Iraqis take over Anbar
The importance of this cannot be underestimated frankly.
Coalition troops on Monday formally handed over security control of Iraq’s Anbar province — once the hub of the country’s Sunni insurgency, to Iraqis on Monday.
President George W. Bush described the transfer as a major victory against al-Qaeda extremists who once held sway in the area.
“Today, Anbar is no longer lost to al Qaeda — it is al Qaeda that lost Anbar,” he said in a statement.
Once dominated by Sunni insurgents, Anbar has been the scene of many attacks on U.S.-led troops in Iraq.
Anbar is the 11th of Iraq’s 18 provinces now controlled by the Iraqis, and perhaps this handover is the biggest sdiogn of the great progtess made in Iraq since the surge. Anbar was one of the trouble spots the Surrendercrats pointed to as proof of our failure in Iraq. Now, as Ed Morrissey points out, when American forces leave Anbar, it will be as victors, thanks to the vision of our president. I cannot place too much emphasis on how crucial that is my friends.
