Cordon laid around Ramadi

UPI:

U.S. and Iraqi troops began encircling the city of Ramadi on land and the Euphrates River Sunday in a bid to choke out the hotbed of insurgents.

The goal is to limit and monitor the key entrance points to the city of 400,000, whose resident have been advised to remain in their homes, the BBC reported.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. V.J. Tedesco said the insurgents were expected to put up more of a fight as the military presence mounted.

"The good news is that we didn't get as much resistance as we're prepared for," he said. "I really think the fight will be in the coming days."

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The cordon includes boats along the river. Stories in recent days have downplayed an operation against the enemy within the city, even thpough more US troops have been brought in from Quwait to the area. In places like Tal Afar and Fallujah, the US signaled its intentions in order to get the civilians out before bringing in combat forces. Ramadi appears to be getting a mixed message.

This BBC report has more.

In Ramadi, US commanders described the operation to put a stranglehold on insurgent movements as part of "ongoing" operations, and said no extra troops had been deployed to the area.

"We are focusing on multiple sites used by the insurgents to plan and conduct terrorist attacks and store weapons," Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Salas told Reuters news agency.

"We have also set up additional checkpoints to restrict the flow of insurgents, but citizens will still be able to enter and leave the city."

He added: "This is just one part of a long-term plan to restore stability to Ramadi."

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This appears to be just increasing the force to space ratio in a way that will cut on enemy movement without doing a house to house clearing operation. The statement concerning the number of troops is probably intended to reflect a time period beginning with the latest operation since more troops have been brought to the area in the last month.