U.S. starts breakdown of outposts in Ramadi

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Marines with Company C, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, take down concertina wire as part of the process of "demilitarizing" Joint Security Station Steel in Ramadi.


U.S. starts breakdown of outposts in Ramadi
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, March 27, 2008

Marines in Ramadi have begun dismantling some of the combat outposts credited with helping calm what was once among the most violent cities in Iraq.

According to Marine Corps officials in Anbar province, the “demilitarization” process is another sign of the calm that has enveloped the city over the past year and a half. Ramadi had been the heart of the Sunni insurgency, with militants mounting attacks on U.S. and Iraqi targets daily.

Now, taking down the combat outposts is hoped to have a positive economic impact.

“The people will have more freedom of movement and civil-military operations projects will allow people to return their businesses to the surrounding neighborhoods,” 1st Lt. Matthew Johnson, a company executive officer with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, was quoted as saying in a news release.

The first outpost to be “demilitarized” was Joint Security Station Steel, officials said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53624