al-Anbar Transfer of Responsibility

"The chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq recently filed an unusual secret report concluding that the prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there . . ."
-- Washington Post, September 11, 2006
Front Page story

Yesterday, al-Anbar Province was turned over to the Iraqis, who will assume the primary responsibility for security in the area.

According to the Wall Street Journal,
The Anbar handover is above all a tribute to the hundreds of Americans who have fought and died in places like Fallujah, Ramadi and Hit over these last five years.