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(See introduction to series here.)
Dates below are for the publication of the story - not the events the reports describe.
Monday, 8 November, Opening salvos
U.S. Troops Advance To Fallouja's Edge
Patrick J. McDonnell, Alissa J. Rubin and John Hendren
BAGHDAD - U.S. warplanes pummeled suspected insurgent positions in Fallouja early today as thousands of American troops advanced to the edges of the rebel-held city and prepared to launch an all-out assault.
Iraqi commandos and U.S. troops captured a hospital in Fallouja late Sunday. The facility was seized "to ensure that there was a medical treatment facility available to the population as well as making sure the insurgents could not continue to exaggerate casualties," a senior Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity.
Iraqi Troops Prepare For A Fight
Patrick J. McDonnell
NEAR FALLOUJA, Iraq - Thousands of troops from the new Iraqi army are training at U.S. Marine bases here to participate alongside U.S. forces in a planned full-scale assault on the insurgent-held city of Fallouja in coming days.
Iraqi forces are integral to the onslaught, U.S. officials insisted, scoffing at suggestions that the Iraqis would only be window dressing to make any invasion seem an Iraqi operation.
"They're more than just a show," Lt. Col. Gareth Brandl said of the Iraqis. "They'll be with us - shoulder to shoulder."
Annan Defends Letter Warning Of Fallouja Risk
Maggie Farley
UNITED NATIONS - Despite accusations of interference, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that it was his duty to speak up about how an assault on Fallouja might increase insecurity and disrupt elections slated for January, though he recognized that the final decision belonged to Iraq.
"We know that obviously the Iraqi government is responsible for running its affairs. But we have the responsibility to assist and work with them on the elections, and so to express concern was our business," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's not something that one should take as amiss."
Tuesday, 9 November: The "real" battle begins
Rumsfeld Looks To Military Success To 'Tip' Iraqi Opinion
Mark Mazzetti
WASHINGTON - U.S. troops captured Saddam Hussein, killed his much-loathed sons and handed power over to an Iraqi interim government. But none of that succeeded in tipping Iraqi public opinion decisively in favor of the United States.
Now, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other officials say they are hoping that crushing militants in Fallouja will serve as a milestone for winning the backing of the Iraqi public and deflating the lethal insurgency.
2 Coalition Soldiers, 6 Iraqis Killed In Attacks
Alissa J. Rubin
BAGHDAD - A wave of bombings shook the capital Monday night, killing at least six Iraqis and wounding more than 40 others, Iraqi and American officials said. A U.S. soldier and a British soldier were killed in separate incidents.
The first blast, a car bomb, exploded about 6:25 p.m. near St. George's Church in southern Baghdad, just minutes after U.S. and Iraqi troops launched their attack to take back control of the rebel-held city of Fallouja, about 35 miles to the west.
U.S.-Iraqi Force Pushes Into Rebel-Held Fallouja
Patrick J. McDonnell, Alissa J. Rubin and John Hendren
FALLOUJA, Iraq - Ten thousand U.S. troops and more than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers in tanks and on foot attacked this insurgent stronghold Monday night in a long-planned offensive aimed at ending guerrilla control of the city.
House-to-house fighting raged in several Fallouja neighborhoods this morning as Marines pushed into the city under fire from insurgents holed up inside houses.
Patrick J. McDonnell
FALLOUJA, Iraq - The Marines rolled out before dawn Monday during a chilly downpour.
Water dripping from their combat gear, they walked half a mile from the staging area to the spot where a line of 7-ton troop trucks was waiting to transport them to the northern outskirts of this city.
The troops were eager to be on the move, especially toward Fallouja, where American forces began an invasion last April, but aborted the mission after five days. "Gentlemen, this is payback time," said 1st Sgt. Jose Andrade.
As the trucks began to roll, 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Rafael Pegeuro contrasted what he was about to do with what was going on his neighborhood in the Bronx. "My friends are back home flipping burgers."
Wednesday, 10 November: Has the enemy fled?
Reality Of Combat Hits U.S. Platoon
Patrick J. McDonnell
FALLOUJA, Iraq - The two dead insurgent fighters lay face down in the muddy road.
"There must be [more] bad guys around here," said Staff Sgt. Dennis Nash as he guided the 1st Platoon of Charlie Company past the bodies.
What followed was an hours-long series of firefights between the 1st Platoon and an often unseen rebel force firing from windows and alleyways in a neighborhood of stately two-story stucco houses and palm tree-lined streets.
Troops Push Deeper Into Fallouja
Patrick J. McDonnell, Mark Mazzetti and Alissa J. Rubin
FALLOUJA, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces pushed deeper into Fallouja on Tuesday and today, taking control of mosques, the City Hall complex and other key buildings as they searched house to house for weapons and guerrillas.
Troops from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, seized the City Hall near the city center without major resistance this morning as troops began the third day of their major offensive to take control of the insurgent stronghold, Marines said. Heavy fighting continued in some areas, including the Jolan district.
Several units encountered heavy fire from snipers and squads of guerrillas, but U.S. military leaders said that overall, resistance was lighter than expected and the advance was proceeding more quickly than anticipated.
Thursday, November 11: Hump day (this is not a 5-day week)
Forces Cross Key Road Into Fallouja's Heart
Patrick J. McDonnell, Alissa J. Rubin and Mark Mazzetti
FALLOUJA, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces pressed into the heart of Fallouja on Wednesday, chasing insurgents out of the city's battered northern neighborhoods and crossing a key highway into densely packed quarters to the south.
