No troop cuts for Anbar province

NY Times:

American troop levels in western Iraq, one of the most dangerous parts of the country, are not expected to decline as part of a plan to make sharp reductions in American forces in Iraq by the end of 2007, a top general said today.

"I see no reductions in American forces in Al Anbar into next year, at least through next summer, because of the restiveness there," said Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, who oversees marines in the Middle East and Central Asia.

"Al Anbar is going to be one of the last provinces to be stabilized," General Sattler said in a telephone interview from western Iraq, where he is visiting marines as well as American and Iraqi commanders.

Currently, about 28,000 of the 127,000 American forces in Iraq are in Anbar province under Marine Corps control. Securing the Sunni Arab-dominated region, as well as building new political institutions and an economy has lagged behind other parts of the country, and American officials are very reluctant to cut American troops there now. The forces in the west include 19,000 marines and 7,000 Army soldiers.

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This is not surprising nor is it particularly news worthy. Where there is still resistance, you will have more force to space than were there is minimal resistance. Until the enemy that remains in Anbar realizes he is completely defeated he will continue to suffer the consequences. The population of Anbar deserves nothing less, nor should it be permitted to become a sanctuary from which to attack other areas in the country. That the NY Times thought this was page one news tells you something about how little the editors comprehend about warfare and particularly warfare against an insurgency.