Sign up for Bright Cellars today and save 50% off of your first 6-bottle box of wine: www.brightcellars.com/armchair/ Special thanks to these veterans of this battle for assisting with the script: MSG Brett Walsh, US Army & 1LT Mark Murphy, US Army. Sign up for Armchair History TV today! armchairhistory.tv/ Promo code: ARMCHAIRHISTORY for 50% OFF Merchandise available at store.armchairhistory.tv/ Check out the new Armchair History TV Mobile App too! apps.apple.com/us/app/armchair-history-tv/id1514643375 play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.uscreen.armchairhistorytv Discord: discord.gg/zY5jzKp Twitter: twitter.com/ArmchairHist
Are you high? There are countless books on the matter. What? "My SchOOl" "diD noT TEAch it". Oh please. Read it yourself or take up a College/Post secondary course
@@johnpijano4786 he means it's not as known as the great war and the 2nd world war. Where I'm from in the UK op desert storm and other operations in the middle east are very really talked about in schools and college whereas both world wars are pretty well covered
@@johnpijano4786 most people only have a basic understanding and interest in history, and yeah there are plenty of books but the vast mayority of modern media usualy delves either in the past or in fantasy
Like the several ongoing conflicts such as the Yemeni civil war, like 4 wars in Africa. And yet we hear jack about these conflicts, I barely even knew that Russia has been moving borders for a decade now in Ukraine and Georgia, yet news companies can give a platform to anti-vax nutters and old people complaining about anything even slightly progressive. The world we live in
@@johnrambo2706 It is the wiser decision. Personally I'd just dig in for a siege and starve them out with around the clock artillery to drain morale. Anybody that comes out and surrenders can be interred. I mean why play by the enemy rules when they can come to you at your advantage? Israel another morally unscupulous state has shown that flattening a few neighborhoods works pretty well. It won't make you loved or popular, but it works.
Yeah same. I recently saw American Sniper and it sparked my interest in these sorts of modern middle eastern battles, video was definitely worth the wait
*There's a game called "Six days in Fallujah" which attempts to capture the horror of US soldiers trying to breach and clear these houses. It also features testimonies from soldiers who were there, in the form of short clips between missions. The game was in development many years ago but got canceled due to public backlash... but at the beginning of this year the developers announced a continuation of the games development.*
It was because at that time the Iraq War was ongoing and there lots of opposition to US involvement in that region and our guys were dying while performing occupation duties after Saddam got overthrown during the initial March 2003 invasion.
@@ProxiProtogen no it got backlash from the parents of dead soldiers who died in Fallujah, that's why it was shelved for years. now in a post-Afghanistan scenario , this game is not gonna have that much impact in promoting jingoism. and i bet you on day one of release, there are gonna be alot of people (especially Iraqis) pointing out whats not in the game like the birth defect children from white phosphorus exposure. if the game is that case, where its just strictly the American POV and never really presents civilian POVs, the game is just gonna be a generic war game like ShellShock: Nam 67' at best
My stepfather was KIA on November 12, 2004 following a battle with the insurgents of Fullujah. Although it hurts, I’m thankful for Armchair covering this battle. It means a lot.
@@YouViolatedTheNAP what terr? There was no terr when saddam was in charge The gov was secular btw and both commies and islamist supported him U people made the war solely on that Sadam had WMD but he didn't also even if he did Why ya western can have those while we can't? If we had them u ame wouldn't even dare to attack us just look at NK
It's amazing to hear this was the bloodiest battle in Iraq by US forces, then hear that there were only 700 casualties over several weeks. After listening to WWII and Vietnam stories it seems so underwhelming, even though it was insanely brutal.
In the age of modern warfare, where you can kill your enemy before they can even see you, "700" casualties is really huge. P.S. The real number was much higher than 700, more like 3700...
It’s different now, armies have become more like quality instead of quantity because each soldier is equipped with thousands of dollars; and in WWII it was different, there were millions of soldiers from each side that were barely equipped compared to what is use today
This place was insane. It sounds cliche, but there's no way to really describe this stuff to anyone. It's weird how 18 years later. A smell or sound can trigger the brain and put you right back there in a second.
@Chard askie I never ran into any Scots. Just a handful of Royal Marines was about it. I'm pretty sure they held their own pretty well. Great people when on your side
@@chrisblack2330 you have zero intellectual curiosity of the residents of falujah before the invasion. Don't speak for people you give zero ducks about.
@@MASTEROFEVIL look up footage of SVBIEDs from mosul. 500 of them pouring out of every hole and most of them were recorded from the air by the insurgents reconnaissance drones, i think those are the most interesting and crazy combat footage ever after ww2 air battles taken from plane cameras
I remember hearing about Falluja as a kid and seeing some interviews with some house-clearing veterans, I even met a guy who was deployed into Falluja in 2006.
One of my childhood best friends is a combat veteran who fought in this battle. One day after a few drinks by the fire he opened up about his experience in Fallujah and how fighting these insurgents was something none of them could prepare for. He said some of them were high on drugs and could take multiple rounds without stopping. At one point a SAW gunner ripped a insurgents leg off and he remembers the guy staggering back up on one leg screaming at them while continuing to fire his weapon. He said everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing until the insurgent finally collapsed in the street from blood loss. Thankfully my friend made it out and now has a beautiful family but the PTSD still effects him everyday.
I don't think they were high on drugs they were high on adrenaline to resist occupation of homeland. The death they received is the death they were looking for. Thanks to Bush both your friend and the Iraqi suffered and are suffering.
@Jinx Vanderz well it isn't really OP's friend's fault, he wasn't the one who decided to invade, he was only following orders, if you want to blame someone, blame the politicians, they were the one who made decisions. *Imo* only blame the soldier if the soldier was committing war crimes because he/she wanted to, and was absolutely conscious that what they were doing was wrong.
My dad was there. Third Battalion, Fifth Marines. Ironically enough, I myself ended in 3/5 when I enlisted. Couple of the old timers in the battalion HQ remembered him.
Thanks for the both of your services! And, pretty cool, I think, that you and your dad are soldiers, it’s like a great blood is within you! Courage within your veins!
I’m from Canada but I remember watching a really good report on this battle from some British news agency, just like a month after it happened. I can’t remember anything more than that, other than those Brits almost turned it into a historical documentary the way they presented it. Of course it was coupled with front line footage. It was really good and also very shocking!
@@church6882 Perhaps! I just remember them going into huge detail about how the American columns would enter the city from different directions, and what zones each would be clearing etc. Just was really informative and well done!
@@safeysmith6720 I think i seen that one. A US Marine who had Arabic Christian parents entered a regular family's house who weren't part of the war... his unit exited, and you can see him kiss his hands and then plant the kiss on the door of the home they just breached.
@@CaliPlays5651 thats how war is, civilians are going to be caught in the crossfire, those US marines didn't know which buildings had terrorists and which didn't
Maybe you could do a video about the Grozny siege of 1994? The 90s war was similiar to Fallujah in a way, with the islamic insurgents fighting a large enemy. The video could also dive deeper into the corruption that went on during the battle, aswell as how chaotic it was on the Russian side.
Yeah! It could be another episode in a "Blunders Of Wars" series! Sending armored personnel carriers into the city center as a propaganda stunt didn't turn out to be a good idea, if I remember correctly. Because there are armor piercing grenades around from any window and they are uncomfortable for the passengers.
@@B10101 @B J Dudayev loved organizing militias so yeah that's somewhat accurate. What they didn't make up for with soldiers & mercenaries, they made up for with their money.
@Björn Larsson The Russians lost something like 26 percent of all vehicles in the operational area from what I recall, a substantial number of about 200-300 I think? Were T'72's and T-80's. The T-80 underperforming so badly that high level Russian military officials openly talked about scrapping the entire design due to for instance a catastrophic weakness in parts of its armor that the designers said would be accounted for by certain internal components. Russian infantry didn't do too much better. There was a battle for the cities train depot and marshalling yard in which I want to say an entire battalion of Russian troops were wiped out to a man and numerous other units were savaged by chechen red army veterans from the soviet war in afghanistan.
A friend of mines older brother fought here. When he got home his parents told me and his brother ( I think we were in 6th grade at the time) don’t push him to tell any stories , if he wants to tell you he will but if he does listen, really listen. Well eventually he did tell us about Fallujah and to this day , the far away look in his eyes when he did haunts me
@@tarix_x2368 That was one of the aspects of Iraq that was so difficult. Groups could be any number of things including but not limited to: pro-Saddam baathists, Sunni jihadists, pro-Iranian Shiites, pro-American democracy fighters, Kurdish nationalists, and so many others. All of these groups fought for drastically different things and all of them dressed very similarly. Trying to tell one group from another was a lesson in confusion.
So he show up in an other country participating in many crime and kill many people, and when he back home the far still in his eyes I know many mother that lost there shildren of 6-7 years old or there adult sons what can american tell them? We are also sad that we lost soldier that we sent ?
@xIAMxTHATxGUYx Rules of war are only between two nations fighting a war like gentlemen. Terrorists and insurgents are not members of a rival military. They are murderers. They have no rights whatsoever. You can kill or torture them in any way and you do not violate rules of war. Because you are not fighting a war with them. Wars are between nations.
My mom's birthday was during that fight and of course it was my turn to be on point that day. My nerves were fine until then and I was absolutely terrified that I'd wind up dead on my mom's birthday. No matter what I absolutely could not allow that to happen. We didn't assault through every house by the way. Like you said those houses were essentially giant bunkers so if we ran into a fighting position and the Army was around we'd have a Bradley open up with it's 25mm cannon, one of our tanks put a shell into it or we'd launch a SMAW through a window and the pressure from the explosion would kill just about everyone in there if it didn't just outright collapse the place. Honestly... the middle eastern guys we were fighting were a joke. Don't get me wrong, they could still kill you with a lucky shot but those guys watched too many 80s movies because they fired everything from the hip. No, the guys we had to worry about were the Chechens. Those guys were well trained, had at least a decade's worth of experience and were there specifically to die fighting. We abliged them but those guys had no quit whatsoever. Us Marines respected them highly for that.
@@edscmidt5193 Because they stick out like sore thumbs in the desert. They're White people from the Caucuse Mountain region of Southern Europe. They have red hair. They are not Arabs. They are clearly not from Iraq, just like the Americans aren't from Iraq.
@@jimmyliang4414 bit of a change in topic perhaps, but are the Taliban similar to the middle easterns you just mentioned in terms of their accuracy/skill. Or are they more like the Chechens.
@@jimmyliang4414 Still lose in Afghanistan. LOOOOOOL. I cant believe some drug guys with AKs Fucked you guys and your allies so hard...Now they are ruling... Still you can hide your shame by talking none-sense. Such a shame...
Sounds like hell tbh. But by this point i thought most marines were equipped with A4's, maybe I'm wrong. Though i dont doubt a lot of A2's stuck around, cause you know how the marines are with getting rid of old stuff lol.
I came into the Marine Corps around the time when most of my recruiters and senior NCOs were veterans of Fallujah. They had a different way about them. I think that battle defined the Iraq generation in a way that one can visually distinguish an Iraq veteran from an Afghanistan veteran.
+ Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Amen 🙏!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The man in Luke 16:24 cries: ". . .I am tormented in this FLAME." In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE,. . ." Revelation 20:15 says, " And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE."
@@alvojnikovic2171 more battle hardened. House by house is way more vicious and has more fire fights. Lots of Afghanistan was open long distance shooting and when it got tough a-10s would remove the enemy. I’d assume most major casualties in Afghanistan were IED vs gun shot.
