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SNIPPET: "Iraqi soldiers foiled a potentially deadly suicide attack today at the border crossing at Al Qaim in western Anbar province. From Aswat al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq): “A force from the 28th infantry division managed to defuse a car bomb and to kill its driver in al-Qaim, Anbar province,” said the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The suicide driver carries the Kuwaiti nationality, and had on his possession a fake ID issued from Baiji,” the statement added. “The car was loaded with three tons of Chlorine and C4 as well as other chemical materials,” it added. Having closely...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2009 – As U.S. troops in western Iraq help to prepare for national elections in January, an American commander in the former insurgent hotbed of Anbar province said any potential uptick in violence is unlikely to derail the balloting. For the past two weeks, some of the 5,000 troops of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade, under the command of Army Col. Mark Stammer, have been working alongside Iraqi counterparts in Anbar to secure positions and checkpoints for the election. “Iraqi security forces are well under way for their preparations,” Stammer told Pentagon reporters. “We don't anticipate...

Breaking on Fox. Body now in US for further confirmation.

Trainees run ashore after practicing an insert technique during al-Anbar Iraqi River Police training, Lake Thar Thar, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2008. Photo by Cpl. Shawn Coolman, 1st Marine Division Public Affairs. LAKE THAR THAR -- Al-Anbar Iraqi River Police officers aced their final exam. Select Iraqi Policemen here with the Anbar Iraqi River Police force, which was established to patrol the local waterways independently from Coalition forces, finished a week-long certification course, Dec. 21. This was the first class taught by the Navy “River Rats� of Detachment 3, Riverine Squadron 1, Regimental Combat Team 5 on Lake Thar Thar.In this...

The Strongest Tribe is, quite simply, the best one-volume treatment of the Iraq War we have — and it's the best we are likely to get. West, a retired Marine infantry officer and former assistant secretary of Defense under President Reagan, has written several highly regarded accounts of military history, Not the least of which is The Village, a book widely regarded as the classic on the Vietnamese counterinsurgency. But while West is a clear thinker and a compelling narrator, what puts him above other authors is that he's still a Marine grunt at heart. West remains a legend among...

We spent a fascinating second day in Fallujah, guests of B-Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. Capt. Dan Micklis and Lt. Joe Passman have been showing us around downtown Fallujah, and as I hope you can see from the photos, there’s a lot of life and a lot of color in the markets. Lt. Passman is one of the last marines in Fallujah. His unit is based at a building pretty much in the city center, where he works in close conjunction with the Iraqi Police. The marines we met were, as usual, highly motivated and very interesting to talk with....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2008 – Since Anbar province returned to Iraqi control, Iraqi security forces are taking more responsibility and U.S. Marines in western Iraq are increasingly performing an overwatch role, the deputy commander of Multinational Force West said today. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Martin Post, briefing Pentagon correspondents by satellite from Fallujah, said a very few foreign fighters are trying to infiltrate the country, and Iraqi forces are in the lead in trying to stop them. The coalition leadership in Anbar province has been pleased “across the board” with Iraqi security forces, the general said. “We're most happy with...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2008 – When security responsibility for Iraq’s Anbar province was turned over to the Iraqi government this month, it validated the security model that has been applied throughout the country, a coalition spokesman said Sept. 11. Successful coordination of a surge in U.S. forces, the emergence of the Awakening movement, and political movement by the Iraqi government resulted in the weakening of the al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist network into a more containable scattering of individual cells, said Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, deputy chief of strategic communications, Multinational Force Iraq. Anbar province, Driscoll said, is “now kind...

Iraq War: We interrupt coverage of Bristol Palin's pregnancy to announce that the U.S. has turned over control of Iraq's wild, wild west to Baghdad. Memo to Barack Obama: Soon you will have nothing left to surrender.On Monday, while Democrats waited to see if Hurricane Gustav would be another Katrina and the GOP juggled its convention schedule, U.S. commanders formally returned responsibility for security in Iraq's Anbar province to the Iraqi Army and police. Maybe you missed it. The New York Times Web page had three stories on Bristol Palin. The Washington Post's online magazine, Slate, is running a "Name...

