Marines prop up ailing local gov’t in Iraq
Peering over piles of sandbags, U.S. Marines sometimes see more gunmen on the streets than municipal employees coming to work. The provincial governor regularly arrives at his office — with armed guards in tow. But young Marines notice few others on his staff trail behind. After three years of war in Ramadi, the U.S. military has yet to move from combat to stabilization operations in most of this city of 400,000 people and capital of Sunni-dominated Anbar province. Here full-fledged combat still rages. Efforts to build a local government have faltered. Full Story