@@thinkingboi9508 Maybe he's not a wine guy. Doesn't really mean the wine isn't good. Just means that he obviously did not buy that wine for personal consumption.
@@Retaliatixn These battles took place during the Vietnam War and were between the North Vietnam Army vs the South Vietnam Army and US Marines and Army
The Tet offensive as a whole would be interesting. Ho Chi Minh's gamble for the South that would result in unbelievably catastrophic loss of life for the Communists, yet end up being the real turning point in the war for them.
I would love too see something like this on the battle of Manilla, it is a very overlooked Urban battle and is the only major Urban fighting of the Pacific theater.
@@kostakatsoulis2922 Pretty much yeah. Especially because, upon realising that they were losing, the imperial japanese took out their frustrations on the civilians trapped in the city. We're talking executions, torture, random violence and especially widespread rape. The japanese commanders explicitly told their men to do this as well, seeing nothing wrong with it at all. Goes to show how fucked up extreme ultranationlism is.
which reminds of the recent but brutal the battle of marawi , it was very much like fallujah or mosul in the intensity of the fighting and destruction and has a formidable resiliant militant combatants
Advertising Bright Cellars for when the PTSD laden vet comes watching so that he may fancily drink himself blackout drunk! Classy move Armchair. I approve.
(A-) I am a Marine, active from 95 to 07 wounded the morning of 11/10/04. You got the big strokes right but quite a bit of missing context in regards to the foreign fighters, civilians casualties, Zarqawi, and the Jolon. These Jihadists showed up to die in place in the hope of inflicting high enough casualties to break embarrass American Forces and break the will of the American public. This was their Alamo. I would highly recommend for anyone interested in a deeper dive read No True Glory by Bing West
@@Darkestdarkify definitely, when I woke up from surgery in theatre there was a paper plate with a big slice of cake sitting on my chest and my radio operator (also wounded) sitting on the next cot grinning like a cat.
@@Shred_Tube No, the Mahdi were Shia, and predominately south and southeast of Bagdad. Western Iraq was dominated by Sunni (Fallujah is part of the "Sunni Triangle") and a much more secular power structure. However, it would not surprise me to find out that limited numbers likely came for the fight just for the chance to kill some of us, but with no uniforms, we likely will never know. My opinion of all we faced is grudging respect. They fought for what they thought was right against an enemy with a fearsome reputation and record of success on the battlefield.
I still remember being a young Marine listening to NCO’s & SNCOs talk about Iraq. I even remember one who’s elbow would set off the armory metal detector “courtesy of the Iraqi army.”
@@shutup2751 I personally think things would’ve gone smoother had the Iraqi army been left intact, but in the short term that may have led to some brutal acts on the civilian populace.
@@shutup2751 They had to keep it even after the regime change, but I'd assume that they changed its members (so as to get rid of the Saddam loyalists), but what do I know?
Squads fun and all, untill you realize that the sheer amount of times you would die in that game fucking around, was prolly similar to how military mfs had it too. Really shows how well trained they are. They all got only one chance.
4:45 “Frequent bombardments of any house suspected (…)” The unbelievable violence of this simple sentence…. 😞 Congratulations for the quite balanced video, explaining well both the objectives, the challenges as well as the consequences and question marks of the battle.
Capturing and conveying the horrors of Urban Warfare that was a day to day reality for both sides during the battle in a short video is nearly impossible, but you guys nonetheless did a great job in your presentation
You do really good work. My unit was in this battle, I got out August 2004. So it was fantastic to see all the work you guys did on a battle that so many of my friends were in.
Hey Grif, I’ve been watching your videos for a while. I will admit that there are some I skip due to the subject nature being completely out of my interest but I try to come back to them. I just appreciate the videos and especially the way you articulate the info. The intro of this video in particular gives me goosebumps. I was only 9-10 years old at the time of this battle and I’m not sure why but the pictures I’ve seen from these days of the GWoT are seared into my consciousness. The intro of this one really put me in the shoes of “the point man”, from the last deep breath taken as he prepares himself outside the door, to the tap on his shoulder from his squad mate letting him know it’s time, to the dump of adrenaline that he gets as he breaches the door and clears the threshold. I find myself now as a 28 year old trying to seek out and find documentaries and testimonials from the young men (and women) who were there in Iraq and Afghanistan. This battle in particular really strikes me as it was the bloodiest battle of the Iraq war for the US and because a large bulk of the fighting in this battle was done by young Marines and Paratroopers as opposed to Special Operators who were more trained and more experienced to what a modern, urban war against a fanatical insurgent enemy looked like.
I mean, maybe I've been getting too much into ancient history where battles used to be way worse, but since when is only 100 deaths out of 13k soldiers in a period of a month considered brutal? I say this with all respect to the ones who fought and died there of course.
I knew a guy who served in fallujah, he joined the army right after 9/11. He was a staff Sergeant. He left the service in 2006 and was riddled with debilitating PTSD from the things he witnessed there. This was one of the bloodiest military conflicts in American history.
You have the highest quality animated history videos compared to some people! I've been watching for quite a while and I usually enjoy your videos. Still wanting a Kings and Generals collaboration.
This is a really small detail. But I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you addressing the Marines properly. Also, the detail the animator put in. The fact that they took the time to portray the Marines in MARPAT is realistic
@@Jasper118 Yeah... they're soldiers lol. I know they hate being called that but they are by every dictionary definition. They're uniformed professional combatants, enlisted in a legal state military... that's a soldier lol.
@@Mygg_Jeager the technical definition is obviously not the point. Would you call a sailor a soldier? A marine is a specific type of war fighter with a specific role hence the specific name. Especially in the US when there are clear differences in every way between soldiers and marines. But beyond all that it’s also about the culture and pride, you just don’t call a marine a soldier, that’s what OP was saying. Nobody cares how you define it if you obviously don’t understand.
@@Mygg_Jeager Marines are not soldiers, they’re Marines. A Marine is an amphibious light infantryman. Soldier is a generic term for a combatant that fights on land, like a Sailor only stays at sea.
friend of mine i grew up with fought in this battle; was badly wounded, nearly died. unfortunately, he couldn't overcome his own demons and the battle eventually got him a couple years ago. this video helps give me a better idea of what he went through there. miss you man.
Your friend was a war criminal and deserved what got to him, unfortunately. Was in Iraq illegally. Your friend was part of the problem and any American soldier following orders IS the bad guy.
I was in Fallujah twice with 3/5 (K 3.5). Once in 04’ and again in 2007. Was sad to see it fall to ISIS. Have to give respect to the fighters we took on. I absolutely remember coming across bodies of guys with blue eyes and blonde hair. I really resent how Americans make the fighters out to be idiotic morons. They’re well trained, and seriously gave us a fight.
@@metalmarine8259 man people look at me crazy when i tell them insurgents weren't always Iraqis. Iraq was up for grabs for power hunger groups looking to claim some territory and hired mercenaries that wanted to collect a ton of money.
Damn... I guess I’m officially old. I was there during Phantom Fury. C 1/5 INF, 25th ID 1st BDE Stryker (as an 11B). We later moved to Mosul. Weird watching a cartoon documentary about it. Makes it seem sort of silly.
@@Bootyeatter6969 I was a dismount - C 1/5 INF, 3rd plt, 3rd squad, bravo team. Carried the M4/m203 (later carried the SAW in my deployment). During Fallujah, granted I was just a PFC, and it’s been like 17 years, but main thing I remember is that we started out of Camp Fallujah, pushed in a few days before the siege actually started, then stayed along the River, after securing one of the bridges. And our main objective was the cordon element in and around the city. But as far as the Marines, I want to say it was 3/1 who we were closest to. And funny story is I remember them shooting at our Stryker lol. Who the hell sees a Stryker and thinks, oh, I bet Ali Baba is in that thing? Lol. Oh, and we were the unit that got moved to Mosul. Evidently, a good chunk of dudes left the city in advance and were wrecking havoc up north where the rest of our brigade (25th, 1st BDE) were at. So, we moved up there and finished our deployment in Mosul. It’s funny that the author talks about the rain. I remember that vividly. Prickly heat. Swamp ass. None of us slept the whole time we were there...for at least 10 days straight. We were all delusional and hallucinating. 1 MRE about every three days. Covered in bug bites and rampant diarrhea. I even fell into the Euphrates during one firefight we got into at night. Thought I was going to drown. It was a grind. Everyone’s focused on the Hollywood aspects of gun fighting... which there was that... but I wish dudes could imagine just how much it sucked.
@@Bootyeatter6969 as an older man now, part of me is glad that the deployment tempo isn’t like it was. I’d tell you just take in all the training, focus on discipline, and take care of yourself and your dudes. My prayers go out to you young guys. And I’m proud of you for your service. God bless!
I really like the way this crew presents History. Just the plain facts as it happened, and not muddied by personal opinions. The way History is supposed to be told.
A local gunshop owner is a veteran combat engineer that fought in Fallujah. He described manning the MK19 40mm belt fed grenade launcher that had been mounted on a humvee/truck (I can't remember which). They would take fire and he would turn the MK19 and level the block. It must've been hell because he was not doing well and didn't receive the necessary support for a veteran.
@Louis Blanqui With a combination or hard drugs and ptsd, he’s 100% never going to be the same. Plus, his gun shop got raided by the ATF, so pretty sure he’s in prison now.
@@ReySchultz121 I find those wars interesting because they happened while Russia was going from the Soviet Union to the Russian Federation, and how it affected Russia both domestically and globally.
I was active duty Army during this time. I remember Fallujah being a highlighted example to our guys that the American civilian population had no idea what we were facing in this war
@@chriscarlone527 He’s just a marine following orders, shut up flat earther conspiracy theorist. You probably also believe in hollow earth and that the moon landing was fake.
@@valkkyrriee The moon landing wasn't faked. He's not a hero. There is nothing heroic about "just following orders." That's what drones do. People who think for themselves always question authority. His position in the military is the antithesis of free thought.
@@chriscarlone527 Most people are too dense to realize that the "insurgents" the US Military was fighting were to people defending their land from a foreign force attempting to invade their backyard. Anyone saying otherwise or stating that we should have "glassed the place" is a sociopath
@@sooryan_1018 - name me a peaceful war that never caused damage. We weren’t there to save the city dumbass we were there to kill the insurgents IN the city
A minor nitpick: at 14:03 the graphic says M16A2 but the M16A4 was adopted in June of 1997 and had already supplanted the A2 as the standard issue rifle of the USMC by 2004. The A2 was relegated to non-infantry and reserve roles for the most part. There were A2s there I’m sure, but the vast majority would have been A4s as the USMC was leading the operation. Other than that this was an excellent video as always 10/10!
@@2dhoes03 M4A1s are newer weapons. Just 5 years ago, we traded our M4s for M4A1. And even so. Most “M4s” were actually M16A2 Carbines. My Squad Leader in Iraq 3 years ago had one. But most Marines carried M16A4s not M4s. Army was the same too for a minute.
@@2dhoes03 The Marines have only recently started getting gear as good as or better than the Army. While Army forces often had M4's and plate carrier systems, Marines had M16's and flak vests.
@@2dhoes03 No, the marines continued using the M16A4 even after the M4 came out. The army got M4s way quicker so they would have been using them as their main rifle by 2004 but, there were only 1,500 army soldiers compared to the 6,500 marines that took part in the battle. The M4A1 was made for SOCOM operators. The USMC uses the M27 IAR now, but I believe non-infantry squads still use a mix of M27s and M4s.
