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Cpl. Chris Sarlo, a rifleman with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, receives a 'thumbs up' from young citizen in Ramadi, May 23. The city of Ramadi was once-considered the most violent city in Iraq. But now, the locals have revolted against al Qaida and are cooperating with coalition forces to weed out al Qaida in the province. Photo by Lance Cpl. Casey Jones. RAMADI — A mostly Sunni city with about 500,000 residents, Ramadi was considered to be one of the most violent cities in the world during the early part of Operation Iraqi...

RAMADI — Ramadi was regarded by many to be one of the most violent cities in Iraq for much of the last five years. The thought of rebuilding the troubled city during that time was improbable, the risks were too high. Now, Ramadi is much safer and rebuilding the city is no longer just an impossible idea but an everyday reality in the recovering region. The country is now transitioning from violence and fighting, to healing and freedom. The focus in Ramadi, and all of al-Anbar province, is no longer on warfare but on reconstructing the region’s damaged infrastructure. “Ramadi...

His hearing isn’t as keen as it once was, and arthritis in his lower back is chronic. He’s not an old man, just a 38-year-old U.S. Marine who tussled with death and won. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Michael Burghardt of Fountain Valley, Calif., says it took him a long time to recover emotionally from surviving a roadside bomb in Iraq in September 2005. An explosives ordnance disposal expert, Burghardt was 12 inches from the blast. Instead of counting his blessings that the shrapnel studded flat against his body instead of tearing through it, Burghardt was wracked by guilt. The attention...

RAMADI, IRAQ (May 17, 2008) - Two years ago, Ramadi's police force was essentially wiped out by a strong insurgency that devastated almost every police station, leaving only a small number of officers on the job and a city considered by officials to be uncontrollable and nicknamed the “wild west.” According to an NBC News article from September 2006, a secret report concluding that the United States military could not defeat the insurgents in al-Anbar Province and al-Qaeda was rapidly filling the political vacuity.

RAMADI, IRAQ (May 17, 2008) – Step after step, combat boots hit the pavement. It’s been a few hours for the Marine squad walking the Ramadi streets. Fatigued yet steady, the young men push forward on their routine foot patrol despite the mid-day desert heat; each squad member maintaining a constant alertness with eyes scanning the environment in every direction. The squad leader passes by a familiar face; a local vender who he sees almost every day. Instantly, the look of exhaustion washes away, and a smile is brought to his face. Lifting his hand, he warmly greets the vender...

(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,...

SAN DIEGO — To his Navy SEAL buddies, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor will always be known as "Mikey," a fun-loving 25-year-old guy who had "a little mischievous look on his face." It's a face they'll never forget. On Sept. 29, 2006, while on a mission in Ramadi, Iraq, Monsoor and other members of a Navy SEAL sniper team were within a moment of death. An insurgent had tossed a grenade into their hideout, hitting Monsoor in the chest before bouncing to the floor. In an instant, Monsoor was on the grenade, using his body to shield his...

BERKELEY – "The Marines are unwelcome here." These weren't the comments of a banana republic dictator or the rantings of a religious radical. These were the words of Tom Bates, the elected mayor of Berkeley. It's difficult to match up the animosity of the residents of Berkeley, Calif., USA, with the residents of Ramadi, Anbar, Iraq. I met Ramadis who were so happy to have the Marines among them that they literally hugged and kissed them on the streets. Children made high-five signs when they saw Marines of the 3rd battalion 7th Marines on patrol and residents insisted they come...

Spanky Gibson was shot by a sniper in May of 2006 while on foot patrol in Ramadi, Iraq. When the firefight was over, his left leg was gone. But Gunnery Sgt. William Gibson, a decorated Marine, didn't stop serving his country, even after his leg was amputated above the knee. He didn't settle for a desk job stateside, either. He's back in Iraq — his second tour — on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. "It's great — it's a great feeling," Gibson told FOX News in an exclusive interview at Camp Fallujah in Iraq.

CAMP RAMADI — The engineers had the first span of the bridge ready to go out on the river, but when the water levels were checked, the river had risen 24 inches in an hour. It didn’t stop the Soldiers from the 814th Engineer Company; it only forced them to adjust their plan and raise the 30-foot section of the bridge a little higher to get it on the pontoon floating in the river. The weather would prove to be the most difficult challenge in building the 120-meter Mabey Logistics Support Bridge spanning the Euphrates River over the course of...