After three days of combat in which as many as 600 rebels may have been killed, military officials estimated that U.S. and Iraqi troops loosely controlled about 70% of the longtime insurgent stronghold. They cautioned, however, that they had not yet conducted coordinated, house-to-house clearing operations, and commanders believe that small bands of guerrillas are still operating in areas said to be in U.S. hands.
Sunnis, Shiites Divided In Response To Attack On Fallouja
Ashraf Khalil
AMMAN, Jordan - The U.S. and Iraqi military assault on Fallouja is drawing a diverse reaction from Iraqi citizens. Many decry the images of destruction, but residents in several cities describe the campaign as a painful necessity and the only way to quell the insurgent violence that continues to wrack the nation.
"They should have engaged Fallouja months ago in order to get rid of the terrorists who work against the interests of the Iraqi people and try to impede democracy in Iraq," said Muqdad Ali, a 30-year-old philosophy student in the Shiite Muslim-dominated city of Najaf, in the south.
Friday, 12 November: After the Night of Power
Beyond Embattled City, Rebels Operate Freely
Alissa J. Rubin and Tyler Marshall
BAGHDAD - Iraqi insurgents have extended their reach over large swaths of the country, including sections of the capital, making it unlikely that the United States can establish the stability needed for credible elections in January even if its forces succeed in Fallouja, military and political analysts say.
There is little doubt that American-led forces will recapture Fallouja within days, the analysts say. But U.S. officials who are planning for the election face another challenge: a law and order vacuum in many Sunni Muslim areas where there are no American or Iraqi forces and insurgents can operate with impunity.
Fallouja Toll Rises; Bombing In Baghdad
Alissa J. Rubin and John Hendren
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces pushed into southern Fallouja on Thursday after achieving many of their objectives elsewhere in the city. Continued heavy fighting in some areas increased the toll to 18 U.S. soldiers and five Iraqi officers killed since the beginning of the operation, press officers here said.
Violence flared elsewhere in the country. In Baghdad, a powerful car bomb ripped across a busy shopping street, killing at least 20 people and wounding 30, police on the scene said. In Mosul, the northern city that is Iraq's third largest, street fights raged for a second day and insurgents appeared to completely control several neighborhoods.
Fallouja Insurgency Chaotic, Persistent
Patrick J. McDonnell
FALLOUJA, Iraq ? The mosque had been taken, but the fire kept coming.
"We've got chunks of territory, but these guys [insurgents] are all over the place," Marine Lt. Brandon Turner said Thursday as he stood amid shattered glass and concrete under the green dome of the Khulafah Rashid mosque, his fellow Marines resting on a plush red carpet.
<...>
Mosques being used as military positions by insurgents have come under attack from Marines. The troops usually enter the facilities on the heels of U.S.-allied Iraqi forces after the guerrillas are flushed out. Laser-guided bombs have felled at least two minarets in which snipers were holed up. Marines have found extensive weapons caches and anti-American propaganda in several mosques.
"We have a lot of mosques in our AO [area of operations], and to the best of my knowledge in only one instance did we not receive fire from a mosque," said Capt. Matt Nodine, judge advocate for the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. "These mosques have lost the protections of the Geneva Convention. We are not here to destroy mosques. But the terrorists are using them and we will go after them."
At the majestic Khulafah Rashid mosque, on the highway that divides the northern and southern portions of Fallouja, Marines attacked after taking sniper fire from one of the facility's two minarets. That minaret now lies crumbled after being struck by a 500-pound laser-guided bomb from a U.S. aircraft.
The U.S.-led attacks on mosques have also served to halt the announcements from mosque loudspeakers urging people to resist the Americans. The taped recordings castigating the "infidels" could be heard throughout the first days of the invasion, infuriating Marines.
Saturday 13 November: The Push
Troops Shrink Insurgents' Turf
Patrick J. McDonnell
FALLOUJA, Iraq - U.S. forces moved Friday to consolidate control of the center of this rebel stronghold, pushing into southern neighborhoods to root out fighters dug in there.
As many as 50 rebels surrendered Friday, said Col. Craig Tucker, who heads one of the two regimental combat teams that swooped in from the north Monday.
"I understand from the enemy we have captured that their morale is low," said Lt. Col. Michael Ramos, who heads the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment. "They feel that the city is surrounded, and the only thing remaining for them is to surrender or die."
U.S. Forces Try To Quell Insurgency In Mosul
Alissa J. Rubin and Roaa Ahmed
MOSUL, Iraq - The Iraqi government hurriedly pulled in troops Friday to help control the burgeoning insurgency here, while Sunni Muslim preachers used weekly prayers to urge Iraqis to take up arms on behalf of their brothers in Fallouja.
The Iraqi government called in national guardsmen from camps on the Iranian and Syrian borders, according to an Associated Press report. Meanwhile, the U.S. moved a Marine Stryker battalion from Fallouja to help quell the violence in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city.
Sunday, 14 November: End game on the eve of Eid
U.S. Closes In, but Fallouja's Rebels Persist
FALLOUJA, Iraq - U.S. commanders said Saturday that they had established at least loose control over almost all of Fallouja, and estimated that 1,600 insurgents had been killed during the six-day battle to reclaim the city from the rebels.
As Marine units continued to press southward through the city, 1st Marine Division commander Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski said the battle had come down to "pockets of determined resistance" by increasingly hemmed-in militants.
Fighting continued throughout the city, but at a diminished pace, commanders reported.
"There are no high-fives yet," said Lt. Col. Gareth Brandl, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting. "This thing's not over."
Next: From London
