"We could have used two more days to plan," said U.S. Army Maj. Thomas J. Boczar, who organized the strike with Iraqi division commanders.
Iraqi army Col. Bassim Mohammed, assigned to the division's reconnaissance company, said he learned about the mission only three hours before it began at 4 a.m. Friday.
"We didn't do any reconnaissance. Nobody was briefed on the area. We didn't know the area 100%," Mohammed said. Units that went into Fadhil hadn't plotted egress routes, he said.
U.S. advisors said impending operations were often kept secret because of infiltrators within Iraqi ranks.
But Boczar suggested that insurgents knew the attack was coming. Aerial drone footage captured before the assault appeared to show them positioning themselves in preparation for the raid, he said.
"This was a coordinated, complex attack," Boczar said of the insurgent ambush. "And the way they maneuvered shows us that they were ready for us."
Having learned from previous encounters that rooftop snipers would be exposed to U.S. helicopters, insurgents fired out of second- and third-story apartments. And like the U.S. troops who called in helicopters for air support, the insurgents staging the ambush called on others to strike Iraqi army positions with mortar rounds.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mathew Stanton acknowledged that it was a tough fight, but said he was all right with that.
"It was hard. I understand that," Stanton said shrugging his shoulders. But he was satisfied. "You know what? We're not going to be here forever."
moore1@latimes.com
