Excellent.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington … htm?csp=34
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…
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.
He said in a telephone interview that a provincial security committee under Anbar’s governor has been established and has rehearsed procedures for handling any security crisis that might develop.
Under a plan accepted by the Iraqi government as well as the top two American authorities in Iraq — Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus — the U.S. military will transfer control of Anbar to provincial authorities in March, followed by a ceremony in April, Gaskin said…
Visiting Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, appearing with Gates, also mentioned the turnaround in Anbar. He asserted that the situation has improved to the point where Iraqi forces are able to fight on their own, although that is a view not shared by U.S. commanders.
Iraqi police officers line up in formation during the annual National Police Day celebration at the police
academy in Baghdad.
Xbone Stormsurgezz