Colonel John A. Weil,U.S. Marine Corps Reserve

Modern warfare in an ancient city has presented difficulties for a fighting force that is second to none intraining and armament. And at least some of those dilemmas have been legal.

Confronting those challenges are highly trained military lawyers. Two of the leaders among thoseattorneys are Arizona lawyers. From the ranks of the Arizona bar were drawn two men who would serve inIraq as senior lawyers in both the Marine Corps and the U.S. Army. They were kind enough to share some

of their thoughts and stories.

We begin with the words of John Weil. Until recently, he was the senior Marine Corps lawyer in Iraq.His accomplishments earned him the Bronze Star, which he was awarded this past April.

The second piece is by Jay Morse, an Army Major who is the Senior Defense Counsel in Baghdad. He and his staff provide defense services for the approximately 15,000 soldiers assigned or attached

to the Third Infantry Division.

13J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 5 A R I Z O N A AT T O R N E Y

BY JOHN A. WEILPHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF STANTON

w w w. m y a z b a r. o r g

The Battle for Fallujah

ONE SOLDIER’S MEMOIR

John A. Weil has practiced law in Yuma for thepast 25 years, concentrating in commercial liti-gation and bankruptcy. He stayed in Arizonaafter serving as a Judge Advocate at the MarineCorps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona. He alsoremained in the Marine Corps Reserve foralmost 30 years. He was ordered to active dutyin June 2004, and served as the Staff JudgeAdvocate for the First Marine ExpeditionaryForce—the senior Marine Corps lawyer in Iraq.He is now retired from the Marine Corps and hasresumed his practice in Yuma. The observationsand opinions in this article are his own and donot represent the official position of the UnitedStates Marine Corps.

On November 8, 2004,the First MarineExpeditionary Forceunder the command ofLt. Gen. John F. Sattler,and reinforced by nine

Iraqi battalions and two Army brigades,launched an attack on Fallujah, a city of325,000 people and the center of terror-ism in Iraq. The battle for Fallujah result-ed in the most intense urban fightingsince the battle of Hue City, Vietnam, in1968. It also required the resolution ofnumerous legal issues. In fact, one of thelessons learned from modern militaryengagement is the dramatic expansion ofthe role of military lawyers.

The origin of the battle was an inci-dent in April 2003 when U.S. troopsopened fire on angry protesters inFallujah, killing 13 and injuring 75.Violence came to a head when four U.S.security contractors were ambushed andkilled while driving through the city and

their burnt remains hung from a bridgeby a cheering mob.

The Marine Commander wanted tonegotiate but was ordered to secure thecity immediately. Without time to plan,the Marines launched an offensive, whichresulted in intense fighting and politicalrepercussions within the Interim IraqiGovernment. The fighting ended whenan agreement was made to turn over con-trol of the city to a local Iraqi militiaforce and to exclude U.S. forces from thecity.

Within a short time, terrorists hadintimidated or assassinated the leaders ofthe militia and local police force, and thecity was taken over by terrorists.

Marine Corps units are task organ-ized. The largest unit is a MarineExpeditionary Force, which includes aMarine Corps Wing with fixed and rotarywing aircraft, a Marine Corps Divisionwith tanks, amphibious tractors andinfantry and a Marine Corps Force

Service Support Group with logisticstroops. An expeditionary force alsoincludes military lawyers who providemilitary justice support (judges, prosecu-tors and defense counsel), legal assistanceattorneys (advice and assistance on civil

14 A R I Z O N A AT T O R N E Y J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 5 w w w. m y a z b a r. o r g

the terrorists all of the protections andbenefits under international law, includ-ing the Geneva Conventions. Marinelawyers were assigned the difficult task ofapplying the international treaties in situ-ations that were never intended to begoverned by the treaty provisions.

Fallujah is bordered on the west by theEuphrates River and on the north by theRamadi–Baghdad railroad sitting on a100-foot high embankment. The terror-ists logically assumed that the onlyavenue of attack would be from thesoutheast. The Marines reinforced theterrorists’ assumption by conducting

small-scale attacks and feints fromthe southeast. The result was thatthe terrorists’ bunkers, barriers andfighting positions were oriented foran attack from that direction.

