It’s an Anbar Thing
It’s an Anbar Thing (Not an AQ or U.S. Thing) by Peter Munson, War on the Rocks.
News of al Qaeda’s dramatic return to Iraq’s Anbar Province last week has reopened many old wounds. After years of brutal fighting there that bought an uneasy peace, many Americans are wondering what it all was for. The apparent “fall” of Fallujah to fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) strikes an especially bitter blow for many American veterans, not to mention the Iraqi troops they fought alongside and the Iraqi civilians they protected. According to Iraqi police sources, ISIS also holds significant ground in Ramadi and has taken the blood-soaked town of Karmah that lies between Fallujah and Baghdad. Perhaps the most chilling report is that insurgents attacked an Iraqi army convoy on the Baghdad-Fallujah highway, taking three tanks and demonstrating the intent to once again isolate Anbar from the rest of the country…
