14 July 2006
Iraqis Taking Their City Back from Terrorists, Says U.S. Colonel
In Ramadi, coalition engages residents, helps strengthen security forces
Washington – Today, one of Iraq’s most violent cities is beginning to turn a corner thanks to the dedication of area residents and Iraqi security forces as well as the support of their coalition allies, says a top U.S. military officer.
“We're in a transition point in the fight for Ramadi. There's still a lot to do, but we're on the right track,” Army Colonel Sean MacFarland, appearing via videoconference, told journalists in a July 14 Pentagon press briefing.
MacFarland commands the First Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division, whose mission is to partner with Iraqi army and police units in the country’s southwestern al-Anbar province to conduct counterinsurgency operations. These actions are part of a broader strategy to secure the area and allow local Iraqi authorities to regain control of the region.
The majority of the province’s 600,000 people reside in and around Ramadi, the provincial capital, located 100 kilometers west of Baghdad. Its citizens are mostly Sunni Muslims, so although the sectarian violence seen elsewhere rarely is seen in the area, MacFarland said his forces encounter a complex array of enemies, from foreign fighters and local supporters of al-Qaida to political opponents of the new Iraqi government to armed criminal gangs.
Members of al-Qaida in Iraq, though small in number, are a significant threat to area residents because of their use of suicide bombers, MacFarland said. When al-Qaida terrorists came to town, he said, “they intimidated, through murder and other acts of violence, the people of Ramadi and forced them into their homes, away from their places of employment,” turning the city into a battleground. As a result, he said, since the spring of 2004, Ramadi has been the site of some of the fiercest fighting outside Baghdad.
Earlier in 2006, rumors spread that this summer would see a large-scale assault on the city intended to put an end to the insurgency, similar to past operations in Fallujah. But instead, MacFarland’s forces have teamed up with Iraqi army and police units in a series of ongoing operations to clear Ramadi of militants and establishing a network of five joint “combat outpost and patrol stations.”
COALITION ENGAGING WITH AREA RESIDENTS
MacFarland said his forces have sought to use no more force than is absolutely necessary, preferring instead to forge partnerships with area residents. (See related article.)
This strategy, he said, also has given his troops “the opportunity to engage the people of Ramadi … we've established real relationships with the people in parts of the city that we hadn't been able to in the past.”
As secure areas expand, MacFarland said, “people don't have to worry about the safety of their families when they go out.” They will be more willing to return to work, and even join the Iraqi security forces, he predicted. Although al-Anbar province has a long way to go, he said, it is approaching the point when security will become self-sustaining and “irreversible momentum” will be achieved.
Already, MacFarland said, the strategy is paying dividends as normal daily activity slowly returns to the secured sections of the city. As a byproduct of this security, residents are beginning to come forward with valuable information about insurgent activities, as well as requests for assistance in restoring basic services.
In addition to military forces, representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Agency for International Development are in the area working with local authorities to help repair damaged infrastructure and provide technical assistance to restore the city to normal operation. (See related article.)
Having begun to take the city back from the insurgents, MacFarland said, it is now important “for us to hold what we've got and to begin to build where we hold."
STRONG ARMY, POLICE KEY TO IRAQI FREEDOM
MacFarland said long-term security for al-Anbar could be achieved only by building up Iraqi army and police units so that they can defend their country. (See related article.)
The Iraqi army is recruited nationally, MacFarland said, so its ranks will be ethnically diverse. Police units, by contrast, recruit locally so they have rapport with residents and specialized local knowledge (See related article.)
“[T]hey're making good progress, and we're committed to helping them get to where they need to be,” he added.
Through military and police transition teams, coalition forces provide support and technical assistance to all Iraqi security forces. The objective of the teams, he said, is to help the army and police become more self-sufficient, allowing coalition forces to withdraw eventually from the area. (See related article.)
But building an army under combat conditions never is easy, McFarland said, drawing a parallel between current coalition training in Iraq and the support the United States received from foreign allies to build an army during its War of Independence in the late 1700s.
Change, while slow, is occurring every day in Iraq, he added. “[I]t's a slow process,” he said. “But I see the change, and it's happening every day.”
A transcript of and a video link to MacFarland’s briefing are available on the Web site of the U.S. Department of Defense.
For more information, see Iraq Update.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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