2006 – March 2007 · Al Anbar Province Theater
2006 – March 2007
Ramadi, capital of Al Anbar Province and population center of Iraq's Sunni heartland, was effectively controlled by Al-Qaeda in Iraq by early 2006 — a city of 400,000 people that US commanders privately described as lost. Col. Sean MacFarland's 'Ready First' brigade arrived in June 2006 and implemented an aggressive strategy: moving soldiers off large bases and into combat outposts inside the city, partnering with any Sunni tribal leader willing to resist AQI, and systematically clearing neighborhoods block by block. The Sunni Awakening began here when Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha allied with MacFarland in September 2006.
Commanders