American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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and not allowed to hold important offices. Farther north, the areas are
dominated by Kurds, who, though mostly Sunni, have separate traditions
and often don’t think of themselves as being part of Iraq. Saddam
considered them to be an inferior people; during one political
suppression, he ordered chemical weapons used and waged a
despicable ethnic-cleansing campaign.)
While using Fallujah as a base to attack the surrounding area and
Baghdad, the insurgents spent considerable time fortifying the city so
they could withstand another attack. They stockpiled ammo and
weapons, prepared IEDs, and fortified houses. Mines were planted,
and roads closed off so they could be used for ambushes. “Rat holes”
were created in compound walls, allowing insurgents to move from
one house to another, avoiding streets. Many if not all of the two hundred
mosques in the city became fortified bunkers, since the insurgents
knew that Americans respected houses of worship as sacred and
therefore were reluctant to attack there. A hospital was turned into an
insurgent headquarters and used as a base of operations for the insurgents’
propaganda machine. In sum, the city was a terrorist fortress by
the summer of 2004.
In fact, the insurgents were confident enough to regularly launch
rocket attacks against U.S. bases in the area and ambush convoys
moving on the main roads. Finally, the American command decided
that enough was enough—Fallujah had to be retaken.
The plan they drew up was called Phantom Fury. The city would
be cut off so that enemy supplies and reinforcements could no longer
get in. The insurgents in Fallujah would be rooted out and destroyed.