Check this out -
Ramadi is the last major city west of Baghdad and Fallujah. The only other towns in Al Anbar are smaller ones like Al Qaim, Rutbah, and Hit. Of those, only Al Qaim is still a hotbed of resistance.
Ramadi will the be the last stand of AQIZ and Abu Musab al Zarqawi. They've got no where else to fall back to. It may sound scary that they're taking over streets in Ramadi. It's not. It's a desperate show of force amidst a slow retreat out west. It's especially dangerous for them, because Ramadi is one of the few sanctuaries they had left. If they lose that, then they'll have to fall back to the Syrian border.
So why try something this risky?
With the elections coming up, AQIZ desperately needs publicity and credibility. It may be the start of a mini-Tet offensive, one where they know they're wasting the rest of their strength, but are betting on the media to magnify and inflate their actions.
The first thing I thought when I read the article is 'They can't be this stupid'. The only reason for even trying is because they're in a very bad way, and are willing to waste what little strength they have left on a symbolic attack. If they lose what safety Ramadi once held, then they're finished. They may as well head to the Syrian border, and not stop when they get there.
Definitely a sharp cry for publicity. I'm sure glad that none of those mortars (apparently) found their intended target.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Ramadi is no sanctuary. We sanctioned the government and police. We maintain a presence and patrol the worst neighborhoods in force regularly. But it’s still a very dangerous, unfriendly and lawless city with a large underground insurgency that can get away with this. They can take control of a few streets for a few minutes or a few hours if lucky, once, but that’s it.
They then put out an exaggerated press releases to terrorist friendly media like Reuters, and even Freepers are calling it “Fallujah 2” and a terrorist safe haven. That's nuts.