Maybe my perspective is all wrong but, after hearing about how bloody and brutal the fighting was, I expected casualties to be through the roof. I was shocked to hear that the Americans lost only about 100 killed. Don't get me wrong, each one of those losses is a terrible thing. But I'm just talking about the scale. 100 Americans killed in a battle involving like 15,000+ combatants, described as brutal house two house combat and one of the bloodiest of the war, seems amazingly low.
I recommend the book "On Call in Hell". It's a doctor's memoirs of the battle and talks about how he put forward a new method of treating casualties closer to the front and its impact on the battle. Also goes into the Corpsmen who stocked his Role and the ones on the front line as well.
So basically "as long as we're careful, we can break the rules we made up." Good stuff, lol. War. There is no rules. Only the guys with the biggest sticks to enforce their will. Actions speak louder than words. Great video by the way!
How do you not engage in occasional rule-breaking when the enemy uses civilians and mosques as cover? How could they possibly fight the insurgents by following the rules? I think there's an American 'spirit' to follow the rules and try to have no harm come to civilians, but I wasn't there and didn't know the reality on the ground. I can understand the need or even desire to bend or break them in certain circumstances. Civilians are always the largest casualty group in any war.
The idea of "rules of war" has been perverted somewhat. Originally, rules of war were meant to be such as to ensure that warfare remains limited to the warring states and doesn't consume the entire world (enemy civilians tended to count as hostile targets when convenient, but foreigners were to be allowed hostility-free existence), and to ensure that there can be a peace settlement and a world after the war (so, enemy envoys were to be allowed free passage, and a peace settlement was to be the end of hostilities, so all the weaponry like minefields was to be disabled after a peace settlement was reached). These rules are to a large extent still followed today, by all sides. However, these rules have in the late 19th-early 20th century been turned into the "chivalrous warfare" rules that they are today. And since war has always been hell and not a particularly chivalrous occupation, no side ever adhered to said rules. However, for fear of public pressure, the Western statesmen were never really able to admit that and move on from this silly idea. Which is how we came here.
I like how you gave humanity to the insurgent. Many of them we may significantly disagree with and there were many vile people, but to many they were fighting for what they felt was right in many cases, and the fact that both the U.S soldier and the insurgent were fearful and that he held a photograph of his family and it was what he held as he died is so very human that we very often do not think about.
Nazis beleived they were right. Pretty sure alot of nazi generals held pictures of their families when they were hung for genocide. Terrorists use civillians as meat shields, yet people are de-sensitizied to the point they think war is a game, and try to criticize the Americans for doing what they did. If half these rich suburb folks were in the same shoes those marines were in, the warcrimes they committ would be even greater.
@@honkhonk8009 Not every insurgent is a horrible monster and not every american soldier is a hero, just as not every german soldier was not a Waffen-SS. German generals (By vast majority) didn't give two shits about Nazi ideology. Anyone with actual sway over the war effort outside of Hitler didn't actually care about Nazism and instead focused solely on "winning" and their own careers to the detriment of the war in its entirety. Guderian is a perfect example of this shoot the bigger plan in the foot so I can get a step ahead mentality. Yes, Al-Qaeda leaders and ISIS by in large were full of awful awful people, but not every single person on their side = evil soulless monster and to view them that way is just to justify our killing of them, just how it is so easy for us now to consider the Wehrmacht to be just like the Waffen-SS, which they were not, just how the red army was not all like the NKVD in later war periods.
الفلوجه هي ارض عراقيه ، و شعب الفلوجه و شعب العراق هم اصحاب هذه الارض ، أما لامريكان و غيرهم الكثير فهم مخربون و مدمرين و سارقين العراق ، كما يحدث الأن في أكرانيا من قبل الغزات !
Subbed. This channel hits a target I've wanted for years. Just a step by step situational explanation of historical battles. The narrators voice is perfect too. Easy to listen to
Seeing this come up in my recommendations is surreal. Both the fact that I was there and also this happened so long ago it's considered a historical event
I just wanna say the number of units involved in the battle is greatly underestimated. My fathers unit, attached to the army’s 1st ID, was running QRF for a few Marine battalions throughout the battle, so much so that they spent 14 days straight driving around the city from engagement to engagement rescuing marines from gunfights, escorting wrecker trucks, relieving combat ineffective units, etc. and the only sleep they got for those 14 days was whatever they can get while driving between gunfights. As valiantly as the marines fought, they were heavily outnumbered, outgunned, and very unprepared and were constantly being rescued by not just my father’s army unit, but many other army units and SOF teams as well. IIRC, they lost every single AAVP7 they drove into the city, most of them simply from small arms fire.
@Michael Lesko for some reason America just loves to fetishize losing fights so it’s no wonder the Marines in Fallujah got the same cultural treatment as Rhodesia, Mogadishu and Vietnam.
You may want to consider asking specifics. The only QRF units involved were Marine and Brits. If your father in law was Army and claims he was QRF at Fallujah, then he is mistaken.
@@scottallen3236 don’t have to, I’ve seen the videos to prove it. My father (not in law) documented as much as he could on video for the time. I also spoke with him before and after the offensive about it. Here’s an external source documenting the Army’s involvement in Fallujah with great specifics about QRF elements out of Balad and Taji www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/Primer-on-Urban-Operation/Documents/EyewitnessToWar_VolumeI.pdf
They weren't outnumbered. Only a few thousand Terrorists held the actual city. And nor were they outgunned, what sorta fool says Americans are outgunned?
This battle was definitely the most insane fighting since the Vietnam War for US troops. Looking at satellite photos of the city, then imagining almost all of it is hostile really brings home how scary it must have been to approach knowing you needed to clear the WHOLE THING. The videogame Squad did a good job of recreating the city and its feel, and goodness if it isn't the most intense MOUT map in the game.
What a bizarre comment to glorify such operations and compare them to a video game. The brainwashing of American people has no bounds does it. Vietnam and Iraq were completely pointless wars which only caused death and destruction.
One thing I think you forgot to mention was that civilians were ordered to evacuate. Because of this, everyone remaining was pretty much seen as a “hostile”
I heard "chechen" Within the video, this reminds me that you should probably made a video about the Chechen wars, it was a hell hole that kinda doesn't get talked about.
I remember when im watching about a tank documentary and it explained the chechen war and the battle for me is like a machinegun tearing through soldiers on d day
Yeah they are some tough fuckers, them and the Circassians who still live there. I mean, they knew the Russians were coming and they did not flee, and put up a hell of a fight not once but twice. Fierce warriors and brave men to be respected all around.
@@DSTKO-w7z Russians are begging to give Chechnya independence now because Russians can't say anything about Chechens in their own country. Russians gaze down when a Caucasian walks by, you can deny it but I see it everyday.
This makes the rule make a lot more sense. Also feel like Griff omitted that part and this makes the US sound worse, since they clearly WERE using mosques as bases of operation.
I visited Fallujah last year and ate delicious food and got wonderful hospitality there. I love Fallujah. I didn't know that Fallujah was a battleground until after watching a clip from one of the series, where someone said that I fought in Fallujah, so I remembered that Fallujah is in my country in Iraq, and when searching I found that maybe I was I was young at the time, and I didn't know what was going on around me
I am prouf of the Islamic Freedom fighters whho took part on the battle of Fallujah and gave one the TOUGHEST BATTLES to america in the hostory of Iraq war with nothing nut mefe AKs and RPGs. May God bless the graves of those martyres. ❤️❤️❤️
Remember the good old days when to be a freedom fighter, you actually had to fight for freedom? What freedom were they fighting for? The freedom for Iraqis to not have a say in how their government was run? Fallujah was part of a region called the Sunni Triangle, where the insurgents basically won. The insuing tyranny got so bad, half of the insurgents flipped sides and joined America in what was called "The Anbar Awakening."
@@Dennis-nc3vw dude i dont care what kind of say i have or have not in the government of my own country... You DO NOT come fron another land.. Another country.. That too a western one and INVADE my land in the name of guving me freedom... I DID NOT ask you to do that...!!!! Thats Basic 101 of International relations... You DO NOT act like the bloody moral police of the whole God damn world and try to impose your so called "democracy " upon those middle eastern countries deeply embeded in tribal culture to your western democracy. Always REMEMBER.... My own Tyrant army is ALWAYS always better than the soldier who comes from another country... Coz history has proven that those foreign forces are always The WORST. That tyrant Army, no matter how bad they get , have still hailed from this society... No matter how bad they get end of the day they are fathers , brothers and sons from MY SOCIETY.. they are MY PEOPLE that i have an emotional connection with. On the other hand i DO NOT share any such connections with you and you are NOT welcome.
@@sameerkhan3757 Well speak for yourself, the majority of Iraqis in 2004 (when the battle of Fallujah took place) still thought to invasion was a good thing according to both the UN and Gallup. I don't know why being an invader makes you automatically bad. Grenadans literally have a holiday celebrating when the US invaded their country, 92% of Panamanians approved of Operation Just Cause. America itself owes it freedom from foreign interventionism from France and Spain. If Joe Biden declared himself and his sons oligarch for life, and his sons promised to restore our elections, I would not *hesitate* to side with the invaders.
My dad fought in this battle. He said that he had so much blood on him he could not even tell if he was shot. He also said that it was constant fear he never knew what was around the corner.
Your dad fought for the evil side. Your dad invaded a country that posed no threat to yours. There was no draft, your dad joined voluntarily. I really hope your dad and those who fought alongside him face justice. War of aggression is the ultimate war crime according to the Nuremberg trials. That puts your dad below the Wehrmacht soldiers on a moral level as they were forced to fight for Germany
@@shamtradtam3769 His father helped liberate the Iraqi people of a cruel and oppressive dictator named Saddam Hussein and got attacked by religious extremists and Saddam Hussein's crazed loyalists for it, sit down.
Attacking a Mosque, Church, or Synagogues that is being used for military purposes (including munitions caches or psychological warfare) by a foe is not a war crime. The war crime is committed by the foe who uses them for military uses. Same goes for hospitals and other civilian buildings.
tbh i feel ACH although a really good historian seems to not fully grasp what is and isn't a war crime due to international conventions, he dose the same with WP which he describes as being fully a war crime when used against personal, which is a inflated myth much to the same degree as the use of .50 caliber ammunition against personal, the use of such weapons isn't limited firstly by the often cited Geneva conventions (which revolves around treatment of civilians and prisoners during and after war) instead by the Hague conventions, and the limitations on chemical incendiary weapons (such as WP) is only forbidden in areas with civilian population and infrastructure (meaning wp use in general is suppose to be forbidden in cities like Fallujah), the kicker to this as well is how the international conventions work, they are not imposed instead countries sign to agree to them and upon signing are granted protections under them but also limitations, the US did not sign the particular convention which limited the use of incendiary chemical weapons, in turn making it so legally they are unhindered by it in this use and as such no war crime was legally speaking committed here
@@fkUTube449 Not a war crime. A violation of some rules of engagement dreamt up by some politicians in the mistaken attempt that we can turn our enemies into our friends by only killing them in certain ways.
Geneva convention? More like Geneva Suggestion. Civilian casualties? More like acceptable collateral damage. If the insurgent decided to give up and slipped away, no war crime would be needed.
I was there as an army infantryman in 2-2 infantry. I'll never forget the look of relief on the marines faces when they saw other American troops coming to help out. We spearheaded the attack with Bradley fighting vehicles which punished insurgents like no other. The enemies that we captured called it the "bomb gun".
