Article

2006-11-20 Iraq

Fighting back: the city determined not to become al-Qaeda's capital

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Posted by tipper 2006-11-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Interesting piece on recent success in Ramadi.

Posted by Scooter McGruder 2006-11-20 00:32|| 2006-11-20 00:32|| Front Page Top

#2 As al-Qaedas fighters tightened their grip on Ramadi, they became increasingly repressive and challenged the tribal leaders power. Soon they were kidnapping and beheading innocent people as part of a campaign of extortion and intimidation.

Some sheikhs fled to Jordan and Syria. Sheikh Sittars father and three brothers were killed, his father during the holy month of Ramadan, and he says he has himself survived several kidnap attempts. This summer a fellow sheikh was ambushed and beheaded by al-Qaeda supporters, who piled insult on injury by keeping his body so it could not be buried immediately, as demanded by custom.

We began to see what they were actually doing in Anbar province. They were not respecting us or honouring us in any way, said Sheikh Sittar, speaking through an interpreter. Their tactics were not acceptable.

During the late summer he began enlisting his fellow sheikhs in a movement called the Sahawat or Awakening, whose goal is to drive al-Qaeda from Anbar province.

The US military wooed the sheikhs over what one US officer described as hundreds of cups of chai and thousands of cigarettes. They agreed that their chosen instrument should be the police force, which was practically defunct thanks to al-Qaeda death threats against anyone who dared to sign up. In June there were only 35 recruits; in July Sheikh Sittar sent 300 members of his 30,000-strong Resha tribe for training.

Last month a record 409 new recruits were dispatched to the police academy in Jordan, and 1,300 are now signed up, many of them former Baathists. The US and Iraqi armies have armed and protected them against al-Qaeda attacks, and as fear of al-Qaeda has dissipated, so the process has accelerated.

The beauty of the police is that they serve unlike the Iraqi army in their own communities. They know exactly who the enemies are. The Iraqi police are absolutely the most potent weapon we have right now because they are of the people, by the people and for the people, says Colonel MacFarland.

Instead of being afraid of al-Qaeda, now al-Qaeda is afraid of the police. Its going underground, moving out, and the folks who were sitting on the fence are now coming on our side.

Inside the heavily fortified Abu Faraj police station, just north of Ramadi, the recruits all said that they had been too frightened to join before. Right now almost all the tribes are fighting the terrorists the women, the children and even the dogs are fighting them, said Major Saidey Saleh, the station commander and former Saddam army officer who bears the scars of four al-Qaeda bullet wounds in his right thigh. At the same time Colonel MacFarland, who arrived in Ramadi fresh from pacifying the much smaller town of TallAfar near the Syrian border, has abandoned his predecessors policy of merely surrounding the city. He has instead adopted an aggressive inkblot strategy of seizing and securing key points within it then radiating outwards.

Helped by the flood of new recruits he has already established a chain of 19 COPs and police stations designed to curtail the terrorists freedom of movement within Ramadi. Previously, he said, the US military controlled just one road into the city and had to fight its way up and down that.

Colonel MacFarland and his officers say that they are already seeing dividends. They claim to have killed 750 terrorists since June, that the number of foreign fighters has fallen from more than 1,000 to the low hundreds and that US and Iraqi forces now control 70 per cent of the city.

They recently found the graves of 200 foreign fighters in a former park. When they recaptured Ramadis general hospital they found it occupied by only four wounded insurgents.

They say that the number of attacks has fallen from 20 to 15 a day, that the number of IEDs has fallen from about ten a day to three and that al-Qaeda can no longer stage mass attacks on Iraqi police or army posts. The US installed a mayor last week whose brief is to get Ramadis administration back up and running.

Colonel MacFarland estimates that 70 per cent of Ramadis population now openly backs the security forces, and says that his priority is to get the telephones working so that people can provide tips about weapons caches without fear of reprisals.

He predicts that by some time next year the Iraqi security forces will be able to take over from the US military and dominate the security environment in Ramadi.

Posted by KBK 2006-11-20 00:45|| 2006-11-20 00:45|| Front Page Top

#3 Colonel MacFarland estimates that 70 per cent of Ramadis population now openly backs the security forces, and says that his priority is to get the telephones working so that people can provide tips about weapons caches without fear of reprisals.

This was kicked around at RB a little while back. Seems AQ intentionally closes venues for anonymous tips to police. Hmm. Hit them where it hurts!

Posted by gorb 2006-11-20 01:38|| 2006-11-20 01:38|| Front Page Top

#4 Some sheikhs fled to Jordan and Syria.

*snort*

Brave Sir Robin boldly fled!

Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford 2006-11-20 07:38|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/] 2006-11-20 07:38|| Front Page Top

#5 On CentCom press releases this morning:

RAMADI, Iraq - Coalition Forces were engaged at several locations Sunday in southern Ramadi by a group of insurgents with small-arms fire.

The insurgents took refuge in a nearby building and continued to engage Coalition Forces. After establishing positive identification and in an effort to avoid endangering civilians, Coalition Forces conducted an air strike against the insurgents using a laser-guided missile, killing one insurgent.

Three insurgents fled the building and were engaged by Coalition Forces, resulting in the death of another insurgent.
There were no reports of civilian casualties as a result of the events, and there were no Coalition casualties.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2006-11-20 07:40|| 2006-11-20 07:40|| Front Page Top

#6 Terrorist Death Watch reports 27 killed in Ramadi so far in November.

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2006-11-20 08:37|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org] 2006-11-20 08:37|| Front Page Top

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