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Ramadi Operation Phantom Fury, the U.S. assault on Falluja in Iraq's Al Anbar Province in November 2004, is widely perceived as the greatest coalition victory against Iraq's insurgent and terrorist forces. It did indeed end enemy control over the city. But civilian casualties were high because of the massive use of firepower. About a fourth of the city's homes were destroyed and another fourth damaged. And while many of the enemy died, the advance notice of the attack plus the ability to escape across the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in small boats meant that most of the fighters killed were...

Operation Phantom Fury, the U.S. assault on Falluja in Iraq's Al Anbar Province in November 2004, is widely perceived as the greatest coalition victory against Iraq's insurgent and terrorist forces. It did indeed end enemy control over the city. But civilian casualties were high because of the massive use of firepower. About a fourth of the city's homes were destroyed and another fourth damaged. And while many of the enemy died, the advance notice of the attack plus the ability to escape across the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in small boats meant that most of the fighters killed were probably...

Greetings from Ramadi By Michelle Malkin   ·   November 18, 2006 08:39 AM Mike Fumento has photos from his latest trip to Ramadi. Here's one he snapped at Camp Ramadi. Mike writes: "Something tells me Cindy Sheehan wouldn't feel comfortable here." Speaking of Ramadi, Patterico is looking to talk to soldiers fighting there. Give him a shout at patterico-at-gmail.com.

BAGHDAD - American forces killed an Al Qaeda chieftain in the lawless western Iraqi city of Ramadi by destroying his car with a laser guided bomb, the US military said on Thursday. “Rafa Abdul Salam Hamud Al Ithawi, also known as Abu Taha, was the emir of Shamiyyah,” it said. “He frequently harboured foreign fighters who entered Iraq illegally in order to assault innocent Iraqis and coalition forces.” Ithawi was killed on Wednesday along with his driver, ”diminishing the Al Qaeda in Iraq network,” the statement said. Ramadi has become the focus of the battle between US forces and Sunni...

IN THE NAME OF GOD, MOST GRACIOUS MOST MERCYFUL So this is the reality we’re living in al-Anbar in general, and Ramadi in particular, that is the head Sheiks of some tribes, and symbols of the Islamic Party, sat with the Americans in Jordan, and other places, to fight terrorism and its people. The Sheiks started teaching people about these ideas, this conspiracy is led by two sides, the first is the heads of the tribes, the second is the leaders of the Islamic Party and mosques speakers, so they announced their war on the Mujahidin, it increased during the...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, Oct. 17, 2006 – Coalition forces defeated a complex insurgent small-arms-fire attack in Ramadi, Iraq, yesterday, killing three insurgents, military officials reported today. There were no reports of civilian or coalition casualties. Insurgents attacked three different coalition locations from several buildings at the same time with small-arms fire, officials said. In response, coalition forces established the origin of the gunfire and returned fire with small-arms and machine-gun fire. When the enemy’s fire did not cease, coalition forces used increasing levels of force, including tank main-gun rounds followed by an air-delivered missile. (From a Multinational Corps Iraq news...

A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said. Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret. "He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2006 – The battle for Ramadi has "tipped" in favor of the government of Iraq and the coalition, the commander of 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, said today. Army Col. Sean MacFarland told the Pentagon press corps in a video teleconference call that attacks are down 25 percent over the past couple of months, and coalition forces, together with the Iraqi security forces, have steadily increased their presence inside of the city. Ramadi, the capital and largest city in Anbar province, has been an al Qaeda in Iraq and Sunni insurgent hotbed. But now the tide seems...

Watch Air Strike VideoDepartment of Defense photo. BAGHDAD -- An air strike near Ramadi on Saturday killed six terrorists who had fired mortars at civilians there. Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, Multi-National Force - Iraq senior spokesman, said that Coalition aircraft saw the terrorists loading a mortar tube into a white sedan near a known terrorist safe house.The Coalition aircraft continued to watch as the terrorists dug up munitions from a weapons cache and then fired four mortars at Iraqi civilians Saturday morning. The men then drove the vehicle to another secluded area. Coalition forces, determining that striking...

RAMADI, Iraq -- Their first silhouettes appear at dusk, moving briskly under dim moonlight or the rare streetlamp. Sometimes the crunch of their boots on trash-strewn streets will stir families dozing on lawns in the cool of evening. It's another night patrol by Marines in one of Iraq's most dangerous cities. When night falls on Ramadi, hundreds of Marines confined to bases during the day return to the streets. Daytime foot patrols are limited because of the threat of skilled snipers or roadside bombs, but the cover of darkness -- and night vision technology -- allows Marines to fan out...

