U.S. Marines serving with 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, NATO, International Security Assistance Force cross an expansion bridge while on patrol in the Helmand province of Afghanistan on July 1, 2008. DoD photo by Cpl. Randall A. Clinton, U.S. Marine Corps. (Released)From The Armed Forces Journal:
Last fall, I returned from a six-month deployment to Iraq with the Navy, in which I worked as a tribal and leadership engagement officer in the Fallujah area. By the end of my deployment, Fallujah had changed from an area rife with al-Qaida’s presence and upward of 750 security incidents a month to one where al-Qaida was on the run and security incidents were down to about 80 a month. I saw what was needed to convincingly defeat an insurgency as we worked with local tribes and Iraqi security forces to clear and hold each of Fallujah’s 10 neighborhoods and numerous surrounding villages.
As security became the norm in the city, the educated middle-class re-asserted its leadership, and the men with guns who had so long dominated politics in the post-Saddam era transitioned to a civilian-controlled police force. By the end of my tour, engineers, architects, teachers and doctors were dominating the city council’s meetings, asking for more power and authority from U.S. forces to administer their affairs as we began initial planning to draw down our forces.
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