Inside The Wire

Just two days ago, I wrote about how we were able to understand how the insurgency in Anah really operated from the top down and how we had a plan to dismantle that insurgency by removing the key players—the "mob" leadership. Well, I normally write my weekly submissions on Mondays, but this news couldn't wait. 

Intel and Mega-Surge = Success, and no Casualties
 

During a 24-hour period of surge operations, my already-reinforced company was further reinforced from battalion to enable us to hunt down and capture or kill these insurgent leaders. We planned to conduct a series of multiple night raids, beginning first with the senior leadership in Anah (the emirs) and, depending on that success, continuing with as many of the "soldiers" as possible. I cannot get into the intelligence that provided all this information, but we've had incredible success.

In one eight-hour surge, we detained all but one of the emirs in Anah and several of the soldiers. We detained the remaining emir's three-man personal security detachment. It was amazing! Because it was after curfew, anyone spotted outside a house was automatically suspected of being an insurgent and was to be detained. At one time, there were about 100 Marines in the area of a city block. Quite an impressive display of firepower. Even more impressive was the fact that the entire operation was conducted without firing a single shot or taking a single casualty. After eight hours, my Marines and I were spent. We returned to base to regroup, rest and reorganize. 

Emir in Farmer's Clothing

Taking advantage of the momentum we had created, we shifted our focus off the remaining soldiers and turned instead to a plan to capture or kill the head emir for our entire area of operations (AO). I launched a company-sized raid on a compound where we believed he lived and met with the emirs of the local areas. No adults were found at the site, but one of my platoons located three adults just outside the target area who claimed to be farmers. I ordered the platoon commander to detain them, and we soon realized that we had, in fact, detained the head emir. 

After searching the area for further intelligence and contraband, we returned to base, but I decided to leave a platoon as a "remain behind." I thought that with as much havoc as we had caused the previous evening, any remaining insurgent leaders would want to meet with the "mob boss" for instructions. Not two hours after we had left the target area, I received a radio call from my remain-behind platoon commander, saying that he had just detained the last emir, the one who had escaped the previous night, as he attempted to enter the mob boss's compound.

A Kick-Ass Bumper Sticker for My LAV

So, in one 24-hour period, my Marines were able to detain every known insurgent leader in Anah as well as the emir for the entire AO of my battalion. I am not so naïve as to think that the war is over and we can all go home, but I am confident that our recent actions will have a significant impact on the insurgents' ability to operate in my AO. I'm immensely proud of the performance of my Marines. With little time to create "the perfect plan" and operating often on quick, fragmentary orders, they were extremely successful. I think we need a bumper sticker for our LAVs: "My Marines kicked your insurgents' ass!"

Photos courtesy of Maj Jim Williamson, USMC

About the Author: Maj James R. Williamson is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1997 upon graduation from the Citadel. Maj Williamson served as the Commanding Officer, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion in Iraq from October 2006 to April 2007.