Iraq's Mean Streets
U.S. forces battle on In the heart of insurgent territory
Ramadi had seen a glimmer of hope last December. Voters turned up at the polls in record numbers as local resistance fighters guarded voting stations. Local sheiks, insurgent leaders, and religious figures had started to meet with the U.S. military to form a provincial security team because both sides shared one common goal: The Americans wanted to go home, and the Ramadi residents wanted them to go home, too. In January, 1,000 local men showed up for a drive to recruit local police. "Ramadi started to go in the right direction," says Lt. Col. Richard Miller, an American artillery commander who also works on reaching out to Ramadi's community leaders. "Local insurgents decided, 'Hey, you know, we need to get on board with this movement.'"
But on January 5, a suicide bomber disguised himself as a recruit and killed at least 70 police applicants (and a U.S. marine and soldier). Then, insurgents began assassinating tribal leaders. Local leaders, says Miller, now find themselves in a withering crossfire. The foreign and al Qaeda fighters initially welcomed by Ramadi's citizens are now killing off or intimidating anyone who tries to cooperate with the Americans. Seven local leaders have been killed since January. "From there things kind of went downhill, and they've been going downhill for the past couple months," Miller says. "We're still going down once a week, meeting with the provincial governor and council, but now [only one or two] sheiks show up, and not 20 or 25 that we had previously."
The marines in Kilo Company seem caught in the middle. Their mission appears to be buying time for the Iraqi Police and Army to develop their capabilities--which, for now, means pushing back as best they can against insurgent attacks. "Many people ask ... what does it take to help Ramadi, what it takes to get rid of the insurgency?" Kilo's Del Gaudio says. "It is exactly what we are doing right now: going on the offense and killing these people.... They'll keep coming, and we'll keep killing them. Eventually people will get the message."
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