RAMADI, Iraq — Two years ago, Anbar Province was the most lethal place for the Americans in Iraq, with a marine or a soldier dying here nearly every day. The provincial capital, Ramadi, was a moonscape of rubble and ruins. Islamic extremists controlled large pieces of territory, with some so ferocious in their personal views that they did not even allow the sale of bread. On Monday, following a parade on a freshly paved street, American commanders formally returned responsibility for keeping order in Anbar Province, once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, to the Iraqi Army and police force....

RAMADI, Iraq: Two years ago, Anbar Province was the most lethal place for American forces in Iraq. A U.S. marine or soldier died in the province nearly every day, and the provincial capital, Ramadi, was a moonscape of rubble and ruins. Islamic extremists controlled large pieces of territory, with some so ferocious in their views that they did not even allow the baking of bread. On Monday, U.S. commanders formally returned responsibility for keeping order in Anbar Province, once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, to the Iraqi Army and police. The ceremony, including a parade on a freshly paved...

Given Hurricane Gustav, the GOP convention—and the MSM's inherent inclination to underreport good news from Iraq—a major story is not getting the attention it deserves. Here's how President Bush described the development [the photo shows U.S. Marine Maj. Gen John Kelly and Anbar Governor Maamoun Sami Rashid signing the handover papers. (AP Photo/Wathiq Khuzaie, Pool)]: "Today in Iraq, responsibility for security in Anbar Province was transferred to Iraqi civilian authorities. Iraqi forces will now take the lead in security operations in Anbar, with American troops moving into an overwatch role. Not long ago, Anbar was one of the most dangerous...

WASHINGTON, September 1 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today in Iraq, responsibility for security in Anbar Province was transferred to Iraqi civilian authorities. Iraqi forces will now take the lead in security operations in Anbar, with American troops moving into an overwatch role. Not long ago, Anbar was one of the most dangerous provinces in Iraq. Al Qaeda was in control of almost every major population center, and its leaders intended to turn Anbar province into a safe haven from which to plan and launch further attacks against Iraqis and others in the region, as well as here at home. Today, Anbar...

The U.S. military Monday handed control of Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi security forces. U.S. forces will withdraw to bases and rejoin Iraqi operations in Anbar only at the request of the provincial governor. Anbar is a Sunni-dominated province whose inhabitants turned against U.S. forces soon after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Anbar towns, such as Fallujah and Ramadi became insurgent strongholds, where militants waged fierce battles against U.S. troops. Violence in Anbar began to subside in 2006 when Sunni tribes became weary of al-Qaida's brutality against the local population. The tribes formed councils and joined U.S.-led forces...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2008 – Iraq’s once-deadly Anbar province could within the next few days become the 11th province to be turned over to Iraqi control, paving the way for a reduced U.S. Marine Corps presence there, the Marine Corps commandant said today. Gen. James T. Conway told Pentagon reporters the marked drop in violence in Anbar sets the stage for a drawdown of Marine forces that could be freed up for duty in Afghanistan, if needed. “The change in the al-Anbar province is real and perceptible," with attacks at an all-time daily low of two to three, Conway said....

Camp Pendleton commander backs cut in Marine forces in western IraqCamp Pendleton's Maj. Gen. John Kelly said Friday that the military is on the verge on victory in Iraq's once rebellious Anbar province. "We have all but won this thing when they once said that was impossible," Kelly said during a telephone interview with the North County Times from his headquarters in the city of Fallujah, once a flash point in the battle against the insurgency. "The rest of the country is now following Anbar's lead." The two-star general was deliberately cautious about declaring outright victory, stressing that work remains...

