PrintMarch 22, 2008
Remember the Liberators
This week the nation marked the fifth anniversary of our presence in Iraq. It is past time to remember the liberators. Now at the end of their third tour they are preparing to leave: the 1st "Raider" Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division deployed to Al Anbar province 15 months ago as an element of the "surge" force. Its commander, Col. John W. Charlton, is responsible not only for his Army units, but also for Navy, Marine and Air Force personnel operating with them. His area of operations -- AO Topeka -- covers 8,900 sq. miles. From the outset his focus was Ramadi, the Al Qaeda capital of western Iraq. He described the situation confronting him in a March 13 press briefing: "Ramadi's infrastructure was completely destroyed due to the heavy fighting. Entire city blocks were nothing more than collapsed buildings, piles of rubble..." In a Sept. 24, 2007 interview with journalist Michael J. Totten, Col. Charlton and one of his officers,...(Read Full Article)
