U.S. forces tout success on Sunni turf

RAMADI, Iraq – The commander of U.S. troops in Iraq wanted some sweets, and nothing was going to stop him. Not even tramping through a neighborhood that only days ago had been teeming with snipers and al-Qaida fighters who would love nothing better than to say they just shot Gen. David H. Petraeus.

With soldiers casting anxious glances along the desolate dirt road, the four-star general made a beeline for a tiny shop and helped himself to a bite-sized, honey-coated pastry proffered by the owner.

Oblivious to the flies buzzing around his head, Petraeus chatted briefly with a man who said his cafe had been damaged in recent battles between U.S. forces and insurgents.

Then, after promising compensation for the cafe owner, Petraeus hiked on. “Tell him the next time I come back to Ramadi, we’ll eat his chow,” Petraeus said as he headed into the blazing sun.

Days ago, this might not have been possible, but in a brazen effort to show off what they say has been a shift of allegiance in Sunni insurgent territory, U.S. and Iraqi officials on Tuesday brought an all-star cast of military and political figures to Ramadi.

While Petraeus did his walkabout, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited with regional sheiks, his first stop here since becoming prime minister nine months ago, and part of a campaign to ensure loyalty from powerful Sunnis who once harbored insurgents.

The campaign gained momentum last fall when a group of sheiks from across Anbar province, whose capital is Ramadi, met with al-Maliki in Baghdad.

Just what led to their decision to work with the U.S.-backed, Shiite-dominated government after years of supporting Sunni insurgents depends on whom you ask.

U.S. military officials say the sheiks finally realized that by boycotting elections that brought al-Maliki to power last year and refusing to be a part of his government, they were missing out on valuable economic opportunities.

“This is part of joining the process,” said the commander of multinational forces in this region, Marine Maj. Gen. Walt Gaskin. “They realize that if they had taken part in the elections, well perhaps some of these sheiks would be the governor or the provincial chairman.”

Sunni leaders here have another version: They simply got fed up with al-Qaida’s brutality. They came to see the group, which touts itself as an Islamic force repelling foreign occupiers, as a terrorist group hellbent on taking over their lives, even if that meant killing innocent civilians.

Maj. Shabah Ahmed, an Iraqi army major in Ramadi, said the turning point for him, and for many residents, came a little more than a year ago, when a suicide bomber walked into an abandoned glass factory being used as a police recruiting station and detonated his explosive vest, killing scores of young men.

“That’s when we realized that these people don’t distinguish between the sons of our city and the soldiers,” said Ahmed. “They just have an agenda to destroy.”

Whatever the reason, U.S. military officials in Ramadi say the switch has been crucial to enabling U.S. and Iraqi forces to make headway after years of battling to drive out al-Qaida.

The region is part of what military officials consider the “belt” around Baghdad, and securing it is seen as key to making the latest U.S.-Iraqi security plan a success. “You have to secure some of these belt areas that feed into Baghdad, and the route along the Euphrates River valley is a dagger that goes right to the heart of Baghdad,” Ahmed said.

He spoke while standing in a joint U.S.-Iraqi outpost established in a former high school in Ramadi, a one-time industrial center on the Euphrates River with a population once estimated at 400,000. Today, there are few traces of its status as a provincial capital. Fighting between U.S.-led forces and Sunni insurgents has sapped this city and continues on a regular basis as troops try to drive out the insurgents, one neighborhood at a time.

Smashed remains of the government headquarters line the main road leading toward the center of town. Jagged holes from bullets, bombs and rockets pock most buildings. The only thing that appears relatively unscathed is the massive Saddam Mosque, named for the ousted, executed Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.

Other than a dog snoozing on the side of the road and cats scavenging for scraps, there were few signs of life as a military convoy rumbled down a main drag Monday.

Three weeks ago, troops from the Army’s 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, out of Fort Carson, Colo., mounted an offensive to secure this section of Ramadi, which Lt. Col. Chuck Ferry said had been an insurgent safe area. Working with Iraqi troops, Ferry and his troops battled for several nights to secure a foothold and move into an abandoned building.

The area was so littered with explosive devices planted along the streets that one Iraqi involved in the fighting called it a “flower garden” of bombs.

The insurgents may have been driven out of this particular neighborhood, but Ferry said they remain in the vicinity, regularly lobbing mortars and firing shots at troops, who on Monday were filling sacks with dirt to erect protective barriers.

Just outside the walls of the compound, coils of concertina wire crossed the dirt roads to make quick getaways on foot difficult. Concrete barriers had been erected to deter car bombers.

Although Petraeus was confident that it was safe enough for a foot patrol in this area, it was clear that the troops accompanying him still felt it was a dicey proposition. As he walked down the center of roads, they lined the sides and perched on the corners, eyeing the nearby buildings and cross streets.

If Petraeus was concerned, he gave no indication of it, waltzing through a small outdoor market and amiably shouting out greetings. Some people responded by asking when the garbage would be picked up and how they could be sure the area would stay quiet. One man suggested that the military issue identification cards for local residents to prevent outsiders from entering.

Petraeus’ patrol went off without incident, and hours later he met up with the same local sheiks who had spent the day with al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki, accompanied by the ministers of defense and interior, met with members of a tribal alliance calling itself the Anbar Salvation Council, which has encouraged its followers to join the police and has also formed its own force to fight militant factions. Al-Maliki listened to their security and economic concerns and assured them of his government’s help, according to tribal representatives who attended the meeting.

Sheik Abdul Sattar, a spokesman for the council, later told journalists that tribal leaders had turned toward the government and the United States because al-Qaida “was killing everyone.”

To Petraeus, he said, “All of Anbar is with you.”