Marines prop up ailing local gov't in Iraq

RAMADI, Iraq — Peering over piles of sandbags in this ravaged city, U.S. Marines sometimes see more gunmen on the streets than municipal employees going to work.

The provincial governor regularly arrives at his office with armed guards in tow. Young Marines notice few others on his staff trail behind.

After three years of war in Ramadi, the U.S. military has yet to move from combat to stabilization operations in most of this Sunni Arab city of 400,000 people, the capital of Anbar province.

Here full-fledged combat still rages. Efforts to build a local government have faltered.

In just four months, one Marine has fired 27 rockets. Another estimates he's fired 5,000 rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun. One marksman has 20 confirmed kills. His superiors believe he's probably killed another 40 but they aren't sure.

The U.S. military said Sunday that four U.S. Marines assigned to the Regimental Combat Team 7 were killed in action in Anbar province, although it did not say where.

Residents of Ramadi are afraid of even walking near the offices of the Anbar provincial government, which is supposed to administer an area the size of North Carolina, and with about one million inhabitants.

"There's been a concerted campaign against government officials that's had some great success ... the government center is nearly devoid of governance," said the top Marine intelligence officer for the 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment, who asked not to be identified because of security policies for intelligence officers.

Earlier this year, policemen were stationed in a rebuilt station within the compound _ but daily attacks scared them away. Now the freshly painted police station is empty, surrounded by police cars with tires flattened by mortar shrapnel. Iraqi soldiers were also relocated to safer parts of the city, leaving the government's defense again in the hands of Marines.

"The only way this thing is going to get normal is if Iraqis stand up for themselves," said Sgt. John Strobridge, 21, of Orlando, Fla., as he walked through the empty police station. Pointing to the damaged police vehicles, he observed, "As you can see, they didn't last long."

In recent weeks the U.S. military has tried to remove neighborhoods from insurgent control, building new outposts deeper into the city to extend the reach of its patrols. Marines are also trying to expand the so-called "Green Zone" of the city, a calmer western neighborhood of about 25,000 people near a cluster of U.S. bases.

But in the heart of the city, the war is unabated.

"The number one thing I'm looking to do is kill the enemy," said Capt. Andrew Del Gaudio, 30, of New York, commander of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment. "I do that knowing that when I do that I allow the Iraqi government to function."

The Marines defend a U.S.-appointed government that's struggled to build its credibility in this mostly Sunni Arab city. Since the toppling of their longtime patron Saddam Hussein, Sunnis have fallen out of power and the once-repressed Shiites have ascended.

U.S. officials hope the national unity government that took office this spring with greater Sunni Arab representation will persuade some insurgents to lay down their arms. But the provincial government here _ comparable to state governments in the United States _ is still run by officials handpicked by Americans or U.S.-chosen councils.

That raises questions about their legitimacy among Sunni Arabs, the most disaffected group in Iraq and the bedrock of the insurgency.

So far the insurgency has shown few signs of backing off its mission of destroying anything that cooperates with the U.S. military. The provincial governor says he's survived nearly 30 assassination attempts. Two of his predecessors resigned under threat and another was kidnapped and killed.

The vast majority of insurgents in Ramadi _ at least 90 percent, by U.S. military estimates _ are locals. Most of the Al-Qaida members who make up about a quarter of all insurgents are Iraqi, U.S. officials say. Just 5 percent to 10 percent of all insurgents are foreigners, the military estimates.

Foreign fighters "are a very small percentage, and you see that reflected everywhere. We don't capture or detain an awful lot of these guys," said Col. Sean MacFarland, commander of the Army's 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, which oversees the city.

While still operating in wide areas of the city, some Marines say they're content to battle away and trim the insurgency's ranks.

"We're in a very aggressive neighborhood. We need to take out as many of them as possible at a time, and throw in some intimidation there too," said Lance Cpl. Richard Mason, 21, of Medina, Ohio, who has fired 27 rockets on gangs of insurgents in the area.

Some Marines, many on their second tour in Iraq in as many years, expressed impatience with the government's efforts to build a military and assert control of its streets. But others said they were willing to keep fighting while Iraqi officials struggle to build a foundation of government here.

"Yeah, I'd like Iraqis to step up to the plate. But that's why we're here. We're here to teach them to be self-sufficient and train their army," said Lance Cpl. Galen Wilson, 21, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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