View source for 2004 Fallujah ambush

{{Short description|Attack on a US private military company convoy during the Iraq War}}
{{Infobox military attack
| title         = 2004 Fallujah ambush
| image         = <!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:2004 Blackwater Killings in Fallujah.jpg|300px]] -->
| caption       = In this famous [[Associated Press]] photograph, an Iraqi mob hangs the bodies of four dead Americans from [[Blackwater USA]] on a bridge across the [[Euphrates River]].
| location      = [[Fallujah]], [[Iraq]]
| target        = [[Blackwater USA]] personnel
| date          = {{Start date|2004|03|31}}
| time          = 
| timezone      = 
| type          = Ambush
| fatalities    = 4
| injuries      = 
| instigator    = [[Iraqi insurgency (2003–06)|Joint operation between Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic Army in Iraq]]
| conflict      = the [[Iraq War]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Iraq War}}
{{Campaignbox Al Anbar campaign}}

The '''2004 Fallujah ambush''' occurred on March 31, 2004, when [[Iraqi insurgency (Iraq War)|Iraqi insurgents]] attacked a convoy containing four American mercenaries from the [[private military company]] [[Blackwater USA]] who were conducting a delivery for food caterers [[Eurest Support Services|ESS]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Contractors - The High-Risk Contracting Business {{!}} Private Warriors {{!}} FRONTLINE |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/contractors/highrisk.html |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=www.pbs.org |archive-date=2012-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215011831/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/contractors/highrisk.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==The ambush==
The four mercenaries —[[Scott Helvenston]], Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Mike Teague—were killed and dragged from their vehicles. Their bodies were beaten, burned, dragged through the city streets, and hung from a [[Euphrates|Euphrates River]] bridge.<ref>{{cite book|title=No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah|author=Bing West|author-link=Bing West|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=978-0-553-80402-7|year=2005|pages=[https://archive.org/details/notruegloryfront00west/page/3 3–4]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/notruegloryfront00west/page/3}}</ref>

==Response==
Photos of the event, showing jubilant Iraqis posing with the charred corpses, were released to [[news agency|news agencies]] worldwide, which caused a great deal of indignation in the United States.

The ambush led to the [[First Battle of Fallujah]], a U.S.-led operation to retake control of the city. The battle was halted mid-way for political reasons, an outcome that commentators have described as insurgent victory.<ref>West xxii.  "The Second Phase began in March 2004, when four American contractors were killed and the bodies mutilated in broad daylight in the heart of the city. The US Marines were ordered to seize the city, but then, due to international outrage over televised reportage of the assault, were told to stop. For six weeks the Marines engaged in fierce but inconclusive siege warfare."</ref><ref>LeBleu, Joe. "Long Rifle: A Sniper's Story in Iraq and Afghanistan", p. 201. "In mid-April 2003, President Bush decided not to secure Fallujah...laying the groundwork for later U.S. failure there."</ref><ref>Scahill, Jeremy. "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army", p. 205. "The horrors unfolding in Fallujah, coupled with the U.S. failure to take control of the city, and the bold resistance of Fallujah's residents was encouraging other Iraqis to rise up."</ref> Seven months later, in November 2004, a second attempt to capture the city, the [[Second Battle of Fallujah]], proved successful.

Intelligence reports concluded that the attack was planned by [[Ahmad Hashim Abd al-Isawi]]. He was captured by [[Navy SEAL|Navy SEALs]] in 2009, five years later.<ref>{{cite news|title = Navy SEALS tragedy in Afghanistan chronicled in new film, "Lone Survivors"|first = Tom|last = Deignan|date = December 22, 2013|accessdate = November 28, 2016|url = http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/others/navy-seals-tragedy-in-afghanistan-chronicled-in-new-film-lone-survivors-236927721-238264231|newspaper = IrishCentral|archive-date = January 26, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170126142747/http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/others/navy-seals-tragedy-in-afghanistan-chronicled-in-new-film-lone-survivors-236927721-238264231|url-status = live}}</ref>  al-Isawi was held for a time by the United States intelligence community, including at Camp Schwedler. In 2010, he testified at a [[court-martial]] of SEALs he accused of mistreating him.<ref>{{cite news|title = Navy SEAL not guilty of charges in Iraq|author = ((CNN Wire Staff))|date = April 22, 2010|access-date = November 28, 2016|newspaper = [[CNN]]|url = https://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/22/navy.seal.verdict/|archive-date = November 29, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161129021003/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/22/navy.seal.verdict/|url-status = live}}</ref> He was subsequently handed over to Iraqi authorities for trial and [[execution|executed]] by [[hanging]] some time before November 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title = Persecuting Our Heroes|first = Ray V.|last = Hartwell|newspaper = [[The American Spectator]]|date = November 26, 2013|accessdate = December 7, 2016|url = https://spectator.org/56777_persecuting-our-heroes/|archive-date = December 20, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161220073334/https://spectator.org/56777_persecuting-our-heroes/|url-status = live}}</ref>

==2005 lawsuit==
{{Main|Helvenston v. Blackwater Security}}

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

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{coord missing|Iraq}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallujah ambush, 2004}}
[[Category:2004 murders in Iraq]]
[[Category:Attacks in 2004]]
[[Category:2004 in Iraq]]
[[Category:Blackwater (company)]]
[[Category:Battles of the Anbar campaign (2003–2011)]]
[[Category:Fallujah in the Iraq War]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2004]]
[[Category:Ambushes of the Iraq War]]
[[Category:March 2004 in Iraq]]
[[Category:Battles of the Iraq War in 2004]]
[[Category:Private military contractors in the Iraq War]]