After the fall of Baghdad in April of 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom transformed from a conventional war into a murky struggle against a multi-faceted insurgency. Nothing was more emblematic of this new phase than the city of Fallujah.
In November of 2004, American forces launched Operation Phantom Fury to recapture Fallujah, a heroic and harrowing story which is best told in Bing West's book No True Glory. Military officials recounted the battle as "some of the heaviest urban combat Marines and Army infantry soldiers have been involved in since Vietnam." All told, it was one of the most decisive moments in the history of the war.
The Fallujah invasion was a classic 'hammer and anvil' strategy. The bridges, highways, and other periphery choke-points were captured first in order to corner the enemy (anvil), then the secondary force moved in with a direct frontal assault (hammer). The weakness of this tactic is that it encourages the enemy to fight more fiercely since escape is made impossible.
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