A year after the United States led assault on Fallujah, an attack which likely resulted in numerous war crimes due both to the wholesale destruction of the city and the specific targeting of hospitals and mosques, the people of Falluja continue to suffer from a lack of financial compensation, slow reconstruction, and high rates of illness. Last November’s assault damaged or destroyed 36,000 homes, 60 schools, and 65 mosques and killed between 4,000 and 6,000 people, the majority of whom are civilians. Despite promises at the time of compensation by then Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, much of the money has failed to materialize and many residents are still displaced and lack access to potable water and electricity. Moreover, the destruction of hospitals during the assault and the slow reconstruction has increased the rate of disease.

While the civilian population’s suffering during the destruction of Fallujah has received scant attention in the year following the assault, the recent revelations that the United States used white phosphorus weapons against civilians in the assault on Fallujah, which the United States has previously classified as a chemical weapon, increases the likelihood that the war crimes committed in Fallujah may some day be investigated. Of course, an investigation will likely do little to improve the lives of people living in Fallujah, but it is a step towards illuminating one of the worst crimes of the Iraq War. Additionally, trial of two a British trial of two former British government officials is revealing new evidence that the attacks on Fallujah were taken for political reasons rather than strategic reasons.

For more information on both the November 2004 attack on Fallujah and the ongoing effects of the attack, visit Remember Fallujah.