@article{445290,
      recid = {445290},
      author = {Johnson, David E. and Markel, M. Wade. and Shannon,  Brian.},
      title = {The 2008 battle of Sadr City [electronic resource] /},
      publisher = {RAND,},
      address = {Santa Monica Calif. :},
      pages = {xiii, 21 p. :},
      year = {2011},
      note = {"Prepared for the United States Army."},
      abstract = {"The 2008 Battle of Sadr City, which took place in Baghdad  nearly 15 months after the beginning of the U.S. "surge" in  Iraq, has received relatively little scholarly attention.  However, the coalition's defeat of Jaish al-Mahdi after six  weeks of high-intensity fighting offers important lessons  for the U.S. Army as it prepares for future operations.  Using after-action reports, briefings, other primary  sources, and interviews with combatants and officials  involved in the fighting and its aftermath, the authors  describe the battle, analyze its outcome, and derive  implications for the conduct of land operations. Their  analysis identifies the following factors as critical to  the coalition victory: supporting ground maneuver elements  with integrated intelligence, surveillance, and  reconnaissance capabilities and strike assets; the key  roles played by heavy forces, snipers, and special  operations forces; decentralized decisionmaking; capable  indigenous security forces; and rapid transitions from  phase to phase. The authors conclude that the Battle of  Sadr City presents a new model for dealing with insurgent  control of urban areas: treating an urban area as a  wide-area security mission. Unlike previous urban  operations against insurgents, in which cities were  essentially besieged and then stormed, the objective in  this battle was not to take and clear Sadr City but to  create conditions that would make it both impossible for  the insurgents to operate effectively and possible to  restore security to the broader population."--P. [4] of  cover.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/445290},
}