America killed many civilians and used white phosphorus America killed in many civilians and used white phosphorus gas. Your military committed abominable acts. May the Iraqi people find peace after your despicable military departed. Ameen.
Any it depends. Insurgents can be considered liberators too and most countries would consider them terrorist until they are in power and have a trade market full of merceneries
I was there the day the 4 contactors were hung over the bridge. I think I remember hearing the explosion. It was not a pretty site and some of the people were beating the dead corpses even after hanging them. Fallujah was a hotbed waiting to explode. No one, not even us knew how bad things were about to get. But I'm not sure what agreement Armchair is talking about, I remember operations continuing until the battle started. I felt bad for the marines that were taking over the FOB after are tour was ending. But, after a year of operations in that city I was ready to get back state side.
Hey Armchair Historian loved your video on the battle of Falluja. It parallels to the battle of Hue in 1968 as far as urban combat and house to house fighting. Maybe for your next video you could do one on that. Love your videos!!
correction on white phosphorous as this along with other incendiary weapons are often misstated , the use of such weapons is 100% permittable in wartime against enemy combatants as long as its not near civilian infrastructure or populations. which yes means it should of been illegal in Fallujah but the kicker is if i remember right the US did not sign this convention aswell (countries are actually given the option to agree or not to these conventions it is not imposed on countries who do not agree) and as the insurgent forces had not signed it as well. legally it wasn't a war crime as neither side was protected or prohibited by signed international convention/law from use of such weapons. this is often a mis-represented fallacy which has been inflated much like the myth of large caliber ammunition (such as .50bmg) being against international convention if used against people instead of vehicles and other "material" (its not)
Thank you for the info, I believed both of those myths until your comment. Is there any good sources like documentaries or books on warcrimes and their history like that?
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Special thanks to these veterans of this battle for assisting with the script: MSG Brett Walsh, US Army & 1LT Mark Murphy, US Army.
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Yay
Hi
Can you do American revolution?
Do Korean War please
Your videos are fascinating. Subscribed
You know you’re old when 2004 is considered historic.
2004 was one year after I was born: anything before today can be considered historic anyhow.
@@cringeyidiotterry eyyy same! A 2004 dude, too! Yeah… we’re pretty old by these standards
Just 3 years left for it to be 20 years this happened
@@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347 i was born in 2005 can I join the club?
@@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347 even though I am like 2 years younger
@@germanboy9559 am 2005 to can i join
I love the modern war era videos since we barely learn about them anywhere
Are you high? There are countless books on the matter. What? "My SchOOl" "diD noT TEAch it".
Oh please. Read it yourself or take up a College/Post secondary course
@@johnpijano4786 shut up
@@johnpijano4786 he means it's not as known as the great war and the 2nd world war. Where I'm from in the UK op desert storm and other operations in the middle east are very really talked about in schools and college whereas both world wars are pretty well covered
@@johnpijano4786 most people only have a basic understanding and interest in history, and yeah there are plenty of books but the vast mayority of modern media usualy delves either in the past or in fantasy
Like the several ongoing conflicts such as the Yemeni civil war, like 4 wars in Africa. And yet we hear jack about these conflicts, I barely even knew that Russia has been moving borders for a decade now in Ukraine and Georgia, yet news companies can give a platform to anti-vax nutters and old people complaining about anything even slightly progressive. The world we live in
Loving the mixture of modern and older history on this channel
It's just the perfect balance
yeah
@John Doe Yeah sure
@John Doe sure bud
@John Doe He also does videos for the other side, like D’day from the German perspective or the Cuban Missile Crisis from the Cuban perspective
I do love how we used Desert fatigues but still running around then with M81 Woodland vests
this gave quite the view on how urban warfare has changed and just how bad it's gotten, really informative
Urban warfare is still as bad as it was. Hell, it was worse.
I would say it's gotten better. I mean hell in ww2 they flattened the city before any troops even going in
@@s.a928 flattening entire city districts is still a thing if Russian Urban Warfare method is applied.
🔵 SERCH ADITYA RATHORE-HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE CONTENT LIKE ARMCHAIR HISTORIAN
@@johnrambo2706 It is the wiser decision. Personally I'd just dig in for a siege and starve them out with around the clock artillery to drain morale. Anybody that comes out and surrenders can be interred. I mean why play by the enemy rules when they can come to you at your advantage? Israel another morally unscupulous state has shown that flattening a few neighborhoods works pretty well. It won't make you loved or popular, but it works.
I wish you'd make a Yugoslav wars series, covering major battles and operations.
this
That will cause wars in the comment section
@@worldeater1498 Balkanize Comments MOMENTO
kocobo je srbija
@Marko Fugas Actually that is a saying explaining Serbia, not a whole Balkans...
Been waiting on a video about Fallujah and you didn’t disappoint it was worth the wait
Very cool, McDonald's! You guys should sponsor him.
Yeah same. I recently saw American Sniper and it sparked my interest in these sorts of modern middle eastern battles, video was definitely worth the wait
damn Mcdonalds is a bit fucked up
Can I get a big mac
Macdonald
Anyone who has the balls to fight the US military in open combat gets respect in my eyes. Can't think of a more scarier organization to be fighting
Lmao it was Zarqawi and his boys. Their boldness was later rewarded when America retreated from Iraq, and his students formed ISIS.
They had a lot of battle-hardened soldiers. The Chechens were pretty fierce, they had a lot of experience against technologically superior enemies.
@@o_manam what do the Chechens have to do with Iraq
@@redbrixanimations I think they volunteered to help the militants
modern day rome, yes.. but there will always be defeats.. the usa will go the same way as rome too and become a shadow of its former self..
*There's a game called "Six days in Fallujah" which attempts to capture the horror of US soldiers trying to breach and clear these houses. It also features testimonies from soldiers who were there, in the form of short clips between missions. The game was in development many years ago but got canceled due to public backlash... but at the beginning of this year the developers announced a continuation of the games development.*
So you say it was cancelled because it showed US as the bad guys
It was because at that time the Iraq War was ongoing and there lots of opposition to US involvement in that region and our guys were dying while performing occupation duties after Saddam got overthrown during the initial March 2003 invasion.
I wonder if it will also show the plethora of war crimes committed.
i wonder if white phosphorus bombs are in the game 🤔
@@ProxiProtogen no it got backlash from the parents of dead soldiers who died in Fallujah, that's why it was shelved for years.
now in a post-Afghanistan scenario , this game is not gonna have that much impact in promoting jingoism. and i bet you on day one of release, there are gonna be alot of people (especially Iraqis) pointing out whats not in the game like the birth defect children from white phosphorus exposure. if the game is that case, where its just strictly the American POV and never really presents civilian POVs, the game is just gonna be a generic war game like ShellShock: Nam 67' at best
My stepfather was KIA on November 12, 2004 following a battle with the insurgents of Fullujah. Although it hurts, I’m thankful for Armchair covering this battle. It means a lot.
Sorry for your loss. May God comfort you 🙏 My condolences.
Your stepfather was a hero
@@R4in46 he's not
Me and my mother got injured by glass
Our house got damaged
2 of our neighbors di. Ed by an American Air str- Ike
I hope he has his peice, now.
@@YouViolatedTheNAP what terr?
There was no terr when saddam was in charge
The gov was secular btw and both commies and islamist supported him
U people made the war solely on that Sadam had WMD but he didn't also even if he did
Why ya western can have those while we can't? If we had them u ame wouldn't even dare to attack us just look at NK
It's amazing to hear this was the bloodiest battle in Iraq by US forces, then hear that there were only 700 casualties over several weeks. After listening to WWII and Vietnam stories it seems so underwhelming, even though it was insanely brutal.
In the age of modern warfare, where you can kill your enemy before they can even see you, "700" casualties is really huge.
P.S. The real number was much higher than 700, more like 3700...
It’s different now, armies have become more like quality instead of quantity because each soldier is equipped with thousands of dollars; and in WWII it was different, there were millions of soldiers from each side that were barely equipped compared to what is use today
@@yousef.al-assaf No the number wasn’t bigger.
@@CrayonEater255
And who are you exactly? Are you an Iraqi or do you work for the UN?
@@yousef.al-assaf why would I believe you? lmao, I prefer real sources over some dirty middle eastern.
This place was insane. It sounds cliche, but there's no way to really describe this stuff to anyone. It's weird how 18 years later. A smell or sound can trigger the brain and put you right back there in a second.
Thanks for sharing Chris. I am curious about the Scots that were there. How did they perform or were they more of a rear guard?
@Chard askie I never ran into any Scots. Just a handful of Royal Marines was about it. I'm pretty sure they held their own pretty well. Great people when on your side
Sam imagine the actual Iraqis who lived there that had to deal with this and how much more traumatic it is for them.
@@farhan007 it was pretty traumatic living under a dictator that had everyone scared they were the next to die also.
@@chrisblack2330 you have zero intellectual curiosity of the residents of falujah before the invasion. Don't speak for people you give zero ducks about.
You should do a video about the battle of Mosul (2016-2017). That was the biggest urban battle since WWII.
Tell me more
@@MASTEROFEVIL look up footage of SVBIEDs from mosul. 500 of them pouring out of every hole and most of them were recorded from the air by the insurgents reconnaissance drones, i think those are the most interesting and crazy combat footage ever after ww2 air battles taken from plane cameras
@@MASTEROFEVIL There is a fantastic book called "Mosul: Australia's Secret War Inside the ISIS Caliphate". It's definitely worth a read.
I had a hand in that battle. Nothing crazy just loaded aircrafts with bombs and watched on live feed the battle damage from my aircraft
Armchair should also to Battle of Marawi (2017) which was the largest urban conflict in the Philippines since 1945.
I remember hearing about Falluja as a kid and seeing some interviews with some house-clearing veterans, I even met a guy who was deployed into Falluja in 2006.
🔲 SERCH ADITYA RATHORE-HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE CONTENT LIKE ARMCHAIR HISTORIAN
what did you learn talking to these terrorists?
@@nlocflick about as much anyone could learn from you lmao
@@nlocflick why don’t you go to Camp Lejeune or any other military installments with infantry on them and call them that lol
@@nlocflick Anybody's a terrorist if don't like them enough
One of my childhood best friends is a combat veteran who fought in this battle. One day after a few drinks by the fire he opened up about his experience in Fallujah and how fighting these insurgents was something none of them could prepare for. He said some of them were high on drugs and could take multiple rounds without stopping. At one point a SAW gunner ripped a insurgents leg off and he remembers the guy staggering back up on one leg screaming at them while continuing to fire his weapon. He said everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing until the insurgent finally collapsed in the street from blood loss. Thankfully my friend made it out and now has a beautiful family but the PTSD still effects him everyday.
Religion is the opium of the masses.
Lenin's quote.
I don't think they were high on drugs they were high on adrenaline to resist occupation of homeland. The death they received is the death they were looking for.
Thanks to Bush both your friend and the Iraqi suffered and are suffering.
My dad has a similar story he said he just kept shooting a dude and he would not go down
@Jinx Vanderz well it isn't really OP's friend's fault, he wasn't the one who decided to invade, he was only following orders, if you want to blame someone, blame the politicians, they were the one who made decisions. *Imo* only blame the soldier if the soldier was committing war crimes because he/she wanted to, and was absolutely conscious that what they were doing was wrong.
Basically they fought for their homes. Your friend came to kill & loot. That's why mistook patriotism with drugs usage.
