Washington — For much of the first five years of the Iraq war, the U.S. struggle to pacify the Anbar province seemed like a quixotic effort.
The western province was where U.S. forces saw some of the fiercest fighting since Vietnam, a place where more than 1,100 U.S. troops have been killed in action since the start of the war.
And with a largely Sunni population that was hostile to U.S. forces and the newly empowered Shiite government in Baghdad, Anbar looked as if it would be the toughest nut in Iraq to crack.
But on Wednesday, in a potent symbol of strides made in what was one of the most troublesome corners of Iraq, the U.S. Marine commandant, Gen. James Conway, said that U.S. troops will turn over control of Anbar to the Iraqi security forces sometime next week. Conway suggested that the security situation has improved so much that it is time to shift the Marines' presence from Iraq to Afghanistan.
As the Marines hand over control of security to the Iraqis and move toward shrinking their bootprint in Iraq, they will leave behind a once-hostile Sunni population that is now more empowered but still mistrusted by Iraq's Shiite-dominated political apparatus in Baghdad.
The final decision on shifting future deployments of Marines - there now are 25,000 in Iraq - would be made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has expressed his desire to send more troops to Afghanistan as fewer are needed in Iraq. But it's noteworthy that Conway's statement comes just weeks before Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing top commander in Iraq, is expected to make recommendations to Gates for further troop cuts in Iraq.
Conway, who recently returned from a visit to Iraq, said Marines serving in the once violent province told him that the areas where U.S. troops once were regularly assaulted by gunfire and roadside bombs are these days largely quiet.
"There aren't a whole heck of a lot of bad guys there left to fight," Conway said the Marines told him.
The transfer of authority in Anbar has been expected for weeks but was delayed in part by the reluctance of top Iraqi security officials to see the Americans go.
Conway, who has long lobbied for Marines to shift their responsibility to Afghanistan, repeated Wednesday that reducing the Marines' presence in Iraq would allow the service to play a part in bolstering the U.S. military and NATO's effort against the Taliban in Afghanistan, where violence and coalition casualties have surpassed those in Iraq in recent months.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) says…
You're still harping on the surge, Tom, despite the fact that the two factors that have caused things to calm down a bit are 1) the bribery of former insurgents by the US and 2) the ethnic cleansing that has created nearly 5 million refugees-- 20% of Iraq's population. Unless the refugee problem is solved and basic services can be supplied to all, full-out civil war is very likely to resume. Given that the Shiite-dominated government wants nothing to do with the Sunnis, the resumption of extreme violence is a matter of when, not if.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) says…
Sorry, Tom, sweeping it under that childish "Soros" all-purpose-bogeyman rug doesn't change the facts. Iraq is still an extremely violent and dangerous place, and it's a powder keg waiting to explode again-- continuing the McBushCo plan only ensures that it will.
75x55 (anonymous) says…
"There aren't a whole heck of a lot of bad guys there left to fight," Conway said the Marines told him."Rock on. Good news.
acoupstick (anonymous) says…
It is fantastic news. I'm glad the surge is working. It does underscore how badly the war was planned and managed from the beginning, though. No war = no surge necessary.
chet_larock (anonymous) says…
1/2 surge + 1/2 US taxpayer money paid as bribes = current success.Proper planning and execution = no surge necessary.
chet_larock (anonymous) says…
Must be watching Faux News.
staff04 (anonymous) says…
Good news, I think. I hope it lasts.
jaywalker (anonymous) says…
Nothing but good news here, unless, of course, you're a faaaaaaaaaaaaaar left nutball.
1029 (anonymous) says…
Let's pull out all the troops, use some sort of chemical or biological weapon on the entire region, and then wait until it's safe to go back in and start working on getting all that oil out of the ground. Liberals are too concerned with the "greater good" and "equality" and "tolerance"--a bunch of b.s. that will never work. True patriots keep everything in a narrower and more simple perspective and vote Republican. I urge all you Liberals to convert and do the same. You Liberals all think and plan and analyze things too much. You're either with us or against us.
jaywalker (anonymous) says…
In the spirit of 1029's assinine and repetitive sarcasm:Let's send the Marines home, organize a Peacenik Appeasement Diplomacy Party and send them to Afghanistan. We'll embrace the Taliban as equals, brothers in arms. Sure, some of us might lose our heads, literally, but the conservatives are too concerned with eliminating terrorist groups like Al Qaeda who've 'allegedly' sworn jihad against the U.S.. True patriots paint everything with as broad a brush as possible, form committees and debate for years before actually getting off their duffs and doing something. Come on conservatives, cop a squat and whine for eons with us. And if you survive, miraculously, from our Taliban Toga Party, I promise you all the poppies you can carry back. You're either with us or you're racist, warmongering, "BigOil" apologizing, ignorant, evil George Bush sycophants.
1029 (anonymous) says…
Awwwww, jaywalker, I'm on your side. It's our hatred for society and the dirty scum within it that defines people like us and unites us under one Grand Old Party. I just think that if we are to accomplish our goals of getting the rest of the world to fear us, then we need to be able to go all out on the attack, but the whiny, peace-loving Liberals hold us back. We must ensure that hope does not replace fear, because we need that fear to sustain as a party. By the way, in trying to get people to join us, it never hurts to call their patriotism into question. (Which is why I wish the media would've pressed Obama more about his refusal to wear that flag pin. But alas, the Liberal media let us down again.)