Ramadi

Two weeks after thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces established a series of combat outposts, called "strong points," surrounding Ramadi, residents are returning to the unruly city, hoping to find relative normalcy. As the strong points were being occupied, residents had fled or braced for a full-scale Fallujah-style assault that never happened. Instead, they are seeing a "soft offensive" that is emblematic of the new face of the U.S.-led counterinsurgency effort. Despite the similarities between the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah two years ago and Ramadi today, the current offensive will be slow and deliberate, and will focus on rebuilding local infrastructure, not destroying it. One U.S. commander said of the effort, "It is not a push; it is a slow squeeze.

John Wroblewski suggests Congress stop all the talk about leaving Iraq in 60 days, or 90 days, or 120 days. Instead, what the country needs, he says, is "more discussion about victory and how we're going to win. " What he seeks is leadership. Courage, to stand up to a relentless, smart and brutal enemy. Patience, to see the nation through the inevitable dark days. Strength, to set priorities and see them through. Wroblewski sees these characteristics in those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, young men and women he considers heroes.

After more than a year of fighting, U.S. troops have stopped patrolling large swaths of Iraq's restive Anbar province, according to the top American military intelligence officer in the area. Most U.S. Army officers interviewed this week said patrols in and around the province's capital, Ramadi - home to many who were military or intelligence officers under Saddam Hussein - had stopped largely because soldiers and commanders were tired of being shot at by insurgents who have refused to back down under heavy American military pressure.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces on Sunday battled gunmen who detonated a car bomb before blasting their way into a government compound and killing seven policemen in a one-time Sunni insurgent hotbed, police and local government officials said. The three-hour standoff between Shiite-dominated security forces and suspected Sunni insurgents in the Anbar province capital of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, marked the first serious gun battle for Iraqi forces against insurgents without American backup since the U.S. military completed its withdrawal last month.

Catholic archbishop seized, two Marines killed, in Iraq Insurgents in Iraq kidnapped a Catholic archbishop and targeted security forces in a series of attacks yesterday that killed more than 20 people. A suicide bomber attacked U.S. Marines in Ramadi, where insurgents also beheaded two Shiite Muslims. The Vatican condemned the Mosul abduction of Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, of the Syrian Catholic Church, as a "terrorist act. " A U.S. spokesman said Marines suffered an undisclosed number of casualties in the Ramadi bombing.

When Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was assassinated Sept. 13 in Ramadi, there were fears that the movement he led to fight al-Qaeda in Anbar province and beyond would stall. The Washington Post quoted one store owner as saying, "Now, we're afraid that the black days of al-Qaeda will return to our city. " Had those fears been realized - if al-Qaeda had the upper hand, if U.S. casualties and enemy attacks had increased since September - one could almost understand Democrats in Washington this week calling for yet another date for surrender.

U.S. forces continued their attacks on Sunni Muslim insurgent strongholds yesterday with air strikes against Fallujah and Hit, and assisted Iraqi troops in raiding seven mosques in Ramadi. Also yesterday, gunmen released a kidnapped American photographer after three days of captivity. The Fallujah air strikes destroyed the Haj Hussein, a favorite kebab house for Iraqis throughout the region. The U.S. military said the 12:01 a.m. attack targeted a "center for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terrorist meetings.

From the day three years ago when he learned that his son had been shot to death in Iraq, John Wroblewski told his family he wanted to go there - wanted, as his wife puts it, "to see what our son saw, smell what he smelled. " Last week, Wroblewski almost made it. Almost, but not quite. After traveling thousands of miles with help from the U.S. military, he got to within a short distance of Ramadi, the Sunni-insurgent stronghold in Anbar province where his son J.T. and 11 fellow Marines died.

Scaling back the military and political goals in Iraq's Anbar province has hurt morale among U.S. soldiers stationed there, and some have begun to question openly not only their mission but also the leaders who sent them to Iraq in the first place. It is not just buck privates. Several sergeants - the backbone of the enlisted military - said they felt the same way. Instead of neighborhood patrols, most of the convoys these days that leave the bases in Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, are on their way to guard main roads and the government building downtown.