RAMADI, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2007 – Driving through downtown Ramadi today is a strange experience for anyone who saw the city in 2006. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited the city today and said he’s amazed at the differences from a year ago. There is construction in the streets of the city; school is out of session and children play on playgrounds, including riding on a makeshift Ferris wheel that would give a safety inspector fits. The firehouse stands full of trucks, and firefighters sit outside waiting for a summons. Iraqi police patrol...

RAMADI, Iraq (Dec. 18, 2007) -- As the Anbar Province continues to make strides in the direction of progress, Marines from Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion 8th Marine Regiment, are doing their part in the final region of Anbar to join the Awakening. East Ramadi, an area littered with palm trees, farm land and small towns, offers a different challenge for Weapons Company than its fellow companies in Ramadi. “This area is much different than what the Marines in the city are dealing with,” said Capt. Matthew J. Martin, Weapons Company commander, 2nd Bn., 8th Marines. “There’s a lot more open...

Today I had the rare privilege of talking to my neighbor Marine Lance Corporal Justin, who has just returned from Ramadi Iraq. He joined last year though his Mom was terrified, he was looking to serve his Country as well as an adventure. Guess having bullets shot at you as well as driving unstable explosives around in a truck could be called an adventure. This boy who I’ve watched since he was 4, has grown to become one of the most heroic young men I know. He explained that AQ infested Ramadi was one of the first places the successful...

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...

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RAMADI, Iraq - For veterans of Ramadi, it seems like a different place and a different war. ADVERTISEMENT Just last year, soldiers were breaking down doors, hunting insurgents and struggling to secure the city block by block. U.S. troops now are invited into the homes of sheiks for lunch. Life is not all good in this former Sunni extremist fiefdom about 70 miles west of Baghdad, but it's better. Today's worries aren't car bombs or shelling in the streets. There's peace enough to complain about the crippled electricity grid, dirty water, broken sewers. Marines and soldiers also have adopted different...

The women received their first paychecks a few weeks ago. They paid rent, bought food, wiped out debts. But the seemingly simple transaction has left at least one woman in fear for her life, another threatened with divorce. The strict tribal and religious culture of Iraq's particularly in its western Anbar province, strongly discourages women from working outside the home and brings shame on men who allow it. "Right now, our province is safe and peaceful. But anything could shake that up and we could be in danger," says Genan, a 37-year-old mother of three who's also seven months pregnant....

RAMADI, Iraq - The women received their first paychecks a few weeks ago — about $500 for a month's work as police officers. They paid rent, bought food, wiped out debts. But the seemingly simple transaction has left at least one woman in fear for her life, another threatened with divorce. The strict tribal and religious culture of Iraq's particularly in its western Anbar province, strongly discourages women from working outside the home and brings shame on men who allow it. "Right now, our province is safe and peaceful. But anything could shake that up and we could be in...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2007 – A remarkable parade in Iraq’s Anbar province, openly attended by citizens from all walks of life, demonstrates that Iraqi reconciliation efforts are working, a coalition commander said today. “Out in al Anbar, which you know has been a difficult area about six months ago: a total change,” Army Brig. Gen. Dave Phillips told online journalists and bloggers during a conference call from Baghdad. “When they say there is an awakening, I think that's almost an understatement.” Phillips, deputy commanding general for the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, said he personally attended an event earlier this...

BAGHDAD — A year ago the area to the east of Ramadi was a haven for insurgents who attacked the city. These days much has changed in the surrounding rural lands of the east.The once violent lands of the east are patrolled and guarded by the Abu-Bali Iraqi Police (IP) and Soldiers from Company A, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment. Their latest mission was a joint operation, which gathered intelligence and pushed insurgents further from the city of Ramadi and its outlying towns.“Today, we did routine clearance missions east of Ramadi,” said 1st Lt. Cory Sharbo, a platoon leader with...

Michael Totten's latest Iraq report: RAMADI, IRAQ – In early 2007 Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s Anbar Province, was one of the most violent war-torn cities on Earth. By late spring it was the safest major city in Iraq outside Kurdistan. Abu Musab Al Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda in Iraq had seized control with the tacit blessing of many local civilians and leaders because they promised to fight the Americans. But Al Qaeda’s rule of Ramadi was vicious and cruel. They turned out not to be liberators at all, but the Taliban of Mesopotamia. Al Qaeda met resistance, after a time,...

