.main/index.html |publisher=CNN | title=Marines, Iraqis join forces to shut down Fallujah | date=6 April 2004 | access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/31/iraq.main/ |publisher=CNN | title=U.S. expects more attacks in Iraq | date=6 May 2004 | access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> The insurgents provided images to [[news agency|news agencies]] for broadcast worldwide, causing a great deal of indignation and moral outrage in the United States.<ref name = Frontline /> An announcement of an upcoming "pacification" of the city promptly followed.

The intended [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] strategy of [[patrol|foot patrols]], less aggressive raids, [[humanitarian aid]], and close cooperation with local leaders was suspended on orders to mount a military operation to clear guerrillas from Fallujah.

[[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]] was originally suspected as the organizer of the ambush<ref name = RobinsonBook /> as he was known to be planning attacks and believed to be in the area.<ref name = CNNrecovery>{{cite news|title = Coalition recovers 4 mutilated bodies|date = 14 April 2004|access-date = 7 December 2016|publisher = [[CNN]]|url = http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/13/iraq.main/|first1 = Caroline|last1 = Faraj|first2 = Jaime|last2 = FlorCruz|first3 = Octavia|last3 = Nasr|first4 = Jamie|last4 = McIntyre|first5 = Claudia|last5 = Otto|first6 = Elise|last6 = Labott|first7 = Barbara|last7 = Starr}}</ref> The intelligence community was doubtful, however, because the exhibitionism of broadcasting images of the desecration of the victim's bodies was uncharacteristic of al-Zarqawi, whose typical style was to leak to [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] that he had planned an attack some weeks after it occurred.<ref name = RobinsonBook /> Intelligence reports ultimately concluded that [[Ahmad Hashim Abd al-Isawi]] was the mastermind behind the attack.<ref name = RobinsonBook /><ref>{{cite news|title = Navy SEALS tragedy in Afghanistan chronicled in new film, "Lone Survivors"|first = Tom|last = Deignan|date = 22 December 2013|access-date = 28 November 2016|url = http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/others/navy-seals-tragedy-in-afghanistan-chronicled-in-new-film-lone-survivors-236927721-238264231|newspaper = IrishCentral}}</ref> By September 2004, al-Zarqawi was the "highest priority" target in Fallujah for the United States military;<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/20180805112247/https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=131414 |archive-date=5 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> he died in a [[targeted killing]] in June 2006 when a [[United States Air Force]] jet dropped two 500-pound (230&nbsp;kg) guided bombs on the safehouse in which he was attending a meeting.<ref>{{cite news|title = At Site of Attack on Zarqawi, All That's Left Are Questions|first1 = Dexter|last1 = Filkins|first2 = John F.|last2 = Burns|access-date = 7 December 2016|date = 11 June 2006|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/world/middleeast/11scene.html}}</ref>

al-Isawi was also an important target, whose attacks continued until a 2009 SEAL special operation raid captured him without a shot being fired.<ref name = RobinsonBook>{{cite book|title = Honor and Betrayal: The Untold Story of the Navy Seals Who Captured the "Butcher of Fallujah"—and the Shameful Ordeal They Later Endured|isbn = 9780306823091|year = 2013|last = Robinson|first = Patrick|author-link = Patrick Robinson (author)|publisher = [[Perseus Book Group]]|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NUQPAAAAQBAJ}}</ref> He made accusations of mistreatment while in custody, and testified in April 2010 at the ensuing [[court-martial|courts-martial]] against three Navy SEALs (all of whom were acquitted).<ref>{{cite news|title = Navy SEAL not guilty of charges in Iraq|publisher=CNN|date = 22 April 2010|access-date = 28 November 2016|url = https://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/22/navy.seal.verdict/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Navy SEAL Found Not Guilty of Assaulting a Suspected Terrorist|publisher = [[Fox News Channel]]|date = 6 May 2010|url = https://www.foxnews.com/us/navy-seal-found-not-guilty-of-assaulting-a-suspected-terrorist/|access-date = 28 November 2016|first = Steve|last = Centanni}}</ref> Subsequently, he was handed over to Iraqi authorities, who tried and executed him by [[hanging]] at some point before November 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title = Persecuting Our Heroes|first = Ray V.|last = Hartwell|newspaper = [[The American Spectator]]|date = 26 November 2013|access-date = 7 December 2016|url = https://spectator.org/56777_persecuting-our-heroes/}}</ref>