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Baghdad and the Belts. Red bordered units identified as active in offensive operations. Click map to view. |
As operations north of Baghdad in Baqubah and south in Babil province have taken center stage, the third theater in eastern Anbar province has received little attention in the reporting from Iraq. The reporting has been so sparse that the name of Multinational Forces West’s operation has yet to be released. In an interview with Brigadier General Charles M. Gurganus, commanding general of Ground Combat Element, Multi-National Force-West, The Fourth Rail has learned the name of the operation is Fahrad Al Amin, or Operation Safety and Security. As we noted at the opening of Operation Phantom Thunder, the focus of combat operations in eastern Anbar province includes Fallujah, the Karma region, and the desert expanse of the Thar Thar region. Brig. Gen. Gurganus confirmed this, however, he noted that Multinational Forces West did not expect to meet serious opposition in either of the three areas of focus. “I could only hope that they would stand and fight,” sai Gurganus. “We should be so lucky because that is our strength.” The purpose of Fahrad Al Amin is to “make sure al Qaeda and the insurgents have no safe sanctuary where they can rest, refit, stage and plan for attacks,” said Gurganus. “We want to keep any of [the] ones we have in Al Anbar form getting to and being able to joint the fight in Baghdad.” Regimental Combat Team-6 is conducting the bulk of operations in Fallujah, where Coalition and Iraqi forces are working to establish police stations and neighborhood watches in each of the 11 districts in that city. The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit [13th MEU], which just arrived in eastern Anbar province, is conducting operations up to the Thar Thar region. The Marines and Iraqi troops operating in the Thar Thar area are “starting to establish a relative freedom of movement up to and through the Thar Thar region.” The arrival of the 13th MEU as part of the surge “gives us an opportunity to go into areas where previously we quite frankly we couldn’t stretch that far and maintain a permanent presence.” The Marines operating in Thar Thar “haven’t seen a lot of accurate attacks yet.” They have mainly encountered indirect fire attacks and have taken some casualties from enemy IEDs. When asked if he expected a major battle in Thar Thar, Gurganus said no. “I don’t expect it, I expect to continue to find IEDs, indirect attacks, they’ll pop up and fire a few rounds and take off. I really do think they will look for a seam to try to squeeze out and go where there is not a coalition force presence.”
Gurganus expressed confidence in the ability of Iraqi troops and police to secure the regions in his area of operations. On June 24, Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, the general in charge of the offensive in the north, and Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the commander in the south, expressed doubts about the ability of the Iraqi Army to hold the regions after they were cleared by U.S. forces. “In our areas we probably have sufficient forces if they are not drawn off to be used in other parts of Iraq,” said Gurganus. “Our strength in numbers will be sufficient to leave a presence.” The Iraqi Army in the region is now manned well of 80 percent–close to 90 percent in the 1st Iraqi Army Division. As late as last year, units were manned as low as 39 percent. Gurganus attributed the surge in recruiting to the Anbar Awakening and other tribes which now oppose al Qaeda’s attempt to subjugate the Iraqi people. But the ability of the Iraqi Army and police to conduct complex counterinsurgency operations remains a question. “I don’t worry about numbers as much as capabilities to fight a counterinsurgency,” he noted. It is difficult to “raise an army as it fights at the same time.” Gurganus stated that despite these concerns he is very comfortable with integrating the Iraqi security forces into Multinational Forces West’s operations. He noted the interaction between the Iraqi Army, the police, and Coalition forces in Ramadi and Fallujah have been “success stories” that he expects will be repeated throughout Anbar. Success on both the security and political fronts has allowed for some optimism in the province which was written off as lost just last fall. “While I’m always guarded, I’m extremely cautiously optimistic that we’ve turned a significant corner in the fight out here in Anbar,” said Gurganus. Listen to the full interview with Brig Gen Gurganus.
