Iraq takes over Anbar from US forces

Security transfer means more domestic control

Ramadi, IRAQ (Agencies)

Iraqi forces Monday took over control of Anbar, once the most explosive battlefield in Iraq, from the U.S. military, symbolizing the growing security gains in the war-torn country.

"We would not have even imagined this in our wildest dreams
three or four years ago," Iraqi national security advisor
Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told reporters before the ceremony in the provincial capital Ramadi.

"If we had said that we were going to hand over security responsibility from the foreign troops to civilian authority, people would laugh at us. Now I think it's a reality."

Anbar is the 11th out of Iraq's 18 provinces and the first Sunni Arab province to be returned to the control of the Iraqi government since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The turnover in the desert region had been slated for June,
but was delayed due to a row between local political leaders.

Important milestone

Lt. Colonel Chris Hughes, spokesman for the U.S. Marines in
western Iraq said the handover was largely ceremonial since
Iraqi forces had been operating independently for several
months.

The U.S. military said in a statement that the transfer of security was an "important milestone' but it "does not necessarily mean that the security situation is stable or better," but rather that governmental and provincial authorities will take over responsibility.

"Iraqi police have better intelligence than ours," said Martin Post, a top U.S. commander in Anbar. "They have more abilities than us to do the job."

After the transfer, U.S. forces will withdraw to their bases and will take part in military operations only if requested by the provincial governor.

The U.S. military currently has 28,000 soldiers in Anbar, down
from 37,000 in February, according to U.S. army figures, while the
number of Iraqi soldiers and police has grown to 37,000 from just
5,000 three years ago.

Monday's handover is expected to help the U.S. military cut its
overall troop level in Iraq at a time when there is growing pressure
to beef up forces in Afghanistan, where the level of violence is
higher.

'Awakening' in a former 'safe haven'

Anbar, with little oil wealth but strategic importance in
its borders with Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, was once a
haven for Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda and the scene of fierce
battles against U.S. forces and Iraq's Shi'ite-led government.

Some of the bloodiest fights in more than five years of war
have taken place in Anbar, including two devastating assaults by
U.S. forces on the city of Falluja in 2004.

Sunni Arabs in Anbar were the first to turn against U.S. forces
after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, mounting a raging insurgency that tore through the world's most sophisticated military.

In the first years after the invasion, the country's biggest
province became the theatre of a brutal war focused on the cities of
Fallujah and Ramadi, while a string of towns along the Euphrates
valley became insurgent strongholds and later safe havens for
al-Qaeda.

Around one third of U.S. forces or 1,305 troops have been killed
in Anbar, more than 40 percent caused by improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

The brutal insurgency also killed around 6,000 civilians in the province, according to independent website Iraqbodycount.org.

Things changed in late 2006, when Sunni Arab tribal leaders fed up with al Qaeda's harsh tactics and puritanical brand of Islam switched sides, helping the U.S. military to largely expel the group from the region.

Sunni tribes formed Sahwa (Awakening) groups which began
fighting al-Qaeda militants and within a year the province became the safest in Iraq and became a model for grassroots guard units across the country.

Election law still unresolved

The transfer comes as Iraqi lawmakers struggle to pass a controversial election law that has been delayed over the political handling of the
disputed northern oil province of Kirkuk.

An electoral commission official said Monday that the commission would only have enough time to hold provincial elections this year if the nation's lawmakers wrap up an agreement in the next two weeks.

A postponement of the ballot this year would be a blow to
Washington which sees the election as critical to consolidating
Iraq's fledgling political process and reconciling its deeply
divided ethnic groups.