The U.S. military said yesterday it was investigating reports by Iraqi officials that at least 40 people killed in a U.S. air attack against a remote desert village were civilians attending a wedding party. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said American forces conducting an operation against a ?foreign fighter safe house? near the Syrian border called in air support at 3 a.m. yesterday after they came under hostile fire. According to news reports from the region, however, he attack occurred after Iraqis celebrating a wedding fired into the air, as is traditional at nuptial Ceremonies in the Arab world.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces on Sunday battled gunmen who detonated a car bomb before blasting their way into a government compound and killing seven policemen in a one-time Sunni insurgent hotbed, police and local government officials said. The three-hour standoff between Shiite-dominated security forces and suspected Sunni insurgents in the Anbar province capital of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, marked the first serious gun battle for Iraqi forces against insurgents without American backup since the U.S. military completed its withdrawal last month.

For former Army Sgt. Carl Oliver, seeing images of the last American combat brigade leaving Iraq was bittersweet. He's still recovering physically and emotionally from a 2004 insurgent attack in Baghdad that killed two close New Jersey comrades and seriously wounded him. The sight of troops crossing into Kuwait "brought tears to my eyes," the Trenton man said. "I just wish it had been us coming home, that nobody had to die. " Oliver, 55, and other veterans said Thursday that they were proud of their part in the slow progress - over more than seven years - that led to this week's milestone in Iraq.

When Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was assassinated Sept. 13 in Ramadi, there were fears that the movement he led to fight al-Qaeda in Anbar province and beyond would stall. The Washington Post quoted one store owner as saying, "Now, we're afraid that the black days of al-Qaeda will return to our city. " Had those fears been realized - if al-Qaeda had the upper hand, if U.S. casualties and enemy attacks had increased since September - one could almost understand Democrats in Washington this week calling for yet another date for surrender.

John Wroblewski suggests Congress stop all the talk about leaving Iraq in 60 days, or 90 days, or 120 days. Instead, what the country needs, he says, is "more discussion about victory and how we're going to win. " What he seeks is leadership. Courage, to stand up to a relentless, smart and brutal enemy. Patience, to see the nation through the inevitable dark days. Strength, to set priorities and see them through. Wroblewski sees these characteristics in those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, young men and women he considers heroes.

Here's one problem with Washington's war-is-lost chorus: It too often drowns out the accomplishments of those who are actually trying to win. But it shouldn't. Consider the recent reports of the Anbar Awakening, a movement by Sunni sheikhs who have rejected al-Qaeda's vision for Iraq and aligned themselves with U.S. forces. Army Col. Sean MacFarland was in Anbar province most of last year, part of the First Marine Expeditionary Force commanded by Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, who wanted to be more aggressive in challenging al-Qaeda's control of Ramadi.

From the day three years ago when he learned that his son had been shot to death in Iraq, John Wroblewski told his family he wanted to go there - wanted, as his wife puts it, "to see what our son saw, smell what he smelled. " Last week, Wroblewski almost made it. Almost, but not quite. After traveling thousands of miles with help from the U.S. military, he got to within a short distance of Ramadi, the Sunni-insurgent stronghold in Anbar province where his son J.T. and 11 fellow Marines died.

Two weeks after thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces established a series of combat outposts, called "strong points," surrounding Ramadi, residents are returning to the unruly city, hoping to find relative normalcy. As the strong points were being occupied, residents had fled or braced for a full-scale Fallujah-style assault that never happened. Instead, they are seeing a "soft offensive" that is emblematic of the new face of the U.S.-led counterinsurgency effort. Despite the similarities between the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah two years ago and Ramadi today, the current offensive will be slow and deliberate, and will focus on rebuilding local infrastructure, not destroying it. One U.S. commander said of the effort, "It is not a push; it is a slow squeeze.

HOW DO YOU know Republicans are in real trouble? When they start blaming the media for their problems. Though complaints about the media are the ever-present backbeat to conservative rhetoric, the volume has recently been turned up. In the space of a few days, the claim that the media are distorting the war in Iraq - ignoring all the good news to focus on violence, killings, and sectarian strife - was made in high-profile settings by President Bush,...

Iraqis and the Bush administration can bask in some rare optimism about their country following yesterday's election in Iraq. The people of that nation can be heartened by the growing number of them turning to the political process as a way to vent their frustrations and express their hopes. Early reports indicated voter turnout in the election of a permanent parliament was higher than expected. The Sunni minority appears to have turned out in much greater numbers than in the two previous contests held this year.

The political wrangling of Iraq's infant government can seem futile in the face of relentless violence. But Iraqi lawmakers say politics is their best hope to prevent civil war and to send foreign troops home - and on that front, they claimed a victory yesterday. Now, though, they are left with just two months to draft a constitution. Work on the charter continues daily in a meeting room inside Baghdad's most heavily fortified area. There is a sense of urgency in Washington.