U.S. and Iraqi Forces Push Into Ramadi

U.S. Army Spc. Saul Rosa, of Hinesville, Georgia, sits guard at a house in Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 19, 2006. Hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi troops pushed into an eastern section of Ramadi, one of Iraq's most violent cities, the latest step in a campaign to gradually bolster their presence in city neighborhoods that for months have largely been under insurgent control. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg) (Jacob Silberberg - AP)

No doubt Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would prefer to avoid large-scale combat in Ramadi as he tries to bring together Iraq's often warring ethnic and sectarian communities.

He says he will in coming days present a national reconciliation plan, under which his government already has begun releasing 2,500 prisoners, most of them Sunni Arabs from places like Ramadi.

City residents had feared a Fallujah-style offensive on the city, but joint U.S.-Iraqi operations over the past two days have focused on limited residential areas bordering on the city's southern and eastern perimeters.

According to the United Nations' IRIN news agency, nearly 1,500 families _ or about 10,000 people _ fled Ramadi. There was no way to independently determine which number was more accurate.

U.S. soldiers reported that streets from the city center to the eastern edge were devoid of traffic. U.S. soldiers searching through homes found several to be deserted.

"A large majority of the houses we entered today were vacant. Some people have taken their belongings and moved to the more rural areas around Ramadi, having expected a large coalition operation," said Capt. Joe Claburn, 29, of the 1st Battalion, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

Lt. Col. Ronald Clark called the Mulaab neighborhood targeted in the latest push "one of the most dangerous areas in all of Iraq." Clark said the new outpost would degrade the insurgency's capabilities _ and its image _ among local residents.

"When you plant a flag on the enemy's favorite playground, that sends a very strong signal to the Iraqi people and to the enemy," said Clark, commander of the 1st battalion.