Video at link

Presidential Candidate Obama’s statements in and about Iraq in the past 24 hours have been nothing less than shameless and disgraceful. While we strive to avoid political discussion at ThreatsWatch, criticism of his words transcends rank political partisanship if for no other reason than his claims are simply and flatly untrue, made in a war zone, during a time of war and while running to become the Commander in Chief of US Military Forces. This simply cannot stand unchallenged. Not only does Senator Obama apparently think the Anbar Awakening and the Shi’a militia stand-downs that have occurred are somehow separate...

The Nutroots are already gearing up. The next Big Lie they're going to breathlessly promote is that McCain was lying when he said, in a recent interview, that the U.S. troop "surge" led to the Anbar Awakening. The lefties (I saw some at DU, also you can Google) are saying that's a lie, McCain should know better, the Anbar Awakening happened in September 2006, well BEFORE the surge was even announced in January 2007. They're playing fast and loose with the facts. What they want you to believe is that because the Anbar Salvation Council was formed in September 2006,...

BAGHDAD, July 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama travelled to Anbar province on Tuesday to meet Sunni Arab tribal leaders whose decision to fight al Qaeda helped change the course of the conflict in Iraq. Obama held talks with tribal chiefs including Ahmed Abu Risha, head of the U.S.-backed Awakening Council, an alliance of tribes in the vast desert region that was once the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency against American forces. The Democrat contender met Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and American military commanders on Monday in a trip dominated so far by the question of...

Victory in Anbar Province, Iraq? If you Google, "Anbar + victory," all you will find is a bunch of outdated stuff from the years when coalition forces were taking a real beating from Al Qaeda Iraq and the Sunni insurgents, who were then still trying to take back control of the whole Country. The latest entry in Google's search engine, for "Anbar + victory" is from 2006. In order to find even minimal coverage of the significant victory our forces in Anbar have wrought this day, Saturday, July 5, you'll have to be quite a lot more specific in your...

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2008 – The enemy in the eastern portion of Iraq’s Anbar province has been neutralized, the coalition commander in the area said today. Video Al-Qaida in Iraq still can launch occasional horrific attacks, but in Ramadi and Fallujah -- once strongholds of the terror group -- security is allowing the region to transfer to provincial Iraqi control, Marine Corps Col. Lewis Craparotta, the area’s coalition commander, told Pentagon reporters in a briefing via satellite from Camp Fallujah today. Still, the colonel said, coalition and Iraqi forces must remain vigilant, as al-Qaida wants to come back into...

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The US military is to hand over security control of the former Sunni insurgent bastion of Anbar province to Iraqi forces in the next 10 days, a US military spokesman announced on Monday."The handover of Anbar is expected to take place in the next 10 days," Lieutenant David Russell told AFP, declining to provide an exact date.Anbar would be the tenth of Iraq's 18 provinces to be handed back to Iraqi forces by the US-led coalition amid a push to transfer security control of the entire country back to Baghdad.Anbar province in western Iraq, the country's largest,...

June 9, 2008 WASHINGTON — The leader of the tribal confederation that has fought to expel Al Qaeda from most of Iraq's Anbar province is offering his men to help gin up a rebellion against Osama bin Laden's organization along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

In 2005, President Bush articulated a national strategy for Iraq that hinged on successfully advising Iraqi security forces. "As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down," he said. The critical piece of this strategy was the adviser capability itself. Although the military's special operations community had long nurtured the capability to conduct "foreign internal defense," the Army and Marine Corps had largely marginalized this capability by the time of the Iraq war, disdaining it in favor of conventional combat operations. To achieve the president's vision for Iraq, the Army and Marines would need to build this capability from scratch, tearing...

(CBS/AP) The U.S. military said two American Marines have been killed in a suicide car bombing near Ramadi. A statement says the attacker detonated an explosives-laden car at an entry control point in the vicinity of Ramadi. The military says Tuesday's blast also wounded three other Multi-National Force - West Marines, along with two Iraqi police officers and 24 local residents. The city west of Baghdad is the capital of the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar province. It has been relatively peaceful since local tribal leaders joined forces with the U.S. military against al Qaeda in Iraq. Also Tuesday,...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities captured a senior figure from al Qaeda on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said. Major-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the captured man, Nazal Sabar al-Jughaify, also known as Abu al-Jarrah, was a senior lieutenant to the Sunni Arab militant group's leader in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Jughaify was captured in the western province of Anbar, and would be brought to Baghdad for questioning, Khalaf said. The U.S. military said it had no information on the capture.