Violence has declined so sharply in Ramadi that few journalists bother to visit these days. It’s “boring,” most say, and it’s hard to get a story out there – especially for daily news reporters who need fresh scoops every day. Unlike most journalists, I am not a slave to the daily news grind and took the time to embed with the Army and Marines in late summer. ................“We don’t need to wear body armor or helmets,” he said. I was poleaxed. Without even realizing it, I had taken off my body armor and helmet. I took my gear off as...

RAMADI, IRAQ – After spending some time in and around Baghdad with the United States military I visited the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s notoriously convulsive and violent Anbar Province, and breathed an unlikely sigh of relief. Only a few months ago Ramadi was one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It was another “Fallujah,” and certainly the most dangerous place in Iraq. Today, to the astonishment of everyone – especially the United States Army and Marines – it is perhaps the safest city in all of Iraq outside of Kurdistan. In August 2006 the Marine...

There comes a time in politics, as in war, when the momentum shifts noticeably. When events reach "a tipping point." The discussion amongst politicians in Washington and media figures in New York about the Iraqi battlefield in the War Against Islamofacism has reached such a point. Again. *** The Times of London, not known for its support of any recent American initiative and certainly not counted as a cheerleader for Western efforts in Iraq, this week published a breathlessly positive report on progress in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. *** The conquest of al Qaeda in Anbar, and make...

An American ‘martyr’ is being hailed in the Sunni Triangle for restoring peace to a town where soldiers now fight only water leaks The police station in Tameen, a district of Ramadi, occupies a wreck of a building – its roof shattered by shells, its windows blown out, its walls pockmarked by shrapnel. That is not unusual in Iraq. What makes this station extraordinary is that a city in the heart of the infamous Sunni Triangle, a city that once led the antiAmerican insurgency, has named it after a US soldier – Captain Travis Patriquin. The honour is well-deserved. Captain...

On a Routine Night Patrol Near Ramadi, U.S. Troops Stumble Upon a Camp of Heavily Armed Insurgents Poised to Retake the City Staff Sgt. Norman Stark had never seen combat. Nor did the 32-year-old soldier from Baltimore expect it, after many uneventful months in Iraq's Anbar province, as he jostled over the rough terrain of brush, fields and irrigation ditches in the lead Humvee of a routine patrol on the night of June 30. Stretching before him under a full moon were the flat lands near the village of Tash, south of the city of Ramadi. Violence had plummeted in...

Stars and Stripes: The commander of a U.S. Marine Corps unit in Iraq wants to have his Marines begin patrolling without helmets and with less body armor. <...> Alexander said a change to a "soft posture" can now be considered because the security situation has improved significantly in recent months. How dare he make a political statement while in uniform!!!!! How secure is it? From sidebar at the same link: Security conditions in the western Iraq city of Ramadi have improved so much since coalition forces wrested control from al-Qaida that 80 days have now passed without a single attack,...

Al-Qaeda has no presence in Ramadi anymore -- US Commander MIL-US-IRAQ-QAEDA Al-Qaeda has no presence in Ramadi anymore -- US Commander WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (KUNA) -- A US Commander in Iraq said on Friday that al-Qaeda has no presence in Ramadi anymore in spite of its efforts to claim back the capital of Anbar province. "I can safely say that throughout my area of operations, which is essentially the central portion of Al Anbar, al-Qaeda has been defeated. There are no operational cells within the city, and there are no areas out surrounding the city that have any al-Qaeda influence,"...

John Wroblewski suggests Congress stop all the talk about leaving Iraq in 60 days, or 90 days, or 120 days. Instead, what the country needs, he says, is "more discussion about victory and how we're going to win." What he seeks is leadership. Courage, to stand up to a relentless, smart and brutal enemy. Patience, to see the nation through the inevitable dark days. Strength, to set priorities and see them through. Wroblewski sees these characteristics in those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, young men and women he considers heroes. Is it too much to ask the same of those...

Cool Video. Dems won't like it.