What the terrorists did not knowwas that the Marine plan of attackwas from the north, and that theMarines had devised a method tobreach the railroad embankmentwith explosives. Thus, the attackcaught the terrorists by surprise,and U.S. forces were able to movequickly through the city.

Before launching the attack, ahuge problem was how to deal withthe 325,000 civilians. Because ter-rorists do not wear uniforms andhave no respect for human life, anattack with the civilian population

present would undoubtedly have resultedin hundreds of casualties. The solutionwas a carefully orchestrated informationoperation to warn the citizens of Fallujahof the impending attack and to assistthem in relocating to other areas. TheMarines used television, radio, newspa-pers and leaflet drops to warn the Iraqisliving in Fallujah of the danger of stayingduring an attack. As a result, by the timethe attack occurred, almost the entirepopulation had relocated to relatives’homes or surrounding camps. For anoperation of its size, the civilian casualtieswere extremely small (it is estimated that14 noncombatants were killed).

A large number of terrorists surren-dered during the first days of the battle

matters) and a small number of staff judgeadvocates who provide direct advice tothe senior commanders.

The Marine Corps planners realizedthat operations in Iraq would requireextraordinary legal support and attachedmore military lawyers than normal, eitherby temporary assignment of active-dutyMarine Corps judge advocates or mobiliz-ing reservists. The Marine Corps lawyerswere selected based on their training andexperience, and some were assigned tosmall-unit commanders.

By November 2004, Fallujah hadbecome the most heavily fortified anddangerous place on earth. Therewere more than 5,000 terrorists,500 weapons caches, 27 factoriesbuilding improvised explosivedevices and two factories construct-ing vehicle-borne improvisedexplosive devices. Terrorist leaderssuch as Abu Musab Zarqawi movedin and out of Fallujah.

From time to time, it was possi-ble to pinpoint the exact location ofterrorist leaders. To kill or capturethe terrorists, Marine Commanderswere required to comply with anextensive set of directives known asrules of engagement. The specificsare classified, for the obvious rea-son that if terrorists know the rules,they will manipulate them againstU.S. forces. For example, believingthat U.S. forces could not under any cir-cumstances engage enemy forces within amosque, the terrorists occupied morethan half of the mosques in Fallujah andused them for weapons storage and com-mand and control centers.

It is not a secret that a central purposeof the rules of engagement is to avoidfriendly casualties. U.S. Forces go toextreme lengths to avoid harming civil-ians. For each attack, the risk to noncom-batants is extensively analyzed (collateraldamage estimates), and the authority toapprove the mission changes dependingon the perceived risk.

By November 2004, the Marines atFallujah were subject to a complicatedand extensive set of rules of engagement

issued by higher headquarters to includethe Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs ofStaff, Central Command, Multi-NationalForces Iraq and Multi-National CorpsIraq. Not surprisingly, commandersrequired the assistance of military lawyersto identify, interpret and apply theserules. In particular, military lawyers wererequired to resolve internal contradic-tions and seek modification of the rulesfrom higher headquarters.

Through history, the United Stateshas entered into many internationaltreaties regarding the conduct of warfare,with the most well known being the

Geneva Conventions. Today, there is anextensive body of law surrounding thetreaties commonly referred to as the lawof armed conflict, and there are militarylawyers who specialize in this area. Thelaw of armed conflict contemplates con-ventional war between nations, with com-batants wearing uniforms and both sidesfollowing the rules. The terrorists inFallujah utterly disregarded the GenevaConventions and international law andintentionally targeted civilians and com-mitted assassinations and torture.Although legal experts agree that theinternational treaties were not intendedto apply in a conflict such as the one inIraq, nevertheless, as a matter of nationalpolicy, Marines were instructed to afford

The Battle for Fallujah: One Soldier’s Memoir

To kill or capture the terrorists,

Marine Commanders were required to

comply with an extensive set of

directives known as rules of

engagement. The specifics are

classified, for the obvious reason that

if terrorists know the rules, they will

manipulate them against U.S. forces.