RAMADI, Iraq, Aug. 25, 2006 – Coalition forces were attacked today from the Al Qadir Al Kilami mosque in Ramadi, Iraq, military officials here reported. The attack at about 12:30 p.m. included small-arms and machine-gun fire, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and a makeshift bomb, officials said. Coalition forces returned fire in self-defense using escalation-of-force procedures, officials said, and finally fired several main gun rounds from M1 tanks into the mosque to defeat the attackers. The mosque’s dome and minaret were heavily damaged. A coalition soldier was wounded in the attack, but later returned to duty. Officials said no assessment was...

RAMADI, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 22, 2006) – A record-setting 395 Iraqis answered the call at a recent recruiting drive for Iraqi police in Ramadi. The recruiting drives are jointly hosted by the Iraqi army, Iraqi police, and units of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. “The tremendous success of the August recruiting drive demonstrates that the people of Ramadi are committed to their own security. We have rounded a corner in creating a stable and secure Ramadi,” said Lt. Col. James Lechner, deputy commander of the 1st AD’s 1st Bde. To join the Iraqi police, recruits must pass...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, Aug. 13, 2006 – The Iraqi people must step forward and accept their freely elected government if there is to be peace in the country’s troubled Anbar province, the coalition’s commander in the region said here today. Marine Maj. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer met with reporters traveling with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Marine Gen. Peter Pace. Zilmer said relations between the coalition and the province’s population, as well as the security climate in former hot spots such as Fallujah and Qaim, have improved. But though these “atmospherics” have changed for the better, big problems do remain,...

When Navy SEAL Marc Alan Lee talked to his wife last week from Iraq, he was upbeat as always, discussing their future, his SEAL team's planned return to Coronado, Calif., in October and the prospect of starting a family. The next day the 28-year-old Lee, a petty officer 2nd class, was killed in a prolonged firefight with insurgents in Ramadi, making him the first SEAL killed in Iraq. Two other SEALs were wounded in what a reporter embedded with U.S. troops described as an hourlong firefight between heavily armed and aggressive insurgents and a force of SEALs, U.S. soldiers and...

Insurgents in Ramadi, the capital of restive Al Anbar province, are using increasingly sophisticated tactics against U.S. and Iraqi forces. As in the rest of Iraq, the improvised explosive device, which the military calls the IED, is the most common and deadliest weapon. But after three years of fighting, insurgents here are combining roadside bombs with small-arms fire or rocket-propelled grenades to lethal effect. "Darwin works every day for the insurgency," said a Marine intelligence officer, whose work with classified information prohibits him from speaking publicly. "The guys who are left know their business. The dumb ones are weeded out...

RAMADI, Iraq – He was 5 when he first fired an M-16, his father holding him to brace against the recoil. At 17 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, spurred by the memory of Sept. 11. Now, 21-year-old Galen Wilson has 20 confirmed kills in four months in Iraq – and another 40 shots that probably killed insurgents. One afternoon the lance corporal downed a man hauling a grenade launcher 5½ football fields away. Wilson is the designated marksman in a company of Marines based in downtown Ramadi, watching over what Marines call the most dangerous neighborhood in the most...

After Destruction of Downtown Ramadi, a Holdout Dubbed 'Mr. Wilson' Finally Packs Up His Family RAMADI, Iraq Jul 19, 2006 (AP)— "Mr. Wilson" is gone. When U.S. tanks first rolled into this most violent of Iraqi cities, the Iraqi family man stayed put. He hung in there for three more years as neighboring shops and buildings were pounded into rubble. He stayed even after U.S. Marines, failing to recognize him as he drove home one day, opened fire and injured him in the leg.

Saturday, 22 July 2006 RAMADI -- Lance Cpl. Brandon R. Musser is just one of many Marines from 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment patrolling the streets of one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq while wearing 50 plus pounds of armor under a scorching sun. And he and his comrades are doing it with no complaints. Lance Cpl. William A. Staley, 24, from Lockport, N.Y., searches an Iraqi civilian during a vehicle check point patrol June 20. Staley is a mortar man with 3rd Platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. The patrol was conducted to deny insurgents...

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2006 – Iraqi security forces must take the lead in security operations to defeat terrorists in that country, a senior U.S. Army officer said today. Iraqi soldiers and police "are in the fight to the finish," Army Col. Sean B. MacFarland said from Ramadi, Iraq, during a satellite teleconference with Pentagon reporters. MacFarland is the commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, in Ramadi, the capital city of Anbar province. His unit has operated with Iraqi forces in and around Ramadi since June 11. Over the past several weeks, U.S. and Iraqi forces have...

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2006 – Anti-insurgent efforts in the Iraqi city of Ramadi are beginning to bear fruit, a senior U.S. military officer said today. "We're in a transition point in the fight for Ramadi. There's still a lot to do, but we're on the right track," Army Col. Sean B. MacFarland said from his headquarters in Ramadi during a satellite teleconference with Pentagon reporters. MacFarland is the commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. The 1st Brigade assists Iraqi soldiers and police in defeating insurgents within the unit's area of operations, he said. Ramadi is the...