We invaded Iraq over a lie and called those fighting for their country insurgents.
Exactly.
Indeed, we are the "good people" and they are the "bad people", while in fact it's the total opposite...
It's rarely seen, some people thought as you are
911 and the multiple terrorist attacks they may have just gone their for black gold (oil) but still
@@abnismael2070 انت مشارك بلحرب
بس شكد عمرك هيج مبين سالفة قديمة
_"The pointma--"_
*DEMONETIZATION COMPLETE: HISTORICAL CONTENT DETECTED.*
Either that or get drowned out by the political arguments in the comments.
Harsh, harsh but true.
You mean the point-person
@@z54964380 "It's PointMA'AM" (sorry I had to)
@@z54964380 pointzurr
Urban Combat is fascinating in its brutality. Stalingrad in WWII, Fallujah in Iraq, the Favela levels in MW2
There are two types of people.
People who finished favela only on regular
Liars
@@fatis2745 i finish it in the last dificulty level, and o god the nightmares
@@fatis2745 I actually was playing it on veteran and gave up
Battle of Amein in The Great War idk i wasn't on ze Frontline
Not to mention Manilla in the Phillipines and Shanghai in China also in WW2
My dad was there. Third Battalion, Fifth Marines. Ironically enough, I myself ended in 3/5 when I enlisted. Couple of the old timers in the battalion HQ remembered him.
That’s awesome dude, Semper Fi!
We're glad to hear that both you and your father are ok. Thank you for your service, Benson.
Thanks for the both of your services! And, pretty cool, I think, that you and your dad are soldiers, it’s like a great blood is within you! Courage within your veins!
Semper Fi.
wow...that's amazing! those are big boots to fill. don't let your dad down, Devil!
I’m from Canada but I remember watching a really good report on this battle from some British news agency, just like a month after it happened.
I can’t remember anything more than that, other than those Brits almost turned it into a historical documentary the way they presented it. Of course it was coupled with front line footage. It was really good and also very shocking!
the one where the dude was kissing his weapon during the briefing, right?
@@church6882 Perhaps! I just remember them going into huge detail about how the American columns would enter the city from different directions, and what zones each would be clearing etc. Just was really informative and well done!
@@safeysmith6720 I think i seen that one. A US Marine who had Arabic Christian parents entered a regular family's house who weren't part of the war... his unit exited, and you can see him kiss his hands and then plant the kiss on the door of the home they just breached.
America suffered a huge loss, but the media hid this fact. All America and its allies could do was kill unarmed civilians.
@@CaliPlays5651 thats how war is, civilians are going to be caught in the crossfire, those US marines didn't know which buildings had terrorists and which didn't
Maybe you could do a video about the Grozny siege of 1994? The 90s war was similiar to Fallujah in a way, with the islamic insurgents fighting a large enemy. The video could also dive deeper into the corruption that went on during the battle, aswell as how chaotic it was on the Russian side.
The Islamic insurgents made up only 7% of the whole Chechen "army".
Yeah! It could be another episode in a "Blunders Of Wars" series!
Sending armored personnel carriers into the city center as a propaganda stunt didn't turn out to be a good idea, if I remember correctly. Because there are armor piercing grenades around from any window and they are uncomfortable for the passengers.
@@B10101 @B J Dudayev loved organizing militias so yeah that's somewhat accurate.
What they didn't make up for with soldiers & mercenaries, they made up for with their money.
@@B10101 Doesn’t change the fact they were lead by Islamists 💪💪💪
@Björn Larsson The Russians lost something like 26 percent of all vehicles in the operational area from what I recall, a substantial number of about 200-300 I think? Were T'72's and T-80's. The T-80 underperforming so badly that high level Russian military officials openly talked about scrapping the entire design due to for instance a catastrophic weakness in parts of its armor that the designers said would be accounted for by certain internal components.
Russian infantry didn't do too much better. There was a battle for the cities train depot and marshalling yard in which I want to say an entire battalion of Russian troops were wiped out to a man and numerous other units were savaged by chechen red army veterans from the soviet war in afghanistan.
A friend of mines older brother fought here. When he got home his parents told me and his brother ( I think we were in 6th grade at the time) don’t push him to tell any stories , if he wants to tell you he will but if he does listen, really listen.
Well eventually he did tell us about Fallujah and to this day , the far away look in his eyes when he did haunts me
One important message for all of the people here. NOT ALL INSURGENTS SUPPORTED AQI OR LATER ISI, MANY OF THEM FOUGHT IT.
@@tarix_x2368 That was one of the aspects of Iraq that was so difficult.
Groups could be any number of things including but not limited to: pro-Saddam baathists, Sunni jihadists, pro-Iranian Shiites, pro-American democracy fighters, Kurdish nationalists, and so many others.
All of these groups fought for drastically different things and all of them dressed very similarly. Trying to tell one group from another was a lesson in confusion.
PTSD
So he show up in an other country participating in many crime and kill many people, and when he back home the far still in his eyes
I know many mother that lost there shildren of 6-7 years old or there adult sons what can american tell them? We are also sad that we lost soldier that we sent ?
@xIAMxTHATxGUYx Rules of war are only between two nations fighting a war like gentlemen. Terrorists and insurgents are not members of a rival military. They are murderers. They have no rights whatsoever. You can kill or torture them in any way and you do not violate rules of war. Because you are not fighting a war with them. Wars are between nations.
My mom's birthday was during that fight and of course it was my turn to be on point that day. My nerves were fine until then and I was absolutely terrified that I'd wind up dead on my mom's birthday. No matter what I absolutely could not allow that to happen.
We didn't assault through every house by the way. Like you said those houses were essentially giant bunkers so if we ran into a fighting position and the Army was around we'd have a Bradley open up with it's 25mm cannon, one of our tanks put a shell into it or we'd launch a SMAW through a window and the pressure from the explosion would kill just about everyone in there if it didn't just outright collapse the place.
Honestly... the middle eastern guys we were fighting were a joke. Don't get me wrong, they could still kill you with a lucky shot but those guys watched too many 80s movies because they fired everything from the hip. No, the guys we had to worry about were the Chechens. Those guys were well trained, had at least a decade's worth of experience and were there specifically to die fighting. We abliged them but those guys had no quit whatsoever. Us Marines respected them highly for that.
How would you know you were fighting Chechens? Also do you mean Chechen people or any vet of the Chechen wars
Thank you for sharing.
@@edscmidt5193 Because they stick out like sore thumbs in the desert. They're White people from the Caucuse Mountain region of Southern Europe. They have red hair. They are not Arabs. They are clearly not from Iraq, just like the Americans aren't from Iraq.
@@jimmyliang4414 bit of a change in topic perhaps, but are the Taliban similar to the middle easterns you just mentioned in terms of their accuracy/skill. Or are they more like the Chechens.
@@jimmyliang4414 Still lose in Afghanistan. LOOOOOOL. I cant believe some drug guys with AKs Fucked you guys and your allies so hard...Now they are ruling... Still you can hide your shame by talking none-sense. Such a shame...
Imagine clearing rooms with a freaking 20 inch m16 with a fixed a2 stock lol
Sounds like hell tbh. But by this point i thought most marines were equipped with A4's, maybe I'm wrong. Though i dont doubt a lot of A2's stuck around, cause you know how the marines are with getting rid of old stuff lol.
If they weren't insurgents before they would be after that lol
@@baguettelord4614an A4 was still a musket my bro
@@AppalachianAlex I mean fair enough
I was there and had to do that. Just before things kicked off we got a shipment of M4s. The command and staff got them.
I came into the Marine Corps around the time when most of my recruiters and senior NCOs were veterans of Fallujah. They had a different way about them. I think that battle defined the Iraq generation in a way that one can visually distinguish an Iraq veteran from an Afghanistan veteran.
What are the differences between a afghan vet and an Iraq one
+ Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Amen 🙏!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The man in Luke 16:24 cries: ". . .I am tormented in this FLAME."
In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE,. . ."
Revelation 20:15 says, " And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE."
@@CJ-qz6ec my guess is Iraq vets were much more adept in Close Quarter Combat compared to Afghan vets
@@CJ-qz6ec same both are baby killers
@@alvojnikovic2171 more battle hardened. House by house is way more vicious and has more fire fights. Lots of Afghanistan was open long distance shooting and when it got tough a-10s would remove the enemy. I’d assume most major casualties in Afghanistan were IED vs gun shot.
It’s nice to see content that’s not WW2, as much as I love learning about it it’s just so saturated on RUclips
You're right it's very refreshing seeing this
"This wine is really good, guys! I promise."
**drinks wine
"😐"
And he put ice in it...ffs
@@dalirfarzan1694 if it needs ice to taste nice, it isn’t good enough
@@dalirfarzan1694 it’s the same with juice and sodas
@@thinkingboi9508 Maybe he's not a wine guy. Doesn't really mean the wine isn't good. Just means that he obviously did not buy that wine for personal consumption.
I would like but it is on 69 likes
I could watch these videos all day. Armchair historian is so good. So knowledgeable as well.
I'd love to see more videos on this topic and we'll support you even if RUclips deems your content unworthy!
They should be a afgan video about the usa leaving country
Since you guys did this battle, it would only be fitting to do the Battle of Hue or Khe Sanh or Dak To
Khe sanh or hue would actually be fucking badass
In which wars these battles occured, and between who and who ?
@@Retaliatixn Vietnam
@@Retaliatixn These battles took place during the Vietnam War and were between the North Vietnam Army vs the South Vietnam Army and US Marines and Army
The Tet offensive as a whole would be interesting. Ho Chi Minh's gamble for the South that would result in unbelievably catastrophic loss of life for the Communists, yet end up being the real turning point in the war for them.
I would love too see something like this on the battle of Manilla, it is a very overlooked Urban battle and is the only major Urban fighting of the Pacific theater.
ruclips.net/video/ZBZjTbotmg0/видео.html
Mark Felton's Battle of Manila video.
Wasn't it considered to be one of the worst examples of destruction wrought from urban combat ever?
@@kostakatsoulis2922 Pretty much yeah. Especially because, upon realising that they were losing, the imperial japanese took out their frustrations on the civilians trapped in the city. We're talking executions, torture, random violence and especially widespread rape. The japanese commanders explicitly told their men to do this as well, seeing nothing wrong with it at all. Goes to show how fucked up extreme ultranationlism is.
which reminds of the recent but brutal the battle of marawi , it was very much like fallujah or mosul in the intensity of the fighting and destruction and has a formidable resiliant militant combatants
and over 100,000 deaths...
Advertising Bright Cellars for when the PTSD laden vet comes watching so that he may fancily drink himself blackout drunk! Classy move Armchair. I approve.
An Armchair Historian video from the 2000s. It's my lucky day!!
(A-) I am a Marine, active from 95 to 07 wounded the morning of 11/10/04. You got the big strokes right but quite a bit of missing context in regards to the foreign fighters, civilians casualties, Zarqawi, and the Jolon. These Jihadists showed up to die in place in the hope of inflicting high enough casualties to break embarrass American Forces and break the will of the American public. This was their Alamo. I would highly recommend for anyone interested in a deeper dive read No True Glory by Bing West
I bet the USMC birthday has special significance to you now.
Did you ever have fight against the Mahdi Army? If so, what was your opinion of them as an enemy, why were they fighting you guys?
@@Darkestdarkify definitely, when I woke up from surgery in theatre there was a paper plate with a big slice of cake sitting on my chest and my radio operator (also wounded) sitting on the next cot grinning like a cat.
