Combat· Iraq War (Op IRAQI FREEDOM)
Operation Matador
Operation Matador was a major Marine offensive in the far western Euphrates valley near the Syrian border, mounted to strike at the foreign-fighter and al-Qaeda networks operating in the Al Qaim region, an area that had become a haven and transit point for insurgents entering Iraq. The Marines drove into the border towns and the country along the river, fighting determined insurgents who stood and battled from fortified positions and booby-trapped buildings in some of the hardest combat of the period. The operation uncovered the depth of the enemy's presence in the region and inflicted significant losses, but like earlier sweeps it cleared ground without the forces to permanently hold it, and the insurgents filtered back after the Marines withdrew. Matador exposed the need for a persistent presence rather than episodic raids in the border region, a lesson that would shape the later clear-and-hold campaign that finally secured the Al Qaim district.
Record no. 767