Al-Qaida militants have gained ground in Ramadi, and the 1,500 extra U.S. troops brought to Iraq to help fight them will be used to try to break their grip on the town, the U.S. military said Thursday.
“The situation in Ramadi is very serious,” chief U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told a news conference.
The U.S. military has not suggested publicly that a big offensive is expected in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad. But U.S. military officials appear to be focusing more on the town, the capital of Anbar province, the insurgent heartland in western Iraq.
Two extra battalions have moved to Iraq from Kuwait to step up the fight against al Qaida militants and insurgents in Anbar.
“Al-Qaida militants have increased their presence. The extra troops have been brought in to facilitate the movement of other troops and deal with al-Qaida,” said military spokesman Col. Nelson McCouch.
He said the troops would be based in Ramadi, which has emerged as the biggest hot spot in Iraq after a major U.S. military offensive crushed al-Qaida militants and insurgents in 2004 in nearby Fallujah, a former rebel bastion.
Asked if the situation in Ramadi was similar to that in Fallujah before the assault, when residents said al-Qaida militants ruled the streets, McCouch said:
“They are different. We have a presence and positions in Ramadi. In Fallujah, we were trying to establish positions.”
Vulnerable to insurgents
U.S. commanders, the White House and the Iraqi government have spoken of hopes that some American troops will go home this year but say that will happen only when Iraqi forces are ready.
Caldwell said the performance of Iraqi forces had improved and they conducted 40 percent of the 389 military operations last week on their own.
But Anbar remains the area most vulnerable to insurgent forces. Ramadi residents say they have noticed increased U.S. and Iraqi checkpoint and patrol activity in the city.
Al-Qaida-allied militants, led among others by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and nationalists loyal to Saddam Hussein’s banned Baath party have found refuge in the desert wastes of Anbar since the U.S. invasion three years ago.
They often conduct bold operations in Ramadi, frequently attacking the building housing the governorate.
U.S. sees hope, but militants still strong
Marines have launched a series of offensives against rebel strongholds, notably in towns along the Euphrates River from the Syrian border to Fallujah.
U.S. commanders’ hopes have been raised over the past year by signs of growing disillusionment among the local Sunni Arab population with the rebels, especially with Islamists who have bloodily imposed Taliban-style rule on some towns at times.
Local people also voted in substantial numbers for the first time in December’s parliamentary election and Sunni leaders are in the national unity government formed last week.
But the insurgents remain strong in places, despite repeated raids by some 20,000 Marines stretched across the region.