Taming Iraq's Wild West

Major General Walter Gaskin of the U.S. Marine Corps recently said that Iraq's al-Anbar Province, once known as the "Wild West," was ready to be turned over to Iraqi Security Forces. Citing a steady decline in violence and the increasing capabilities of Iraqi army troops and policemen, General Gaskin predicted the handover would occur in just two short months. So far, just 9 of Iraq's 18 provinces have been handed over to Iraqi forces.

Al-Anbar was long known as Iraq's troubled province, home to such hot spots as Fallujah, site of two major U.S. military offensives, and Ramadi, the provincial capital where insurgents once roamed the streets with impunity. From 2004 through 2006, the province was one of Iraq's most violent, and Antiwar.com, a web site opposed to all armed conflict, published an article saying the U.S. military had lost control of al-Anbar. Just last year a Marine intelligence officer declared al-Anbar lost, and extremist tactics perpetuated by foreign fighters were inflicting devastating losses on both American forces and Iraqi civilians. But all that has changed now. Ramadi is quiet and Fallujah is steadily improving, and violence levels in Anbar have reached some of their lowest points since the U.S.-led invasion ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in early 2003.

Part of the turn around can be attributed to additional forces sent to the province as a result of President Bush's troop surge designed to quell the ongoing violence in the country. It was one year ago this week that Bush announced the deployment of an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq, with the majority going to Baghdad and Anbar Province.

Some credit for Anbar's turn-around must also go to the Anbar Awakening, which saw Iraq's Sunnis, who largely dominate Anbar Province, turn against the foreign fighters heading the al-Qaeda in Iraq organization that was responsible for much of the province's death and mayhem. Sunni tribal leaders are largely credited with bringing the Sunnis together to quell the fighting throughout the province. Kimberly Kagan, writing for the Institute for the Study of War and the Weekly Standard magazine, says, "As a result of their efforts...al Qaeda no longer controlled Ramadi or Fallujah."

Terrorist elements did fight back though, but so far Sunnis are holding their ground. A conference held in Ramadi shortly after Bush's troop surge began reaffirmed the determination of Anbar's residents to bring order to their province. Arif Mukhaibir Sayad al Alwanee of the Ramadi District Council told the Multi-National Force-Iraq, "This conference is about Iraqis...standing next to each other against this insurgency."

Sources: Institute for the Study of War, Multi-National Force-Iraq, Antiwar.com