By Dahr Jamail
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 12 June 2006

Fearful residents are now pouring out of Ramadi after the US military
has been assaulting the city for months with tactics like cutting water,
electricity and medical aid, imposing curfews, and attacking by means of
snipers and random air strikes. This time, Iraqis there are right to
fear the worst - an all out attack on the city, similar to what was done
to nearby Fallujah.

It has always been just a matter of time before the US military would
finally get around to destroying Ramadi, the capital city of al-Anbar
province. After all, Ramadi is not far from Fallujah, and so similar to
Fallujah both tribally and in their disdain towards the idea of being
occupied, that many people in Ramadi even refer to Fallujah as "Ramadi."
I know many people from Ramadi who lost relatives and friends during
both US assaults on Fallujah, and the level of anti-American sentiment
has always been high there.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have marched in Baghdad to denounce the US presence in Iraq and call for a speedy trial of Saddam Hussein on the second anniversary of his overthrow.

August 29, 2004
INSURGENCY

In Western Iraq, Fundamentalists Hold U.S. at Bay
By JOHN F. BURNS and ERIK ECKHOLM
NYT

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 28 - While American troops have been battling Islamic militants to an uncertain outcome in Najaf, the Shiite holy city, events in two Sunni Muslim cities that stand astride the crucial western approaches to Baghdad have moved significantly against American plans to build a secular democracy in Iraq.

If Ramadi falls, 'province goes to hell'
Mon Jul 12, 6:40 AM ET
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

This may be the most dangerous city in Iraq.

Though battles in places such as Fallujah and Najaf have gotten far more attention, the Marine battalion in this provincial capital has encountered the most deadly combat fighting and logged the highest number of casualties of any U.S. battalion since the war in Iraq began.

3 articles:

1. U.S. Hostage Freed; 11 GIs Killed
May 2, 2004

...In other developments in Iraq:

Eleven soldiers were killed in separate attacks, raising the U.S. death toll to 151 since a wave of violence began on April 1. Six American service members killed in mortar attack in Anbar province, which includes such flashpoint cities as Fallujah and Ramadi in the Sunni Triangle. One U.S. soldier was killed Sunday and 10 were wounded in a bomb and small arms attack on a coalition base near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the U.S. military said. Overnight, Shiite militiamen killed two soldiers in an attack on a U.S. convoy near the southern city of Amarah, 180 miles south of Baghdad. An attack in northwest Baghdad killed two other soldiers and wounded two Iraqi security officers and another American, the military said...

Six More U.S. Soldiers Killed in Action in Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said it had suffered six more combat deaths in Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing to 449 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action since the start of the war to oust Saddam Hussein. 

U.S. Hits Mosque Compound; 40 Said Killed

By BASSEM MROUE and ABDUL-QADER SAADI

Associated Press Writers

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - U.S. Marines in a fierce battle for this Sunni Muslim stronghold fired rockets that destroyed part of a wall surrounding a mosque compound filled with worshippers Wednesday, and witnesses said as many as 40 people were killed. Shiite-inspired violence spread to key cities in Iraq.