IT IS AN ESPECIALLY cruel but increasingly common irony of the war in Iraq that Washington and Baghdad are in separate universes: what happens over there is not much connected to what's happening back here. But Sunday's New York Times "Week in Review" section sets a new standard for cognitive dissonance. Spread across the top two-thirds of the front page is John Burns' latest dispatch from Iraq. The subject is the U.S. campaign to win back the city of Ramadi and al Anbar province from al Qeada and other Sunni extremists. A year after a Marine intelligence report described the...

SUNNI merchants watched warily from behind neat stacks of fruit and vegetables as Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno walked with a platoon of bodyguards through the Qatana bazaar here one recent afternoon. At last, one leathery-faced trader glanced furtively up and down the narrow, refuse-strewn street to check who might be listening, then broke the silence. “America good! Al Qaeda bad!” he said in halting English, flashing a thumb’s-up in the direction of America’s second-ranking commander in Iraq. Until only a few months ago, the Central Street bazaar was enemy territory, watched over by American machine-gunners in sandbagged bunkers on...

RAMADI, Iraq — This week, we’ve been told repeatedly about the recent successes in Anbar Province and its capital, Ramadi. Every soldier and Marine we talk to who’s been deployed here before seems genuinely surprised that the level of violence and attacks against the U.S. troops has fallen to virtually zero. At least three officers have told me they’d be willing to walk down the street without body armor on, such is their confidence in improved security. One senior commander is even very keen for me to go and eat ice cream at the market with him. Interestingly, the American...

This time last year, Ramadi was arguably the most dangerous city in Iraq. Nowadays, it’s not exactly a model of peace and stability, but the threat to U.S. troops in some sectors of the city has gone down considerably. In western Ramadi, an area patrolled and protected by the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, it’s been more than four months since a U.S. soldier lost his life, and there has been just one serious injury in that time. “We’re as safe as safe can be in a war zone,” Lt. Col. Miciotto O. Johnson, commander of the 1/77, said in...

As recently as two months ago, U.S. forces didn't dare stake out the Al-Tash neighborhood of this insurgent stronghold in Anbar province. Enter 22-year-old Saif Sahed, a go-getter recruit for the Provincial Security Force, a new auxiliary police unit that offers hope for at least a bit of stability in the mean streets of Ramadi. And some of them, including Sahed, are even going without pay, in hopes of someday getting the chance to join the police force and make $400 a month. It is difficult to imagine U.S. forces earlier in the war arming and training a force made...

BAGHDAD - Police in Ramadi uncovered 17 decomposing corpses buried beneath two schoolyards in a district that until recently was under the control of al-Qaida fighters. At least 85 people were killed or found dead across the country Tuesday. The adult bodies were discovered in the Anbar provincial capital after students and teachers returned to the schools a week ago and noticed an increasingly putrid odor and stray dogs digging in the area, Police Maj. Laith al-Dulaimi said. He said one body had not yet been recovered from a separate burial site behind one of the schools because authorities feared...

At the behest of my father, I wrote down some notes to be included in a little situation report (SITREP) on Iraq. I decided to address this letter to everyone because by now, you all have probably heard every news station popping off about this and that. So here's to give you an update and clear up some stuff. First off, in the last six months, 1-9 Infantry has pushed itself into limelight and set the example for victory in Iraq. When we got here six months ago, lesser units that came before us held very little ground in East...

A year ago, Ramadi's police force had virtually been wiped out by a potent insurgency that destroyed every police station, leaving only a couple dozen officers on the job and a lawless city with nowhere to turn for help. Now, guerrilla fighters have begun to disappear, schools and shops have reopened, and civilians have begun walking previously deserted streets. The reason: thousands of police - some believed to be former insurgents and most loyal to local sheiks - have begun pouring into this once-lawless Euphrates River city. snip. The mere presence of police in Ramadi is a remarkable turnaround from...

TRUCK BOMB WITH CHLORINE KILLS 12 PEOPLE IN IRAQI CITY OF RAMADI, SAYS U.S. MILITARY

General David Petraeus, the new US commander in Iraq, shakes hands with Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Ramadi

Soldiers, Iraqis discuss goals, expectations for Ta'meem district. By Spc. Ricardo Branch 1st Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs CAMP RAMADI, Iraq, March 9, 2007 — A cooperation, a presence and a movement by the people - these are the things that have improved conditions in the Anbar providence so Ramadi could begin rebuilding, said U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. John Allen, deputy commander Multi-National Forces - West following a reconstruction and economic growth conference March 7 in Ramadi. The conference brought together coalition commanders and prominent city officials to highlight some of the upcoming reconstruction projects for the Ta'meem district in...

