Long article in "The Economist"

A reprint from the 12.29.2004 issue of The Economist carries a long, unabashed evaluation of the the U.S. forces' handling of the situation in Iraq. There are several anecdotes from marines in Ramadi, presumably the 2/5 Marines (the article states they arrived there in September).

I'll let you pass judgement on the articles arguments, but here are some extracted observations:
- In Ramadi, "17 suicide-bombs struck American forces during the month-long Muslim fast of Ramadan in the autumn."
- "Since September 1st, when the [marine] battalion's 800 men were deployed to Ramadi, they have killed [an estimated] 400-500 people, according to one of their senior officers."
- "Since arriving in Ramadi, some 20 marines have been killed and 160 wounded by suicide bombs and IEDs, in ambushes and by mortars."
- "morale was high" among the marines.
- "the marine battalion in Ramadi has only four translators"
- "In bold contrast to his masters in Washington, General George W. Casey Jr, the commander-in-chief of coalition forces in Iraq, credits foreigners with a minimal role in the insurgency. Of over 2,000 men detained during the fighting in Fallujah, fewer than 30 turned out to be non-Iraqi. In Ramadi, the marines have detained a smaller number of foreigners, including a 25-year-old Briton two weeks ago, who claimed to be pursuing “peace work” but whose hands were coated with explosives."
- "In Ramadi, as in many troubled places, the [November] assault on Fallujah was marked by a sudden spike in violence, followed by a relative lull. After a bloody September and October—when the marines faced up to nine IEDs a day and fought street battles with, they reckon, scores of insurgents at a time, and when most of Ramadi's inhabitants fled—the past month has yielded roughly one IED every few days, and a handful of serious ambushes. This may be because night-time temperatures have fallen to freezing, or because Ramadi's marines were reinforced by an army battalion. But it may also reflect a shift in the insurgency's character."
- "Though the city [of Ramadi] has more than 4,000 police, they refuse to work alongside American forces. According to the marines, the police's sole act of co-operation is to collect wounded insurgents from their base. For most of the past four months, Anbar has had no provincial administration, since the governor resigned after his children were kidnapped."