On the night of June 30 some of our soldiers were on patrol in Ramadi. Some of them had never experienced combat and didn’t expect to that night, but they ran upon some Al Qaeda in the midst of planning a major offensive.

This Washington Post story explains what happened.

Yes, there were American dead that night, and yes, there were Al Qaeda dead that night, along with some civilians who were killed in their tents while sleeping.

I think the following sums it up pretty well. Please read the rest to see what happened that night.

In the end, the battle of Donkey Island left 11 U.S. troops wounded and two dead, while an estimated 32 insurgents were killed. The heavy fighting between the Americans and the al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents had deep repercussions across Ramadi.

Iraqi police officers close to Buchan “lost it” when they heard of his death, Rosa said.

“I love Sergeant Buchan. When he died, all of the police cried,” Col. Jabbar Hamid Ajaj said in his Ramadi office, plastered with posters he had made featuring Buchan.

At his mansion near the main U.S. base in Ramadi, Sattar, the tribal leader, was alarmed to learn that he had been the insurgents’ prime target but took comfort in the U.S. tank stationed outside his home.

“If al-Qaeda gets away from the Awakening, they won’t get away from the American forces,” Sattar said. “We are allies,” he added as he shared a tiny cup of bitter coffee with Lt. Col. Miciotto Johnson, commander of the 1-77. “I defend Col. Johnson, and Col. Johnson defends me.”

U.S. commanders said the battle was a major defeat for al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents, showing how hard it is for them to operate in Anbar, where they face an increased U.S. troop presence and rejection by the Sunni population.

“Al-Qaeda is on its back foot,” said Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. “They have largely lost Anbar province.”

But U.S. officers in Ramadi say it is only a matter of time before al-Qaeda in Iraq strikes again.

“We’re still expecting attacks similar to this one,” said Maj. Andrew Wortham, the 1st Brigade Combat Team’s intelligence officer in Ramadi.

Soldiers who fought in the battle say they feel extremely lucky to have happened upon the insurgents — and to have survived. They’re concerned that if U.S. forces leave, the insurgents will return and easily kill local police and officials. “I worry about pulling out of this area early. If we do, these guys are dead meat,” Lauer said.

Spannagel, the scout leader, said the fighting revealed “a false sense of security that we’d won the battle in Ramadi.”

In fact, he said, “this shows the enemy is patient. This is his land. He’s got all the time in the world. . . . They’re going to continue to fight in Anbar.”