Raid Outside of Yusifiyah, Iraq
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael D. Fay, USMCR
Acquisition Number: 2016.81.4
Medium: Watercolor and Pen Wash on Paper

A Marine armed with an M-16A2 rifle and protected by body armor stands ready to engage the enemy on a street outside Yusufiyah, a large town south of Baghdad, Iraq. In 2004, this was a dangerous region, where the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit pursued well-trained insurgents and sought senior militant leaders during Operation Iraqi Freedom. President George W. Bush ordered U.S. troops into Iraq in 2003, searching for weapons of mass destruction and al-Qaeda terrorists, the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks. Long after dictator Saddam Hussein was captured, coalition forces were fighting a full-scale war against irregular fighters throughout Iraq until they were ordered to stand down in 2011.