"WHAT IF? FALLUJAH"

One of Peace Direct's aims is to promote the benefits of more peaceful approaches to violent conflict to the Government in order that they will divert more funding into conflict prevention. For more on the British government's present initiatives, visit their conflict prevention website. In order to persuade the Government, we have done some research into the situation in one of the most badly affected Iraqi regions - Fallujah.

“Fallujah… is now 70% estimated to be bombed to the ground, no water, no electricity… People inside the city are referring to it as a big jail. It is a horrendous situation, and we still have hundreds of thousands of refugees as a result. And the goal of besieging Fallujah as announced by the U.S. military was to capture the phantom Zarqawi and to bring security and stability for the elections, and what's left is a situation where Fallujah is in shambles, and the resistance has spread throughout the country.” Dahr Jamail, a US citizen who spent many months in Iraq as one of the only independent, unembedded journalists there, interviewed by US radio station Democracy Now! on 28.4.05

How did this state of affairs, massively damaging to both the people of Fallujah and to the occupying forces, come about? What have we learned? What other approaches could have been used? And what does this experience tell us about 21st century warfare?

Lessons Learned 2003 -2005 looks at the decision points in the 18 month period leading up to the final assault in November 2004. It shows how some relatively small changes in approach – for instance a prompt apology after civilians were killed in April 2004 – might have prevented Fallujah from becoming a rallying place for insurgents.

See:Learning from Fallujah

For more information on the situation and the strategies that could have offered a more positive outcome, please read Scilla Elworthy's article 'Learning from Fallujah’s agony' published in openDemocracy in 2005: "The second siege of Fallujah by United States forces in November 2004 inflicted huge damage and casualties on the Iraqi city. Scilla Elworthy asks what went wrong, and what strategy could have worked better for civilians and military alike."