Islamist militants impose will in some Iraq towns

"RAMADI, Iraq, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Despite repeated offensives U.S. troops still do not control of parts of northwestern Iraq and Islamist militants all but govern some towns, dispensing summary justice with public executions, residents say.

"There are no U.S. forces, no Iraqi army or police," said an Iraqi reporter who works for Reuters in the region. He visited the town of Haditha some days after a U.S. operation this month and did not want to be named for fear of reprisals.

"Three days ago, three people were executed on Haqlaniya bridge after being accused of being spies," he said, citing residents of Haditha with whom he keeps in contact and referring to a bridge that connects the town with another across a river.

The Euphrates Valley area, a conduit for small numbers of foreign radicals entering Iraq from Syria, is effectively closed to outside observers by threats of violence and local journalists also work in fear of intimidation and worse.

However, a reporter for Reuters and other Iraqi correspondents in Anbar province, which covers much of western Iraq, provided accounts similar to a detailed report on conditions in Haditha in Britain's Guardian newspaper on Monday by a journalist who spent time there.

The U.S. military, which has conducted several offensives against insurgents near Haditha, most recently Operation Quick Strike which ended Aug. 10, did not immediately respond to a request for information about the current security situation."
Reuters

Actually I feel a little better, at least I'm not the only one that is in the dark. If you can call that feeling better.