US hands over ANBAR to IRAQIS !

Grokmaster · #1 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 03:28 PM

Great news from Iraq,more benefit from the Surge.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4656377.ece

DuH2 · #2 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 12:40 AM

(Iraqi security forces carrying Iraqi flags during the handover ceremony in Ramadi, Anbar Province, on Monday.)

Quote:

U.S. hands back a quieter Anbar Province
By Dexter Filkins Published: September 1, 2008

RAMADI, Iraq:

Two years ago, Anbar Province was the most lethal place for American forces in Iraq. A U.S. marine or soldier died in the province nearly every day, and the provincial capital, Ramadi, was a moonscape of rubble and ruins. Islamic extremists controlled large pieces of territory, with some so ferocious in their views that they did not even allow the baking of bread.

On Monday, U.S. commanders formally returned responsibility for keeping order in Anbar Province, once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, to the Iraqi Army and police. The ceremony, including a parade on a freshly paved street, capped one of the most significant turnabouts in the country since the war began five and a half years ago.

Over the past two years, the number of insurgent attacks against Iraqis and Americans has dropped by more than 90 percent. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia has been severely degraded, if not crushed altogether, in large part because many local Sunnis, including former insurgents, have taken up arms against it.

Since February, as the security situation improved, U.S. commanders have cut the number of marines and soldiers operating in the province by 40 percent.

The transfer of authority codified a situation that Iraqi and American officers say has been in effect since April: The Iraqi Army and police operate independently and retain primary responsibility for battling the insurgency and crime in Anbar. The United States, which had long done the bulk of the fighting, has stepped into a backup role, going into the streets only when accompanied by Iraqi forces.

http://iht.com/articles/2008/09/01/mideast/iraq.php

"""""Not in our wildest dreams could we have imagined this," said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, who flew in from Baghdad. "Two or three years ago, had we suggested that the Iraqis could take responsibility, we would have been ridiculed, we would have been laughed at. This was the cradle of the Sunni insurgency.""""

Wonderful example of the undeniable progress that has been made in Iraq since the success of the surge took effect and the enemy has been routed.

Spare · #3 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 12:42 AM

Hoorahh !!!

E_Pluribus_Venom · #4 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 12:45 AM

Great!!!!!

DuH2 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 02:26 AM

Had the Democrats gotten their way(aka the Obama way) this would not be happenning..

Oh we'd have turned the province over by default while running away of course but to Terrorists!(including al Qaeda)

E_Pluribus_Venom · #6 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuH2

Had the Democrats gotten their way(aka the Obama way) this would not be happenning..

Oh we'd have turned the province over by default while running away of course but to Terrorists!(including al Qaeda)

had the democrats had their way, we'd never had been there in the first place.

Sparky Farkas · #7 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 06:40 AM

Generally if you kill most of the living things in any given place it becomes quieter. Rage seethes under the surface of the quiet among the survivors. The U.S. would have been smarter to provide schools especially for the girls. No strings attached, just schools, a bridge here and there and maybe a medical center on occasion.

JP5 · #8 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 07:38 AM

GREAT NEWS!!! And just one more example of the accomplishments and SUCCESS in Iraq. I'm especially PROUD as my good friend's Marine son was a part of cleaning that area up last year.

KUDOS to the U.S. military; A JOB WELL DONE!!!!!

Spare · #9 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky Farkas

Generally if you kill most of the living things in any given place it becomes quieter. Rage seethes under the surface of the quiet among the survivors.

LOL -- were you at my last family reunion????

Some things are just hard to accept, aren't they?

teeko · #10 (**permalink**) 09-02-2008, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E_Pluribus_Venom

had the democrats had their way, we'd never had been there in the first place.

No the terrorist would be your neighbor.

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