@@Shred_Tube No, the Mahdi were Shia, and predominately south and southeast of Bagdad. Western Iraq was dominated by Sunni (Fallujah is part of the "Sunni Triangle") and a much more secular power structure. However, it would not surprise me to find out that limited numbers likely came for the fight just for the chance to kill some of us, but with no uniforms, we likely will never know. My opinion of all we faced is grudging respect. They fought for what they thought was right against an enemy with a fearsome reputation and record of success on the battlefield.
As fkd up these jehaaadez were, how about the warriors committed against the civilians by the west yo
I still remember being a young Marine listening to NCO’s & SNCOs talk about Iraq. I even remember one who’s elbow would set off the armory metal detector “courtesy of the Iraqi army.”
do you think it would have got as bad as it did if they kept the iraqi army around instead of disbanding it ?
@@shutup2751 I personally think things would’ve gone smoother had the Iraqi army been left intact, but in the short term that may have led to some brutal acts on the civilian populace.
@@shutup2751 They had to keep it even after the regime change, but I'd assume that they changed its members (so as to get rid of the Saddam loyalists), but what do I know?
🟨 SERCH ADITYA RATHORE-HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE CONTENT LIKE ARMCHAIR HISTORIAN
@@cringeyidiotterry they disbanded the entire army
My instructor told me a story of how the resistance fighters were taking down soldiers clearing rooms. The marines had modified their entry tactics
Shout out to Squad for teaching me exactly what the layout was for Falluja
Lmao
Squads fun and all, untill you realize that the sheer amount of times you would die in that game fucking around, was prolly similar to how military mfs had it too. Really shows how well trained they are. They all got only one chance.
4:45 “Frequent bombardments of any house suspected (…)”
The unbelievable violence of this simple sentence…. 😞
Congratulations for the quite balanced video, explaining well both the objectives, the challenges as well as the consequences and question marks of the battle.
@The Truth Yea just like the BLA right? Lol aren’t you supposed to be out riding around in your Toyota pickup getting blasted by Baloch IEDs?
Capturing and conveying the horrors of Urban Warfare that was a day to day reality for both sides during the battle in a short video is nearly impossible, but you guys nonetheless did a great job in your presentation
I love this historical content. Don't stop producing this please.
Don't worry,
Halliburton and Dick Cheney made BILLIONS!
Let's not forget Boeing, Raytheon, Blackwater etc.
@@formalbug5716 And, Aquafina.
@@Cheka__ I think they would fall under the forementioned "etc."
@@formalbug5716 And Wet Ones antibacterial wipes.
Including the WP and DU munitions manufacturers...
“We were one “ is a great book about this battle . A journalist wrote it who was attached to the marines of 3/1 who took the most casualties.
You do really good work. My unit was in this battle, I got out August 2004. So it was fantastic to see all the work you guys did on a battle that so many of my friends were in.
Thank you for your service
Thank you for your service and the service of your friends
@@chriscarlone527 Wrong war, that was Bosnia.
thank you for your service , you useful meat
@@bleepbleep5245 so does that make you useless?
Hey Grif, I’ve been watching your videos for a while. I will admit that there are some I skip due to the subject nature being completely out of my interest but I try to come back to them. I just appreciate the videos and especially the way you articulate the info. The intro of this video in particular gives me goosebumps. I was only 9-10 years old at the time of this battle and I’m not sure why but the pictures I’ve seen from these days of the GWoT are seared into my consciousness. The intro of this one really put me in the shoes of “the point man”, from the last deep breath taken as he prepares himself outside the door, to the tap on his shoulder from his squad mate letting him know it’s time, to the dump of adrenaline that he gets as he breaches the door and clears the threshold. I find myself now as a 28 year old trying to seek out and find documentaries and testimonials from the young men (and women) who were there in Iraq and Afghanistan. This battle in particular really strikes me as it was the bloodiest battle of the Iraq war for the US and because a large bulk of the fighting in this battle was done by young Marines and Paratroopers as opposed to Special Operators who were more trained and more experienced to what a modern, urban war against a fanatical insurgent enemy looked like.
“both men prayed before the door is blasted open”💔
Every fighters in that battlefield had a reason to fight
The Battle of Fallujah was so brutal, that it was compared to the Battle of Hue from the Vietnam War
Praying America actually learns its lesson
@@xp7575 LOL! Great joke dude. When has America ever learned anything?
@@homelessjesse9453 excellent point
I guess the keyboard warriors arrived sooner
I mean, maybe I've been getting too much into ancient history where battles used to be way worse, but since when is only 100 deaths out of 13k soldiers in a period of a month considered brutal? I say this with all respect to the ones who fought and died there of course.
I knew a guy who served in fallujah, he joined the army right after 9/11. He was a staff Sergeant. He left the service in 2006 and was riddled with debilitating PTSD from the things he witnessed there. This was one of the bloodiest military conflicts in American history.
Pretty much the bloodiest fighting since Hue City&Black hawk down in Somalia
نعم كنا نقاتل المحتل الامريكي بشراسة
@@وليد-ك9ي6ز المنتصرون هم من يكتبون التاريخ ليس الطيب أو الشرير
Good that he has ptsd, i hope he does soon so he can meet his buddies in hell
Iraqis fought to defend their country, what's wrong with that
You have the highest quality animated history videos compared to some people! I've been watching for quite a while and I usually enjoy your videos. Still wanting a Kings and Generals collaboration.
This is a really small detail. But I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you addressing the Marines properly. Also, the detail the animator put in. The fact that they took the time to portray the Marines in MARPAT is realistic
What's the proper way to address a marine?
@@Mygg_Jeager not calling them soldiers
@@Jasper118 Yeah... they're soldiers lol. I know they hate being called that but they are by every dictionary definition. They're uniformed professional combatants, enlisted in a legal state military... that's a soldier lol.
@@Mygg_Jeager the technical definition is obviously not the point. Would you call a sailor a soldier? A marine is a specific type of war fighter with a specific role hence the specific name. Especially in the US when there are clear differences in every way between soldiers and marines. But beyond all that it’s also about the culture and pride, you just don’t call a marine a soldier, that’s what OP was saying. Nobody cares how you define it if you obviously don’t understand.
@@Mygg_Jeager Marines are not soldiers, they’re Marines. A Marine is an amphibious light infantryman. Soldier is a generic term for a combatant that fights on land, like a Sailor only stays at sea.
friend of mine i grew up with fought in this battle; was badly wounded, nearly died. unfortunately, he couldn't overcome his own demons and the battle eventually got him a couple years ago. this video helps give me a better idea of what he went through there. miss you man.
Your friend was a war criminal and deserved what got to him, unfortunately. Was in Iraq illegally. Your friend was part of the problem and any American soldier following orders IS the bad guy.
مات صديقك والى الجحيم ذاهب بعد ان اسرف في الجرائم ونار الغضب فينا اشعل
Sorry to hear that
Lmfao skill issue😤👆
@@kamlaahmad3529 May he rest in peace*
"Madison fire a warning shot"
"Sir this is a m32 grenade launcher"
"Ehh potato patato fire"
yes just like that but with white phosphorus
@@ChristandMMA Oh sh- 😂😂😂
Rushianbager yez
@@noggy3133 Rushian?
@@cruzaider5339 I’m making his username sound dumb.
God bless the brave heroes defending their country against invaders
And the invaders won
@@redcommander27😂😂😂😂😂won, I am dying
@@redcommander27
لا لقد انهزم الغزاة
ولان المقاومين العراقيين هم المسيطرون 😇🇮🇶💜
@@samoyl123456 The battle I meant, not the war. Though the biggest winner of the war were the Shiite insurgents, not the Sunnis.
I was in Fallujah twice with 3/5 (K 3.5). Once in 04’ and again in 2007. Was sad to see it fall to ISIS. Have to give respect to the fighters we took on. I absolutely remember coming across bodies of guys with blue eyes and blonde hair. I really resent how Americans make the fighters out to be idiotic morons. They’re well trained, and seriously gave us a fight.
Dreamland? Who did you replace in 2004?
thank you for your service i mean that from the bottom of my heart.
@@metalmarine8259 man people look at me crazy when i tell them insurgents weren't always Iraqis. Iraq was up for grabs for power hunger groups looking to claim some territory and hired mercenaries that wanted to collect a ton of money.
Thank you for your service
Thank you for your service
Good job this video actually is more informative, accurate and unbiased than some of traditional media's documentaries
Damn... I guess I’m officially old. I was there during Phantom Fury. C 1/5 INF, 25th ID 1st BDE Stryker (as an 11B). We later moved to Mosul. Weird watching a cartoon documentary about it. Makes it seem sort of silly.
Were you a mounted crew or were you a dismount and how was it being army in that battle compared to marines
@@Bootyeatter6969 I was a dismount - C 1/5 INF, 3rd plt, 3rd squad, bravo team. Carried the M4/m203 (later carried the SAW in my deployment). During Fallujah, granted I was just a PFC, and it’s been like 17 years, but main thing I remember is that we started out of Camp Fallujah, pushed in a few days before the siege actually started, then stayed along the River, after securing one of the bridges. And our main objective was the cordon element in and around the city. But as far as the Marines, I want to say it was 3/1 who we were closest to. And funny story is I remember them shooting at our Stryker lol. Who the hell sees a Stryker and thinks, oh, I bet Ali Baba is in that thing? Lol. Oh, and we were the unit that got moved to Mosul. Evidently, a good chunk of dudes left the city in advance and were wrecking havoc up north where the rest of our brigade (25th, 1st BDE) were at. So, we moved up there and finished our deployment in Mosul.
It’s funny that the author talks about the rain. I remember that vividly. Prickly heat. Swamp ass. None of us slept the whole time we were there...for at least 10 days straight. We were all delusional and hallucinating. 1 MRE about every three days. Covered in bug bites and rampant diarrhea. I even fell into the Euphrates during one firefight we got into at night. Thought I was going to drown. It was a grind. Everyone’s focused on the Hollywood aspects of gun fighting... which there was that... but I wish dudes could imagine just how much it sucked.
@@robertkennedy3419 damn that sounds intense af, as a boot I hate we aren’t deploying to any combat zones rn.
@@Bootyeatter6969 as an older man now, part of me is glad that the deployment tempo isn’t like it was. I’d tell you just take in all the training, focus on discipline, and take care of yourself and your dudes. My prayers go out to you young guys. And I’m proud of you for your service. God bless!
@@robertkennedy3419 thank you for your service brother, we all look up to y’all
I really like the way this crew presents History. Just the plain facts as it happened, and not muddied by personal opinions. The way History is supposed to be told.
A local gunshop owner is a veteran combat engineer that fought in Fallujah. He described manning the MK19 40mm belt fed grenade launcher that had been mounted on a humvee/truck (I can't remember which). They would take fire and he would turn the MK19 and level the block. It must've been hell because he was not doing well and didn't receive the necessary support for a veteran.
@Louis Blanqui With a combination or hard drugs and ptsd, he’s 100% never going to be the same. Plus, his gun shop got raided by the ATF, so pretty sure he’s in prison now.
@@ai.yeehaw This is why no one likes the ATF
@@ai.yeehaw at this point lots of gun shops are being raided for really minor infractions. Its probably just a Biden moment.
@@ai.yeehaw
Louis just can't win
Openly comfortable bragging about being a war criminal in your country says a lot about you demons
Are you going to do a series of videos on the two Russo-Chechen wars?
I like how alot of people are actually asking for this.
