The First Battle of Fallujah, also known as Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an unsuccessful attempt by the U.S. military to capture the city of Fallujah in April 2004.
The chief catalyst for the operation was the highly-publicized killing and mutilation of four Blackwater USA private military contractors, and the killings of five American soldiers in Habbaniyah a few days earlier.
The battle polarized public opinion within Iraq, and the failure of the operation to fully realize its tactical objectives would lead to a far more decisive engagement later in the year, the Second Battle of Fallujah.
Read more about First Battle Of Fallujah: Background, Blackwater Deaths, The Campaign, Legacy, Participating Units, In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
“Much have I seen and known—cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honored of them all—
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)