Fallujah parallels in Ramadi

Some of the heaviest fighting in months erupted on Wednesday in the troubled city of Ramadi. Throughout the day, the thud of mortars, bombs, and machine-gun fire echoed down desolate streets as insurgents battled hundreds of US Marines.

An estimated 25 insurgents were killed, and 25 people - including two Iraqi police - were detained in a day of clashes, which saw 13 US soldiers lightly wounded in firefights and multiple ambushes.

At sunset, as American helicopters swooped over central Ramadi, a small funeral procession for Iraqis killed in the fighting moved slowly through town. But stores remained locked behind metal gratings and few residents ventured onto streets littered with debris and cratered by bombs.

The escalation of violence in this Sunni city about 70 miles west of Baghdad presents a difficult Catch-22 for US commanders here who are working to reduce the visibility of US troops, empower Iraq's new government, and get security forces to take charge.

"Our presence does create violence, but our lack of presence could also create violence - maybe even more," says Maj. John Harrill, operations officer for the 2nd Battalion 4th Marines, the 1,000-strong force in Ramadi. "Every decision to reduce our presence or get out has to be at the right time," he says.

As US forces shrink their "footprint," cutting back sharply on neighborhood patrols and raids on certain roads, Iraqi security forces have often proven spotty at best in asserting control.

Balancing the political imperative of scaling back the US troop presence - and its lingering images of occupation - with the military campaign against insurgents and terrorists, is perhaps nowhere as critical as here in Anbar Province, the largest and possibly most restive part of Iraq's Sunni Triangle.

Anbar is traversed by a long stretch of the Euphrates River and vital roads west to Jordan and Syria. Yet Anbar's porous borders also permit an influx of foreign fighters to cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi - former Saddam Hussein strongholds that have bristled over the presence of US forces. As in Fallujah (30 miles to the east), US forces have confronted stubborn resistance in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar with 450,000 people. The Marine battalion here has suffered more than 30 deaths and 180 wounded since arriving in March.

After initially flooding the city with door-to-door searches for insurgents, since the June 28 transfer of power the Marines have focused their effort on securing a key stretch of highway running through central Ramadi between three US camps.

The concentration of Marines means fewer locations where they can be ambushed or hit with road bombs. Yet US commanders stress that the goal of a gradual withdrawal from Ramadi will only be possible as Iraqi forces act aggressively to curb violence, crime, and insurgent attacks. Ramadi, they say, will not become another Fallujah.

The challenges to this strategy are illustrated by a troubled district in central Ramadi that stretches from the Saddam Mosque to a US Marine base on the eastern edge of town. There, say military officials, sheikhs at local mosques advocate the kidnapping of foreign workers, "victory for the Mujahideen," and a "fight to the death." Repeated requests by US commanders for a stepped-up Iraqi security force, including effective checkpoints, have brought few results.

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