Half way into the operation, my command pulled us aside and said that they had just received an intelligence report that Zarqawi was just a few blocks a way and that he was wounded in the leg. They encouraged us to keep fighting and to stay motivated, because victory was near.

Somewhere between 4,000 to 6,000 civilians were killed and 63 American lives were lost in the course of this operation.

Yet it was the loss of American lives that received the focus in the Western media, and the atrocities that we committed against civilians went unreported. This was not an accident, nor a matter of perspective taking. Reports of civilian deaths were regarded as IO (Information Operation) victories for the “insurgents”.