Respect for knowing this exists.
@@ReySchultz121
I find those wars interesting because they happened while Russia was going from the Soviet Union to the Russian Federation, and how it affected Russia both domestically and globally.
@@seanbruce8294 How about the Russo-Georgian war?
@@figtree_video_archive
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS.
@@ReySchultz121 became aware of this after “chechclear”. Both sides went crazy with the war crimes
I was active duty Army during this time. I remember Fallujah being a highlighted example to our guys that the American civilian population had no idea what we were facing in this war
War criminal. You're not a hero. Remember that.
@@chriscarlone527 Hahahaha, oh your comment just made my day
@@chriscarlone527 He’s just a marine following orders, shut up flat earther conspiracy theorist. You probably also believe in hollow earth and that the moon landing was fake.
@@valkkyrriee The moon landing wasn't faked. He's not a hero. There is nothing heroic about "just following orders." That's what drones do. People who think for themselves always question authority. His position in the military is the antithesis of free thought.
@@chriscarlone527 Most people are too dense to realize that the "insurgents" the US Military was fighting were to people defending their land from a foreign force attempting to invade their backyard. Anyone saying otherwise or stating that we should have "glassed the place" is a sociopath
Fallujah and the Iraqi Resistance are Middle Eastern version of the IRA.
Greetings to you all from Baghdad
id say they’re way stronger than the ira lol
I cant wait for the Six Days in Fallujah game to come out
@You have to know just report this one for spam
If it ever does. I was saying that about Ready or Not, but I have no hope for that game anymore.
That game is going to be bullshit propaganda, just crying about how sad war is but only showing our side and some token civilians.
@@Ad3tr No, we'll have to wait and see
@@normalplayer7377 They’ve given statements and confirmed these details. You don’t always have to wait.
“We did it Patrick, we saved the city!”
That's america's motto.
@@Ad3tr - our motto is close width and destroy the enemy
@@bluecordrecipient6907 and the city, and the country as a whole cuz why not
@@sooryan_1018 - name me a peaceful war that never caused damage. We weren’t there to save the city dumbass we were there to kill the insurgents IN the city
The city should have been leveled by strategic bombers.
You should do some videos about Ireland, the 1910s and 1920s where a complex time
A video on the Easter Rising/Irish Civil War would be swell, ngl
The republic will be restored btw
That would be pretty cool
I was born in the Dublin street where the loyal drums to beat
And the loving english feet they walked all over us
I second this request
A minor nitpick: at 14:03 the graphic says M16A2 but the M16A4 was adopted in June of 1997 and had already supplanted the A2 as the standard issue rifle of the USMC by 2004. The A2 was relegated to non-infantry and reserve roles for the most part. There were A2s there I’m sure, but the vast majority would have been A4s as the USMC was leading the operation. Other than that this was an excellent video as always 10/10!
Wouldn't m4a1 be more common?
@@2dhoes03 M4A1s are newer weapons. Just 5 years ago, we traded our M4s for M4A1. And even so. Most “M4s” were actually M16A2 Carbines. My Squad Leader in Iraq 3 years ago had one. But most Marines carried M16A4s not M4s. Army was the same too for a minute.
@@2dhoes03 The Marines have only recently started getting gear as good as or better than the Army. While Army forces often had M4's and plate carrier systems, Marines had M16's and flak vests.
@@2dhoes03 No, the marines continued using the M16A4 even after the M4 came out. The army got M4s way quicker so they would have been using them as their main rifle by 2004 but, there were only 1,500 army soldiers compared to the 6,500 marines that took part in the battle. The M4A1 was made for SOCOM operators. The USMC uses the M27 IAR now, but I believe non-infantry squads still use a mix of M27s and M4s.
@@Eubeenhadd huh, funny how the army is much quicker to adapt compared to the marines.
I love how this is one of the only main history channel to mainly talk about modern warfare.
This is a lovely surprise, thank you as always :)
Ah yes such a lovely surprise, remembering the “lovely” Iraq war which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians..
@Θ.Σ.Κ.30 ΙΙ cool story bro . Go back to listening to your terrible church music.
The more I learn about both sides of the war the more I just feel shitty for everyone involved.
Maybe my perspective is all wrong but, after hearing about how bloody and brutal the fighting was, I expected casualties to be through the roof. I was shocked to hear that the Americans lost only about 100 killed. Don't get me wrong, each one of those losses is a terrible thing. But I'm just talking about the scale. 100 Americans killed in a battle involving like 15,000+ combatants, described as brutal house two house combat and one of the bloodiest of the war, seems amazingly low.
Compared to normal US casualties that is quite a lot. The USA hasnt had many truly bloody battles in a long, long time, so 700 casualties is a ton
Modern wars have lot less casualties. Due to much better equipment and technology, and wars not being as big as they were before
That's because everyone in Fallujah was declared a combatant, whether they were an actual insurgent or not.
I recommend the book "On Call in Hell". It's a doctor's memoirs of the battle and talks about how he put forward a new method of treating casualties closer to the front and its impact on the battle. Also goes into the Corpsmen who stocked his Role and the ones on the front line as well.
Modern medicine and armor also is the main reason that so many survived especially in comparison to the terrorists.
So basically "as long as we're careful, we can break the rules we made up." Good stuff, lol. War. There is no rules. Only the guys with the biggest sticks to enforce their will. Actions speak louder than words. Great video by the way!
How do you not engage in occasional rule-breaking when the enemy uses civilians and mosques as cover? How could they possibly fight the insurgents by following the rules? I think there's an American 'spirit' to follow the rules and try to have no harm come to civilians, but I wasn't there and didn't know the reality on the ground. I can understand the need or even desire to bend or break them in certain circumstances. Civilians are always the largest casualty group in any war.
@@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368 Well why the phosphorus then?
The US has always broken the rules they made in every single war its been in. Playing dirty then revising the history is an American tradition.
The idea of "rules of war" has been perverted somewhat. Originally, rules of war were meant to be such as to ensure that warfare remains limited to the warring states and doesn't consume the entire world (enemy civilians tended to count as hostile targets when convenient, but foreigners were to be allowed hostility-free existence), and to ensure that there can be a peace settlement and a world after the war (so, enemy envoys were to be allowed free passage, and a peace settlement was to be the end of hostilities, so all the weaponry like minefields was to be disabled after a peace settlement was reached). These rules are to a large extent still followed today, by all sides.
However, these rules have in the late 19th-early 20th century been turned into the "chivalrous warfare" rules that they are today. And since war has always been hell and not a particularly chivalrous occupation, no side ever adhered to said rules. However, for fear of public pressure, the Western statesmen were never really able to admit that and move on from this silly idea. Which is how we came here.
Those who are powerful enough to make the rules, are powerful enough to break them.
I like how you gave humanity to the insurgent. Many of them we may significantly disagree with and there were many vile people, but to many they were fighting for what they felt was right in many cases, and the fact that both the U.S soldier and the insurgent were fearful and that he held a photograph of his family and it was what he held as he died is so very human that we very often do not think about.
Nazis beleived they were right. Pretty sure alot of nazi generals held pictures of their families when they were hung for genocide.
Terrorists use civillians as meat shields, yet people are de-sensitizied to the point they think war is a game, and try to criticize the Americans for doing what they did. If half these rich suburb folks were in the same shoes those marines were in, the warcrimes they committ would be even greater.
@@honkhonk8009 Not every insurgent is a horrible monster and not every american soldier is a hero, just as not every german soldier was not a Waffen-SS.
German generals (By vast majority) didn't give two shits about Nazi ideology. Anyone with actual sway over the war effort outside of Hitler didn't actually care about Nazism and instead focused solely on "winning" and their own careers to the detriment of the war in its entirety. Guderian is a perfect example of this shoot the bigger plan in the foot so I can get a step ahead mentality.
Yes, Al-Qaeda leaders and ISIS by in large were full of awful awful people, but not every single person on their side = evil soulless monster and to view them that way is just to justify our killing of them, just how it is so easy for us now to consider the Wehrmacht to be just like the Waffen-SS, which they were not, just how the red army was not all like the NKVD in later war periods.
They died for their land while Americans died for oil
Shut up
Why is RUclips not showing comments?
الفلوجه هي ارض عراقيه ، و شعب الفلوجه و شعب العراق هم اصحاب هذه الارض ، أما لامريكان و غيرهم الكثير فهم مخربون و مدمرين و سارقين العراق ، كما يحدث الأن في أكرانيا من قبل الغزات !
Subbed. This channel hits a target I've wanted for years. Just a step by step situational explanation of historical battles.
The narrators voice is perfect too. Easy to listen to
I love Griffin’s incredible animations. They really bring what he is saying to life.
هلا
@@Omer1996E.C هلا
هلا بهيمه
@@x2x808 روح تعلم كيف تكتب عربي
@@سعودالجهني-ر9ن انت لن ولا تعرف معنى كلمة بهيمه
Seeing this come up in my recommendations is surreal. Both the fact that I was there and also this happened so long ago it's considered a historical event
Your the only person I have seen who has done a video in this and has mentioned the British involvement in this battle. Thank you
My ex roommate was in that battle, he is still haunted by the horrors of Fallujah. The mental and physical scars of the Iraq war rule his life.
lmaoooo
Well good
A terrorist terrorizes his enemy even after death. now those are some terrorists.
Good job from the insurgents
@@commontouch1787We still prevailed, once the stars and stripes has you on it’s targets you are simply done.
I just wanna say the number of units involved in the battle is greatly underestimated. My fathers unit, attached to the army’s 1st ID, was running QRF for a few Marine battalions throughout the battle, so much so that they spent 14 days straight driving around the city from engagement to engagement rescuing marines from gunfights, escorting wrecker trucks, relieving combat ineffective units, etc. and the only sleep they got for those 14 days was whatever they can get while driving between gunfights. As valiantly as the marines fought, they were heavily outnumbered, outgunned, and very unprepared and were constantly being rescued by not just my father’s army unit, but many other army units and SOF teams as well. IIRC, they lost every single AAVP7 they drove into the city, most of them simply from small arms fire.
@Michael Lesko for some reason America just loves to fetishize losing fights so it’s no wonder the Marines in Fallujah got the same cultural treatment as Rhodesia, Mogadishu and Vietnam.
You may want to consider asking specifics. The only QRF units involved were Marine and Brits. If your father in law was Army and claims he was QRF at Fallujah, then he is mistaken.
@@scottallen3236 don’t have to, I’ve seen the videos to prove it. My father (not in law) documented as much as he could on video for the time. I also spoke with him before and after the offensive about it.
Here’s an external source documenting the Army’s involvement in Fallujah with great specifics about QRF elements out of Balad and Taji
www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/Primer-on-Urban-Operation/Documents/EyewitnessToWar_VolumeI.pdf
Can confirm, I was part of the team to send out "EEK" Armor, to add to all AAV's in late 2004, prior to my own deployment.
They weren't outnumbered. Only a few thousand Terrorists held the actual city. And nor were they outgunned, what sorta fool says Americans are outgunned?
This battle was definitely the most insane fighting since the Vietnam War for US troops. Looking at satellite photos of the city, then imagining almost all of it is hostile really brings home how scary it must have been to approach knowing you needed to clear the WHOLE THING. The videogame Squad did a good job of recreating the city and its feel, and goodness if it isn't the most intense MOUT map in the game.
The 1st Marine Division is also the same unit that landed at Inchon during the Korean War and then retook Seoul.