16 A R I Z O N A AT T O R N E Y J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 5 w w w. m y a z b a r. o r g

and were transported to a detention facil-ity, under the charge of a Marine reservistlawyer. Within days, a Marine lawyer act-ing as a magistrate had reviewed everydetainee’s case. All detainees were givenmedical examinations and, in any case inwhich a detainee had bruises or there wasotherwise any evidence of abuse, a mili-tary lawyer immediately investigated thecase and completed a written report.

The offensive operations were followed

by reconstruction and humanitarian assis-tance. Navy SeaBees rebuilt and/or con-structed for the first time water plants,sewer plants and electrical systems. Marinelawyers drafted and negotiated letters ofunderstanding with the Interim IraqiGovernment and oversaw the acquisitionof materials and local contractors to per-form the work.

In addition, because assistance from theInterim Iraqi Government was delayed and

recognizing the situation of the residentsof Fallujah, the Marines devised a plan todistribute humanitarian assistance pay-ments to 32,500 heads of household.Military lawyers assisted in locating asource for these funds—the Commander’sEmergency Response Program (CERP)—and oversaw the distribution process.

Marine Corps lawyers also providedvaluable assistance in implementing a newmilitary justice system for the Iraqi sol-diers. For the first time, Iraqi soldiers wereafforded due process, such as the right tomeet with military counsel. The punish-ments awarded by Iraqi commanders werelimited and were subject to review by high-er authority.

As a result of the Battle of Fallujah, thecity changed from being the most danger-ous place in Iraq to the safest. With addi-tional time, the Interim Iraqi Governmentdeveloped its own reconstruction projects,not only to fully repair all battle damagebut to greatly improve the sewer, water,electricity and road systems within the city.

The Marines provided advice and logis-tical assistance to the Interim Iraqi gov-ernment in the conduct of the first Iraqielections. Most people expected the worstfrom the terrorists, and military lawyersassisted the Interim Iraqi Government inpreparing special emergency laws that,because of the threat from vehicle-borneimprovised explosive devices, prohibitedoperating private vehicles on the electionday.

No one fully anticipated the determina-tion of the Iraqi people to vote in freeelections. Iraqis walked for miles andstood in lines for hours to cast their bal-lots. When polling sites were attacked byterrorists, the Iraqis would scatter for pro-tection only to get back in line after theterrorists’ attacks were repelled.

The global war on terrorism has dra-matically changed the role of militarylawyers. No longer are judge advocatesrestricted to administering the militaryjustice system. Instead, military lawyersnow perform many essential tasks to assistcommanders in complying with rules ofengagement, international treaties andgoverning statutes.

The Battle for Fallujah: One Soldier’s Memoir

From the citation:For meritorious achievement inconnection with combat opera-tions involving conflict with anopposing force while serving asStaff Judge Advocate, I MarineExpeditionary Force fromAugust 2004 to March 2005,in support of Operation IraqiFreedom II. He displayed out-standing knowledge, excel-lence and leadership in advis-ing the Commanding Generaland the battle staff. ColonelWeil displayed superior discre-tion and foresight in overseeingthe investigation of severalwidely reported Law of ArmedConflict incidents, thereby min-imizing any collateral impact onongoing operations. He alsoensured that the major subor-dinate commands understood

and implemented the comprehensive Rules ofEngagement, to include garnering high headquartersapproval of an enhanced application of hostile intentfor the Battle of Al Fallujah, Iraq. Both of theseaccomplishments were evident by the absence of anyfratricide incidents and the small number of non-combatant casualties. He took a proactive role withhigher headquarters and ensured the continued abil-ity to provide condolence payments to Iraqis who suf-fered battle damage, which dollars resulted in anunprecedented payment of more than 15 million dol-lars directly supporting I Marine Expeditionary Force’scivil military operations. Colonel Weil’s total effective-ness, forceful leadership, and loyal devotion to dutyreflected great credit upon him and upheld the high-est traditions of the Marine Corps and the UnitedStates Naval Service.

For the President,John F. Sattler,

Lieutenant General, U.S. Marine Corps CommandingGeneral, I Marine Expeditionary Force AZ

AT