PEORIA - This weekend figures to be a busy one for those involved with military in the Peoria area. Forty Marine reservists from Company C, 6th Engineer Support Battalion are headed home this morning after seven months in Iraq. Then, at 9 a.m. Sunday, 60 Illinois Army National Guard members will leave Peoria and head to Indiana to begin training for a yearlong deployment to Kosovo as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission known as Kosovo Force 10 (KFOR10). In both cases, the public is welcome to attend the ceremonies but should arrive at least 30 minutes before. Parking might...

Marine Reunited in San Diego With Dog He Rescued in IraqA San Diego-based Marine major was reunited on Saturday with one of his closest war buddies — a 2-year-old dog named Nubs. Nubs greeted Maj. Brian Dennis at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station when the fighter pilot returned from Iraq. It was the first time the two were together since Dennis' family and close friends helped raise $3,500 to fly the dog to San Diego about a month ago. Nubs wasn't allowed to stay on base in Iraq. Dennis, 36, of St. Pete Beach, Fla., had spotted the mongrel dog...

An MV-22 Osprey, belonging to Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron 263, sits on the deck waiting for members of the 27th Infantry Brigade, 7th Iraqi Infantry Division and Marines with Military in Transition team 0720 to load up after a heli-borne operation. Photo by 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Fwd) Public Affairs. AL-ANBAR PROVINCE — As Coalition forces continue to operate throughout the Iraqi countryside, training the Iraqi security forces (ISF) to stand on their own two feet becomes an increasingly familiar scene. Third Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) does its own part in the transition process by participating in training operations...

This week the nation marked the fifth anniversary of our presence in Iraq. It is past time to remember the liberators. Now at the end of their third tour they are preparing to leave: the 1st "Raider" Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division deployed to Al Anbar province 15 months ago as an element of the "surge" force. Its commander, Col. John W. Charlton, is responsible not only for his Army units, but also for Navy, Marine and Air Force personnel operating with them. His area of operations -- AO Topeka -- covers 8,900 sq. miles. From the outset his focus was...

FALLUJAH, Iraq (March 19, 2008) -- March 20, 2003, televisions glowed in living rooms across America. Families glued to the screens, watching Coalition troops brave austere desert conditions and cross the threshold, invading the hostile nation of Iraq. Advances in the media’s technology gave unprecedented coverage of troops, humvees, and armored vehicles rolling across desolate stretches of sand. For the first time, Americans and people around the world were able to witness two nations wage war on live television; capturing step by step, the reality of combat and the raw emotion of American sons and daughters. In April 2003, the...

ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq (March 18, 2008) -- As dawn approached the Anbar province of Iraq on Tuesday, two MV-22 Ospreys soared over the desert. Not an uncommon site here, but what was uncommon was who was on board. The Ospreys weren’t filled with Marines, but with Iraqi Army soldiers from the 27th Iraqi Infantry Brigade, 7th Iraqi Infantry Division. For the 22 IA soldiers on board the Ospreys, this was their first helo-borne operation. While helo-borne operations are common for Marines, the Iraqi Army is still learning to get its wings. To assist the IA, Marines with Military in Transition...

Suspected Al-Qaeda militants attacked a village in Diyala province north of Baghdad and beheaded five members of a local group fighting the jihadist network, police said. Police Lieutenant Colonel Najim al-Sumaidaie said the militants raided the village of Benizad, south of the provincial capital Baquba, and attacked a newly created outpost of a local anti-Qaeda "Awakening" group. "Five people from the Sahwa (Awakening) group were shot dead and later beheaded by the militants," Sumaidaie said, referring to groups of mostly Sunni Arabs who have allied with the US military to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq. "We set up the outpost with...

ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ – The Iraqi town of Al Farris looks like a model Soviet city up close and a rounded square from the sky. Saddam Hussein built it to house workers in the now-defunct weapons factory to the east, and they live in neighborhoods called City 1, City 2, City 3, City 4, and City 5. “Socialist living at its finest,” Sergeant Edward Guerrero said as we rolled through the gates in a Humvee. The place made me think of Libya, where I have been, and North Korea, where I have not.

Cpl. Jessica A. Cox, a 24-year-old from Waynesville, Mo., controls the flow of patients at a Cooperative Medical Engagement event in as-Saqlawiyah, Iraq, Feb. 29. The event provided free medical treatment to more than 200 civilians in the community. Iraqi culture discourages male-female interaction in public, so a female team provided care and posted security for women and children. The CME events are continuous throughout Al Anbar Province. The combined effort between Iraqi personnel and coalition forces is part of the Iraqi Women's Engagement program driven by the U.S. Department of State. Cox is deployed to Camp Taqaddum as...

Iran wants to weaken the burgeoning Sunni political movement in Iraq while also breathing new life into Al Qaeda? Go figure. The US military claims to have proof that armed groups supported by Tehran are trying to sabotage Iraq’s US-backed Awakening Councils, the armed neighbourhood groups that have successfully driven al-Qaeda out of many districts of Baghdad and elsewhere.In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), US military spokesman Adm Gregory Smith said that “the American military recently obtained confessions from detainees who are members of the Al-Quds Brigade and other Shia group who have been arrested in various parts of...

The Patton of Counterinsurgency With a sequence of brilliant offensives, Raymond Odierno adapted the Petraeus doctrine into a successful operational art. by Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan 03/10/2008, Volume 013, Issue 25 Great commanders often come in pairs: Eisenhower and Patton, Grant and Sherman, Napoleon and Davout, Marlborough and Eugene, Caesar and Labienus. Generals David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno can now be added to the list. It's natural to assume that successful pairs of commanders complement each other's personalities (the diplomatic Eisenhower and the hard-charging Patton, for example) or that the junior partner is merely executing the vision...

"No one can spend some 10 days visiting the battlefields in Iraq without seeing major progress in every area. ... If the U.S. provides sustained support to the Iraqi government — in security, governance and development — there is now a very real chance that Iraq will emerge as a secure and stable state."—Anthony Cordesman, "The Situation in Iraq: A Briefing From the Battlefield," Feb. 13, 2008This from a man who was a severe critic of the postwar occupation of Iraq and who, as author Peter Wehner points out, is no wide-eyed optimist. In fact, in May 2006, Cordesman wrote...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2008 – Documents released by U.S. military officials in Iraq detail the deterioration of al Qaeda in Iraq, as hundreds of its fighters have deserted to fight alongside the coalition or have been killed or captured. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, briefed reporters today on a letter and a diary recovered in raids by coalition forces, both thought to be written by senior leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq. The documents are believed to have been written last year, and detail a shift in support as citizens who formerly supported al...

The name of Anbar will probably never appear on the list of battle honours of the US Marine Corps, along with Belleau Wood, the Argonne, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. But in its own way, the struggle there ranks with amongst the greatest successes in the history of the Corps. A year ago, the Marines were close to defeat in Anbar; insurgents controlled whatever territory Marines did not stand on. But the Corps is a curious beast; in addition to having impeccable fighting traditions, it is a remarkably cerebral organisation. All its officers are university graduates, who are encouraged to think...

Iraq's western province of Anbar, hotbed of the Sunni Arab insurgency for the first four years of the war, will be returned to Iraqi control in March, a senior U.S. general said Thursday. In a telephone interview from Iraq, Marine Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, commander of the roughly 35,000 Marine and Army forces in Anbar, said levels of violence have dropped so significantly—coupled with the growth and development of Iraqi security forces in the province—that Anbar is ready to be handed back to the Iraqis.

WASHINGTON - Iraq's western province of Anbar, origin of the Sunni Arab insurgency that arose in the early months of U.S. occupation, will be returned to Iraqi control in March, a senior U.S. general said Thursday. Thus far, nine of 18 Iraqi provinces have reverted to Iraqi control, most recently the southern province of Basra in December. The process has gone substantially slower than the Bush administration once hoped, mainly because of obstacles to developing sufficient Iraqi police and army forces. Marine Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, commander of the roughly 35,000 Marine and Army forces in Anbar, said levels...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. A Marine Corps general taking over command in Iraq's Anbar province said Wednesday that the decrease in insurgent attacks and decline in casualties is allowing U.S. troops to focus more attention on training of Iraqi security forces. "We want to work ourselves out of a job," said Maj. Gen. John F. Kelly, who is scheduled to take command of Marines in western Iraq. Kelly said the Iraqi army has been successfully patrolling and escorting convoys in the Anbar province without the support of U.S. troops. "Basically, we are taking the training wheels off," the general said shortly...

COMMAND OUTPOST BAGHDADI, Iraq, Jan. 7, 2008 – How many Marines does it take to secure Baghdadi? Last year, it took an entire company. Then, as the situation improved, that number dropped to a platoon. And now, with the onset of 2008, the grand total is zero. U.S.Marine Lt. Col. J.J. Dill, commander of 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, stands next to Muhanad Zubar Mutlak, the mayor of Baghdadi, Iraq, during a ceremony at Combat Outpost Baghdadi. Community leaders gathered to commemorate the removal of Marine forces from the city limits. The Iraqi police in Baghdadi now are solely...

Last December Travis Patriquin died along with two others in an IED blast. This December he would not even recognize the al Anbar Province he was helping to transform. He became famous for his Powerpoint on "How to win in Anbar" and helped in ways far above his pay grade to push the change to a Counter-Insurgency (COIN) strategy. It is too bad he is not here to see what has become of his stick figures, but we are. So thanks CPT P, from all of us.

There's an old expression about war: "Victory has many fathers, while defeat is an orphan." But in the case of Iraq, it seems the other way around. We've blamed many for the ordeal of the last four years, but it is the American victory in Anbar province that now seems without parents. Over the last few months, the U.S. military forced Sunni insurgents in Anbar to quit fighting. This enemy, in the heart of the so-called Sunni Triangle, had been responsible for most American casualties in the war and was the main cause of unrest in Iraq. Even more unexpectedly,...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007 – When Marine Staff Sgt. John Costa arrived in Ramadi, Iraq, in August 2006, U.S. troops walked the city streets in daylight at their peril. Marine Staff Sgt. John Costa is one of 10 servicemembers selected to tell the military’s story to the American people at community and business events, veterans organizations and other gatherings as part of the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve” public outreach program. Defense Department photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “The place was one of the worst cities in Iraq, if not the worst. You could not conduct foot-borne...

Northfield, Vermont - November 8, 2007 When members of the Vermont National Guard arrived in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, it was one of the most dangerous places in the country. But thanks to the efforts of Task Force Saber and the members of the visiting delegation, Anbar, and its capital city of Ramadi, are some of the safest places in the nation. "We have seen pictures and share them amongst members of Task Force Saber and the difference of Ramadi today versus what it was when we were there, you can't even tell the difference, you'd think it...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2007 – Iraqi and coalition forces have largely purged extremists from urban areas in Iraq’s Anbar province over the past 10 months, allowing renewal efforts to flourish with reduced meddling by terrorists, a coalition commander in the region said today. During a video teleconference from Fallujah, Iraq, Marine Col. Stacy Clardy, commander of Regimental Combat Team 2, told reporters at the Pentagon that the combined force is achieving peace in the western Iraqi province. “I would simply say that we -- the Iraqis and the Americans -- are now winning, and for us, winning is peace,” he...