The Fighting Killions Font Size: It's only fitting that I met Spc. Robert Killion during one of the fiercest gun battles of his 12-month tour in the wild-west Iraqi city of Ramadi in Al Anbar province. I was originally on the other side of the top of a house behind a machine-gunner, hoping to photograph him with shell casings ejecting from his weapon as he fired. But all the firing was coming from the other side. "Way to go Killion!" shouted the soldier in front of me. So I hauled tail over there, taking up position just behind this tall,...

But for the most part, the brigade made little headway in getting Ramadi’s citizens to join the fight against the insurgency, MacFarland said. That is, until Aug. 21. That day, an influential sheik in a Ramadi suburb was killed by al-Qaida in Iraq militants, who held his body for four days and prevented him from being buried in the Muslim tradition. “That was the decisive miscalculation by al-Qaida that we were able to exploit and that will ultimately lead to the downfall of AQ in al-Anbar province,” MacFarland said. “Al-Qaida had its Waterloo.” But shortly after the sheik was slain,...

Troops take on determined militants in volatile Ramadi By Monte Morin, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Wednesday, February 21, 2007 Monte Morin / S&S An Abrams tank with the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, watches over a street corner in downtown Ramadi recently. Monte Morin / S&S Marine Warrant Officer One James Wright, 32, of Houston, Texas, uses his rifle scope to scan buildings in downtown Ramadi after hearing gunfire recently. Wright, a public affairs officer with the 4th Civil Affairs Group, was visiting a joint security station. Monte Morin / S&S Soldiers...

The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division (1-3ID)is currently engaged in street to street fighting in central Ramadi. The much anticipated attack follows months of hands off policy as troops were routinely sniped and attacked with orders not to retaliate. After much planning U.S. forces along with a collection of hired local tribesmen from nearby Sofia (a suburb of Ramadi) and other groups are attacking and clearing the are house by house. The tribes have been formed into paramilitary units called "Emergency Response Units" and are linked with U.S. troops. The 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (1-9), 2nd Infantry...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A report that 18 boys were killed this week in a car bombing in Ramadi is "false," a senior U.S. military official said Wednesday. Iraqi state television reported Tuesday that the attack occurred that day in the Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad. Iraqi police and military confirmed the account, but later said the bombing took place Monday. The offices of the president and prime minister had also denounced the reported attack. The report brought denunciations from top Iraqi officials and international groups about violence targeting children. But Rear Adm. Mark Fox, a U.S. military spokesman, said...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A car bomb exploded Wednesday near a market in southwestern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 21 others, an Iraqi emergency police official said. The blast struck the capital's Bayaa neighborhood. Authorities said the death toll is expected to rise. "People were in a state of panic. There was a lot of blood on the ground, and we helped carrying the wounded to the ambulances," Shiite Muslim shopkeeper Imad Jassim told The Associated Press. In a later attack, a suicide car bomb exploded outside the Bab al-Sheik police station in central Baghdad, killing two...

Just heard on CNN that the original report was incorrect and the military confirmed it was a controlled explosion that was bigger than expected. CNN also admitted that they independently confirmed the report from other media sources.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi police and a community leader said a bomb blast near a soccer field in the city of Ramadi on Tuesday killed 18 people, mostly children, but the U.S. military said it was unaware of such an attack. Amid conflicting reports over what happened in the volatile western city, the U.S. military said its soldiers had carried out a controlled explosion in Ramadi, also near a soccer field, that slightly wounded 30 people, including nine children. "I can't imagine there would be another attack involving children without our people knowing," Major Jeff Pool, a spokesman for U.S....

RAMADI, Iraq — What lures a young private to Iraq? For at least two recent arrivals in this battered provincial capital, where troops attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division are battling Islamic militants in a muddy and bloody urban war, the answer is both love and money. “I joined for the money,” Pvt. Andrew Ralston said before heading out on a cordon-and-search operation Wednesday. “My plan is to retire at 45 with $3 million.” Although the 3rd ID is now on its third deployment in Iraq, many soldiers, including Ralston, are experiencing war for the first...