“We just came out of a defensive position into an offensive position,” said Falah al-Naqib, Iraq’s interior minister. This was the largest operation in which U.S. troops have fought alongside Iraqi soldiers.

U.S. and Iraqi military officials said their goal was to deal debilitating blows to a militia headed by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has taken credit for bombings of civilian areas and other targets and for killings of foreign hostages in Iraq. A pro-Zarqawi group had taken responsibility for a September 30 bombing in Baghdad at the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant, during which 42 Iraqis were killed, including 35 children who were collecting candy from U.S. soldiers.

Over the summer, Samarra had become a “no-go” zone for U.S. troops and the Iraqi military. Efforts by the U.S. military and the cabinet of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to reach a negotiated settlement for control of the city by the interim regime broke down in early September.

About 3,000 soldiers of the U.S. First Infantry Division, along with 2,000 Iraqi army and national guard troops, entered Samarra from three sides October 1, initially taking control of government buildings, a pharmaceutical factory, and the Golden Mosque.

The mosque was actually taken by Iraqi forces alone, an indication that the U.S. army is beginning to make progress in training a combat-ready Iraqi military.

Iraqi and U.S. troops then began a neighborhood-by-neighborhood search for militia members and weapons. Phone lines into the city and at least some of the electricity were cut off.

U.S. warplanes and AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships provided air support to the U.S. and Iraqi infantry.

Samarra, a city of 200,000, lies in the area of Iraq known as the Sunni Triangle, home to many supporters of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The triangle includes Fallujah and Ramadi, also in line for attack in the current offensive. U.S. forces, working with the fledgling Iraqi military, also aim to gain control of Sadr City, the large working-class Shiite district of Baghdad where supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, organized in the Madhi militia, have been fighting U.S. troops. An editorial in the October 4 Wall Street Journal was indicative of the conclusions from the rapid victory among U.S. ruling circles. “The Samarra campaign makes up for what was turning out to be a repeat of April’s mistake in Fallujah to trust a deal with former Baathists in the city,” said the editorial, which was titled “Don’t Stop in Samarra.”

It continued, “The Iraqi contribution was especially notable, since it included newly trained forces. Once again one of the best Iraqi units was a group of some 300 from the 36th battalion that was put together in 2003 by the much-maligned Iraqi National Congress. It’s a shame the State Department and the CIA opposed training more such anti-Saddam Iraqi allies earlier.

“We hope Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his interim government conclude that the lesson of Samarra is to continue into Ramadi and Fallujah.”

Thousands of Samarra residents fled the city in the wake of the assault. U.S. forces blocked the main bridge over the Tigris River into Samarra, cutting off the city from Iraq’s main north-south highway. Some residents left the city by floating down the Tigris, waving white flags from boats.

U.S. forces reported killing 125 Iraqi militiamen. This figure does not include civilian casualties. Of the 70 dead brought to Samarra General Hospital since the battle started, 23 were children and 18 women, hospital official Abdul-Nasser Hamed Yassin told the Associated Press. At least 100 others were wounded.

AP Television News reported that some people were unable to take their wounded for treatment because of gunfire from U.S. troops, who, at one hospital reporters visited, were arresting anyone over 15 years of age.

By all accounts, however, the U.S. and Iraqi forces took Samarra with relative ease, meeting little resistance from the civilian population.

The night of October 3, after the takeover of Samarra, U.S. planes carried out strikes on Fallujah, where supporters of al-Zarqawi are also based. The same night U.S. forces attacked Mahdi militia positions in Sadr City in Baghdad, where the First Cavalry Division has been carrying out almost nightly strikes.

The assault on Samarra paves the way for further military action against such groups. “I have personally informed [Fallujah] residents that it will not be a picnic. It will be very difficult and devastating,” Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer told Al-Arabiya television October 3.

U.S. military commanders reviewed the difficulties they have met in establishing control of Fallujah and Najaf before launching the assault on Samarra. Najaf, a city in south-central Iraq, is also a center for supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr and was targeted for assault in August. “We studied what happened in Najaf and elsewhere very carefully, and we learned some important lessons,” Lt. Col. David Hubner told the New York Times. Hubner is commander of one of four U.S. battalions that attacked Samarra.  
 
 
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