AP: Marines Prop Up Ailing Local Gov't In Iraq

[Hissyspit]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_WILD_WEST?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL

Marines Prop Up Ailing Local Gov't in Iraq

By ANTONIO CASTANEDA
Associated Press Writer

RAMADI, Iraq (AP) -- Peering over piles of sandbags in this ravaged city, U.S. Marines sometimes see more gunmen on the streets than municipal employees going to work. The provincial governor regularly arrives at his office with armed guards in tow. Young Marines notice few others on his staff trail behind.

After three years of war in Ramadi, the U.S. military has yet to move from combat to stabilization operations in most of this Sunni Arab city of 400,000 people, the capital of Anbar province. Here full-fledged combat still rages. Efforts to build a local government have faltered.

- snip -

Residents of Ramadi are afraid of even walking near the offices of the Anbar provincial government, which is supposed to administer an area the size of North Carolina, and with about one million inhabitants.

"There's been a concerted campaign against government officials that's had some great success ... the government center is nearly devoid of governance," said the top Marine intelligence officer for the 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment, who asked not to be identified because of security policies for intelligence officers.

In just four months, one Marine has fired 27 rockets. Another estimates he's fired 5,000 rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun. One marksman has 20 confirmed kills. His superiors believe he's probably killed another 40 but they aren't sure.

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[Lilith Velkor]

1. Still turning corners, I see

:crazy:

[ShockediSay]

2. Reminds me of their attempts in Lebanon

years ago

[gratuitous]

3. Sorry Ramadi, we have to secure Baghdad

But as soon as we've re-pacified the Green Zone, we'll be back to helping you get things in order. Then it's on to Fallujah. Then Basra. Then Tikrit. Then back to Baghdad.

How in the hell does anyone take the corrupt Bush administration seriously when it makes saber-rattling noises against Iran? Looks like our troops have quite enough to do in Iraq. Unless someone decides that we need to get a whole bunch more folks into the military really fast. Now, how would they do that? Think, think.

[Herkdrvr]

5. Suprisingly,

Tikrit isn't really that bad of a place, all things considered. It WAS the childhood home of Hussein...yet it's one of the quieter places in the "Sunni Triangle" (more like Sunni hexagon). Ba'Qubah, Ramadi, Fallujah and obviously Baghdad are probably 80% of the problems.

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. Sounds like a long-term plan...

:eyes: