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thedrifter
03-11-08, 04:10 AM
Marine commander 'stunned' by Anbar progress

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
Camp Pendleton general to recommend shuttering some provincial bases

A Camp Pendleton general leading 11,000 local Marines and sailors in Iraq's Anbar region said Monday that Iraqi forces will soon assume responsibility for security in the sprawling province and that he is preparing to recommend closing some of the larger U.S. bases there.

Maj. Gen. John Kelly also said he is amazed at the progress he sees on what is his third tour of duty in Anbar since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"It is remarkable what has gone on in the last year in the province," Kelly said during a teleconference from Baghdad. "It is stunning to me, but it is not over yet."

Kelly said that as the Iraqis assume control, he plans to recommend closing some of the larger U.S. bases in the western province along the border with Syria and Jordan. He did not identify which facilities he would target.

"These large bases ... take a lot of people to guard," he said, adding that he would prefer those troops be out working with the Iraqis.

Any closures would require approval throughout the chain of command and could not be done without the consultation of overall commanders in Iraq and at the Pentagon, Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Jay Delarosa said Monday from the nation's capital.

Kelly arrived back in Anbar from Camp Pendleton a little more than a month ago to assume the on-ground command of U.S. forces in a region that military planners once considered all but unwinnable because of Sunni tribal opposition and support for foreign al-Qaida fighters.

That began to change when al-Qaida attacks included the local population, leading to an uprising against the insurgency by Sunni sheiks that the U.S. has dubbed "The Awakening."

Kelly said that cooperation remains strong among the 2.4 million people in Anbar and its major cities such as Fallujah, Ramadi, Hit and Haditha and that al-Qaida forces "are down but not out."

"There is still some occasional violence," he said. "They're still around and watch very closely what we do, but not to any degree like they were."

The general from Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force is commanding about 25,000 Marines and 5,000 Army soldiers in Anbar.

Kelly's predecessor in Anbar, Marine Maj. Gen. Walter Gaskin, predicted in January that the lead responsibility for security would be transferred to the Iraqis sometime this month. Kelly said he is working through a checklist with the provincial governor in anticipation of the handover.

"We are very close," he said.

After the transfer of primary responsibility for security, Kelly said he believes U.S. troops should stay in the region to make sure the stability holds.

"I would just argue that we wait for a few months and see how this thing settles out," he said, adding that small, selected units are leaving the province.

"My overall numbers are going down," he said, declining to be more specific. "We are already drawing down."

The U.S. is able to draw down its troops because two full Iraqi army divisions are now operating in Anbar, along with nearly 24,000 police and an additional force of border guards. Kelly said the police force in Anbar may grow to 30,000.

"The police have really come on strong and are giving up an advantage out here," he said, adding that the police and Iraqi army are suffering the majority of casualties in Anbar these days.

"They target the police, sheiks and civil leadership like mayors," the general said, adding there are reports indicating the insurgency may be planning a large-scale attack to generate media coverage.

-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

Ellie