RAMADI, Iraq
U.S. troops are switching tactics in the fight against insurgents in parts of this rebellious city, replacing confrontation with courtesy in hopes of winning public trust and undercutting support for the militants.
It's too early to assess the change, which is largely confined to the more affluent western areas of Ramadi, a city of nearly 400,000 people that is considered the most violent in Iraq's restive Anbar province.
Still, U.S. officers think the new approach is paying off. Attacks are down enough in western Ramadi to allow Iraqi soldiers to patrol larger areas without Americans at their side.
"We've had some success in making inroads to the population there," said Army Col. Sean MacFarland, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, which oversees all U.S. military forces in the city. "We're beginning to see a turn there for the better."
Marines based in western Ramadi now regularly knock on people's front doors instead of storming through. Instead of roaming the streets in armored Humvees, Marines took a census of the area -- sitting down and listening to people's concerns and complaints.
"You'd be surprised at how many people in Ramadi are shocked when we knock and ask to come in. And in Arab culture, it makes all the difference," said 2nd Lt. Ryan Hub of Sumter, S.C., who as a teenager lived in Kuwait for two years while his Air Force officer father was stationed there.
Can anyone else find this story published in any other msm news site besides the WT??
Anyplace? Any place at all.
