My Share of the Task(257)

                “He would create the market”: Nicolson, Seize the Fire, 45.

                a brigade-size force: Interview with task force member.

                broadband Internet and cell towers: This point is explored by Peter Bergen in his book The Longest War (Free Press, 2011), 162–63.

                technically illegal under Saddam: “Iraq Awards Mobile Phone Licenses,” BBC, October 6, 2003.

                spread after the American invasion: The Department of Defense indicated (through graphics) that as of June 1, 2004, there were about 500,000 subscribers; 1.5 million by January 1, 2005; and more than 3.5 million by August 31, 2005 (U.S. Department of Defense, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq,” October 13, 2005, 16). Further data on cell phone and Internet usage in Iraq can be found on the World Bank’s “Data” website, which can generate a variety of metrics on the country. In 2004, it lists 574,000 cellular phone subscriptions and, interestingly, only 300,000 Internet users (1 percent of the population).

                had not been convinced: Interviews with three task force members.

                140 Iraqis were wounded: The details of this event and the casualty toll come from Edmund Sanders, “35 Children Die in Baghdad Bombings,” Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2004.

                barracks for our operators: Interview with Lieutenant General (retired) John Sattler.

                enlisted Prime Minister Allawi: Ibid.

                first week of November: The operation was originally planned for November 5 but was then changed to November 7. Kenneth Estes, “U.S. Marine Corps Operations in Iraq, 2003–2006” (occasional paper), United States Marine Corps History Division, 55.

                real attack from the north: Interview with Lt. Gen. Sattler.

                fortified the terrain: “Three hundred and six well-constructed defensive positions were identified, many of which were interlaced with improvised explosive devices (IEDs)” (John F. Sattler and Daniel H. Wilson, “The Battle of Fallujah—Part II,” Marine Corps Gazette, July 2005.)

                daisy-chain IEDs: Interview with Lt. Gen. Sattler.

                cut the power: Estes, “U.S. Marine Corps Operations,” 58.

                Zarqawi pledged: The message was posted on October 17, 2004, the third day of Ramadan. Jeffrey Pool, “Zarqawi’s Pledge of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda,” Terrorism Monitor, December 16, 2004.

                “our most generous brothers”: Translated by Pool in “Zarqawi’s Pledge of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda.”

                websites a few days later: Ibid.

                next door, in Iraq: Al Qaeda’s leadership had sounded the alarm over the looming Iraq war in 2002, and bin Laden had spoken of Iraq as the “new crusade” since 2003. See, for example, Osama bin Laden, “Quagmires of the Tigris and Euphrates (October 19, 2003),” in Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, ed. Bruce Lawrence (Verso, 2005), 207–211.

                Muslims to wage jihad there: In January 2004, bin Laden said, “Before concluding, I urge the Muslim youths to carry out jihad, particularly in Palestine and Iraq.” Osama bin Laden, “Resist the New Rome (January 4, 2004)” in Messages to the World, 231.

                “regret it afterwards”: Osama bin Laden, “Depose the Tyrants (December 16, 2004)” in Messages to the World, 272.

                maintain their good work: “Osama bin Laden to the Iraqi People” (Special Dispatch no. 837), Middle East Media Research Institute, December 30, 2004.