Unremitting: The Marine "Bastard" Battalion and the Savage Battle That Marked the True Start of America's War in Iraq

Their nickname was the Magnificent Bastards, and they were warriors without a war. Kept stateside after 9/11 and left floating in the Pacific during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the thousand Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment were told they were benchwarmers as America sent troops into combat. But war was waiting.

Iraq would explode in violence exactly one year after a U.S.-led Coalition swept into Baghdad, and the Magnificent Bastards would find themselves at the epicenter. When the battalion first arrived in the provincial capital of Ramadi, Iraq, in February of 2004, their assigned mission should have been little more than handing out candy, smiling, and making friends with a conquered people. Instead, they were thrust into a savage battle where hundreds of insurgents organized a three-day offensive aimed at driving the Marines out of their city of 400,000. Amidst the violence that broke out across Iraq in April of 2004, the fight in Ramadi marked the true beginning of the war.

In Unremitting, journalist Gregg Zoroya tells the fast-paced, dramatic, meticulously-researched, and poignant story of that battle. Capturing the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle, Zoroya explores this vital part of American military history and beyond, showing how Ramadi was not just a game-changer for the Iraq War, but also for the Marines, sailors, and soldiers who fought there--and the trauma that remains with survivors more than two decades later.

"The degree of enemy coordination, violence and success in Ramadi was remarkable. Some of the worst actors within the Iraq insurgency were (there). The Marines and sailors of 2/4 were tested as few have been since the Vietnam War. ... This is their story."
--General Joe Dunford, USMC (Ret)
19th Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
36th Commandant of the Marine Corps