Can US sustain Anbar success?
While Al Qaeda in Iraq has been largely driven out of Ramadi, the US is hoping to build on the gains by fixing basic services and mediating tribal hostilities.
Col. John Charlton, commander of US forces in Ramadi, keeps a big white board in his office that lists a dizzying array of tasks. It’s a catalog of jobs meant to rebuild the war-shattered capital of Anbar Province.
The list stretches through October, and, on a visit to his office last week, not one item had been ticked off.
While the colonel from Spokane, Wash., says the American fight against Al Qaeda in the city is over, the hard work of maintaining that victory is now facing the US troops.