What a bizarre comment to glorify such operations and compare them to a video game. The brainwashing of American people has no bounds does it. Vietnam and Iraq were completely pointless wars which only caused death and destruction.
There is a big difference between those who fight to defend honor, land, and human values, and those who fight for Alura Jenson
The animation detail is amazing at 5:23 the RPK74 and aks74u look great
Both are Kalashnikovs
One thing I think you forgot to mention was that civilians were ordered to evacuate. Because of this, everyone remaining was pretty much seen as a “hostile”
I heard "chechen" Within the video, this reminds me that you should probably made a video about the Chechen wars, it was a hell hole that kinda doesn't get talked about.
@Ibrahim Suleman Dagestan and Chechnya are Russian lands.
I remember when im watching about a tank documentary and it explained the chechen war and the battle for me is like a machinegun tearing through soldiers on d day
Yeah they are some tough fuckers, them and the Circassians who still live there. I mean, they knew the Russians were coming and they did not flee, and put up a hell of a fight not once but twice. Fierce warriors and brave men to be respected all around.
@@DSTKO-w7z Yes part of Russia, but those people are not Ethnic Russians. That's all I'm saying.
@@DSTKO-w7z Russians are begging to give Chechnya independence now because Russians can't say anything about Chechens in their own country. Russians gaze down when a Caucasian walks by, you can deny it but I see it everyday.
My dad's best friend/gunman was in this battle, he was the one who taught me how to become a marksman with rifles since he was a sniper there
targeting religious structures is of course against the Geneva convention UNLESS the enemy is known to be using said structure as a base of operations
Geneva Convention you must mean Geneva suggestion
This makes the rule make a lot more sense. Also feel like Griff omitted that part and this makes the US sound worse, since they clearly WERE using mosques as bases of operation.
Targeting religious structures is of course against Geneva Convention UNLESS you say the enemies were using it
Geneva convention? Bruh, more like Geneva “suggestion”
@@InciniumVGC in war nothing is sacred enemies will use our own rules of engagement and mercy against us that's why we haven't won a war for so long.
It would be cool to see an “evolution of French uniforms” video. So much to cover, from napoleon, to the world wars, to modern conflicts
The French were and still are pretty dripped out
@@NBH-xh3nq yeah but braindead people think that they only surrender.
@@morisco56 Even when their government surrendered the people fought on
Chinese uniforms hopefully we won’t see the 2022 versions in war
@@groller7295 they are not that dumb to invade taiwan
I visited Fallujah last year and ate delicious food and got wonderful hospitality there. I love Fallujah. I didn't know that Fallujah was a battleground until after watching a clip from one of the series, where someone said that I fought in Fallujah, so I remembered that Fallujah is in my country in Iraq, and when searching I found that maybe I was I was young at the time, and I didn't know what was going on around me
You must have been real young dude lol what part of Iraq did you grow up in that you didn’t experience the war?
@@datman3416 I was a kid at the time
@@udfty what year were you born? Where at Iraq did you grow up? I’m just curious brotha not trying to grill ya lol
I saw Fallujah, sad state that it is in.
Absolute bs
I am prouf of the Islamic Freedom fighters whho took part on the battle of Fallujah and gave one the TOUGHEST BATTLES to america in the hostory of Iraq war with nothing nut mefe AKs and RPGs. May God bless the graves of those martyres. ❤️❤️❤️
God bless you too
Remember the good old days when to be a freedom fighter, you actually had to fight for freedom?
What freedom were they fighting for? The freedom for Iraqis to not have a say in how their government was run? Fallujah was part of a region called the Sunni Triangle, where the insurgents basically won. The insuing tyranny got so bad, half of the insurgents flipped sides and joined America in what was called "The Anbar Awakening."
@@Dennis-nc3vw dude i dont care what kind of say i have or have not in the government of my own country... You DO NOT come fron another land.. Another country.. That too a western one and INVADE my land in the name of guving me freedom... I DID NOT ask you to do that...!!!! Thats Basic 101 of International relations... You DO NOT act like the bloody moral police of the whole God damn world and try to impose your so called "democracy " upon those middle eastern countries deeply embeded in tribal culture to your western democracy. Always REMEMBER.... My own Tyrant army is ALWAYS always better than the soldier who comes from another country... Coz history has proven that those foreign forces are always The WORST. That tyrant Army, no matter how bad they get , have still hailed from this society... No matter how bad they get end of the day they are fathers , brothers and sons from MY SOCIETY.. they are MY PEOPLE that i have an emotional connection with. On the other hand i DO NOT share any such connections with you and you are NOT welcome.
@@sameerkhan3757 Well speak for yourself, the majority of Iraqis in 2004 (when the battle of Fallujah took place) still thought to invasion was a good thing according to both the UN and Gallup.
I don't know why being an invader makes you automatically bad. Grenadans literally have a holiday celebrating when the US invaded their country, 92% of Panamanians approved of Operation Just Cause. America itself owes it freedom from foreign interventionism from France and Spain.
If Joe Biden declared himself and his sons oligarch for life, and his sons promised to restore our elections, I would not *hesitate* to side with the invaders.
"House to House" is a great book about this battle.
Not only the way he’s telling the story is damn amazing, but the animations are the best🔥
Why is he speaking like a speech synthesizer? It's so unnatural...
My dad fought in this battle. He said that he had so much blood on him he could not even tell if he was shot. He also said that it was constant fear he never knew what was around the corner.
Jesus...We're glad to hear he's ok.
Thanks man
Your dad fought for the evil side. Your dad invaded a country that posed no threat to yours. There was no draft, your dad joined voluntarily. I really hope your dad and those who fought alongside him face justice. War of aggression is the ultimate war crime according to the Nuremberg trials. That puts your dad below the Wehrmacht soldiers on a moral level as they were forced to fight for Germany
@@shamtradtam3769 His father helped liberate the Iraqi people of a cruel and oppressive dictator named Saddam Hussein and got attacked by religious extremists and Saddam Hussein's crazed loyalists for it, sit down.
@@shamtradtam3769 At least his dad didn't commit war crimes
1:00 they are not insurgents, they are defenders of their homeland.
Is POV type of thing. For patriot, insurgents for those in the country, liberators
@@history-jovian Western Media and Western Politicians decide. What did AL Jazeera call the Iraqi defenders?
wdym they loiterally are wouldnt the iraq army be the defenders?
No they're not
Defending their homeland from what? Elections?
Attacking a Mosque, Church, or Synagogues that is being used for military purposes (including munitions caches or psychological warfare) by a foe is not a war crime. The war crime is committed by the foe who uses them for military uses. Same goes for hospitals and other civilian buildings.
tbh i feel ACH although a really good historian seems to not fully grasp what is and isn't a war crime due to international conventions, he dose the same with WP which he describes as being fully a war crime when used against personal, which is a inflated myth much to the same degree as the use of .50 caliber ammunition against personal, the use of such weapons isn't limited firstly by the often cited Geneva conventions (which revolves around treatment of civilians and prisoners during and after war) instead by the Hague conventions, and the limitations on chemical incendiary weapons (such as WP) is only forbidden in areas with civilian population and infrastructure (meaning wp use in general is suppose to be forbidden in cities like Fallujah), the kicker to this as well is how the international conventions work, they are not imposed instead countries sign to agree to them and upon signing are granted protections under them but also limitations, the US did not sign the particular convention which limited the use of incendiary chemical weapons, in turn making it so legally they are unhindered by it in this use and as such no war crime was legally speaking committed here
@@fkUTube449 Not a war crime. A violation of some rules of engagement dreamt up by some politicians in the mistaken attempt that we can turn our enemies into our friends by only killing them in certain ways.
Geneva convention?
More like Geneva Suggestion.
Civilian casualties?
More like acceptable collateral damage.
If the insurgent decided to give up and slipped away, no war crime would be needed.
invading a country based on lies , is also a major war crime .
LOL you lost the argument once you invaded foreign land
I was there as an army infantryman in 2-2 infantry. I'll never forget the look of relief on the marines faces when they saw other American troops coming to help out. We spearheaded the attack with Bradley fighting vehicles which punished insurgents like no other. The enemies that we captured called it the "bomb gun".
America killed many civilians and used white phosphorus America killed in many civilians and used white phosphorus gas. Your military committed abominable acts. May the Iraqi people find peace after your despicable military departed. Ameen.
No one gives a damn. Your fellow soldiers returned to their wives who cheated on them and were left neglected by their country
@@AllThingsHistory123 damn did I happen to you bro is that why you're so angry
@@AllThingsHistory123 I bet I know why you're so pissed off you cuz you found a soldier getting deep down in your girls guts
you are a war criminal not different than Putin's soldiers invading Ukraine
1:38 how come resisting an invading army is a terrorist attack? you should get your terms right
Any it depends. Insurgents can be considered liberators too and most countries would consider them terrorist until they are in power and have a trade market full of merceneries
Why is the one who defends his city called a rebel and those who came from the farthest world to invade are called heroes?
Because the people got brainwashed by the US
This ain’t Star Wars
Because the "hero" won and wrote books on it
Because those who were defending their cities were from a cult that instruct them to treat women like animals.
I was there the day the 4 contactors were hung over the bridge. I think I remember hearing the explosion. It was not a pretty site and some of the people were beating the dead corpses even after hanging them. Fallujah was a hotbed waiting to explode. No one, not even us knew how bad things were about to get. But I'm not sure what agreement Armchair is talking about, I remember operations continuing until the battle started. I felt bad for the marines that were taking over the FOB after are tour was ending. But, after a year of operations in that city I was ready to get back state side.
If you guys weren't there, you wouldn't be hung and beaten and the city would be a hotbed waiting to explode
@@byrondubose7445 don't enlist and if you are gonna fight, fight against the government that is asking you to be a invading force
@@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009 One man against the government and all its assets, that’ll go swimmingly
@@EnigmaEnginseer so just don't fucking enlist
Is that simple
@@byrondubose7445 They honorable killed civilians and caused war crimes
Want to be humanitarian ? Join a NGO or become a medic
Hey Armchair Historian loved your video on the battle of Falluja. It parallels to the battle of Hue in 1968 as far as urban combat and house to house fighting. Maybe for your next video you could do one on that. Love your videos!!
correction on white phosphorous as this along with other incendiary weapons are often misstated , the use of such weapons is 100% permittable in wartime against enemy combatants as long as its not near civilian infrastructure or populations. which yes means it should of been illegal in Fallujah but the kicker is if i remember right the US did not sign this convention aswell (countries are actually given the option to agree or not to these conventions it is not imposed on countries who do not agree) and as the insurgent forces had not signed it as well. legally it wasn't a war crime as neither side was protected or prohibited by signed international convention/law from use of such weapons. this is often a mis-represented fallacy which has been inflated much like the myth of large caliber ammunition (such as .50bmg) being against international convention if used against people instead of vehicles and other "material" (its not)
Burning humans alive is a crime against humanity
@@Roseblindbags123 you've clearly not read any human history lmao, like Homer once said "We men, are wretched things"
@@_Dat_Edgy_Boi_ you think I don't know that, the problem is everyone but the United States commit "human rights" abuses
Thank you for the info, I believed both of those myths until your comment. Is there any good sources like documentaries or books on warcrimes and their history like that?
@@Roseblindbags123 so, we cant burn al qaeda? how tf are we supposed to fight other than guns?
(( وأذ قيل لهم لا تفسدوا في الأرض قالوا انما نحن مصلحون ألا إنَّهم هم المفسدون ولكن لا يشعرون ))