2004 Fallujah ambush

The ambush

The four contractors —Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Mike Teague—were killed and dragged from their vehicles. Their bodies were beaten, burned, dragged through the city streets, and hung from a Euphrates River bridge.

Response

Photos of the event, showing jubilant Iraqis posing with the charred corpses, were released to news agencies worldwide. It caused a great deal of indignation in the United States and undermined the media narrative that US involvement in Iraq was a short-term operation welcomed by the civilian population.

The ambush led to the First Battle of Fallujah, a U.S.-led operation to retake control of the city. The battle was halted mid-way for political reasons, an outcome that a few commentators have described as insurgent victory. Seven months later, in November 2004, a second misson to capture the city, the Second Battle of Fallujah, proved successful.

Intelligence reports concluded that the attack was planned by Ahmad Hashim Abd al-Isawi. He was captured by Navy SEALs in 2009, five years later. al-Isawi was held for a time by the United States intelligence community, including at Camp Schwedler. In 2010, he testified at a court-martial of SEALs he accused of mistreating him. He was subsequently handed over to Iraqi authorities for trial and executed by hanging some time before November 2013.

2005 lawsuit

Main article: Helvenston v. Blackwater Security

The families of the victims filed suit (Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security) against Blackwater USA for wrongful death in January 2005.

References

References

1. "Contractors - The High-Risk Contracting Business {{!}} Private Warriors {{!}} FRONTLINE".
2. Bing West. (2005). "No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah". Bantam Books.
3. Meyer, Michael Canyon. (2014-03-14). "The 10th anniversary of a photo that changed the Iraq War". Columbia Journalism Review.
4. West xxii. "The Second Phase began in March 2004, when four American contractors were killed and the bodies mutilated in broad daylight in the heart of the city. The US Marines were ordered to seize the city, but then, due to international outrage over televised reportage of the assault, were told to stop. For six weeks the Marines engaged in fierce but inconclusive siege warfare."
5. LeBleu, Joe. "Long Rifle: A Sniper's Story in Iraq and Afghanistan", p. 201. "In mid-April 2003, President Bush decided not to secure Fallujah...laying the groundwork for later U.S. failure there."
6. Scahill, Jeremy. "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army", p. 205. "The horrors unfolding in Fallujah, coupled with the U.S. failure to take control of the city, and the bold resistance of Fallujah's residents was encouraging other Iraqis to rise up."
7. Deignan, Tom. (December 22, 2013). "Navy SEALS tragedy in Afghanistan chronicled in new film, "Lone Survivors"". IrishCentral.
8. ((CNN Wire Staff)). (April 22, 2010). "Navy SEAL not guilty of charges in Iraq". [[CNN]].
9. Hartwell, Ray V.. (November 26, 2013). "Persecuting Our Heroes". [[The American Spectator]].