Recently Col Richard Simcock called back to OnPoint in order to talk about RCT-6's work in Fallujah and we are pleased to present the interview here. Two days after the interview, however, Sheik Sattar Abu Rishi was assassinated in Ramadi, and Col Simcock was able to update the interview in view of that eventful situation:

Col Simcock is the commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team-6, operating in Fallujah. Their area of operations in known as “AO Raleigh” and includes the city of Fallujah, as well the surrounding areas to the south and west. The second largest city in Anbar Province, Fallujah is  known to the world as where the insurgents killed and hung the four Blackwater contractors from the bridge, as well as the site of two intense Marine -- Sunni battles in April and November 2004.

As Col Simcock describes, Fallujah is a far different city today:

Q -- What's new in Fallujah since we last talked?
A -- I'm pleased to say that nothing is new. It's the continuation of good news throughout my AO. We've just finished the last part of a ‘swarm', which is like a small-scale surge into a district of the city, and now the last district in town is under control of the I/P's.

Last week Gen Petraeus took Katie Couric into downtown Fallujah, and they walked down the street through the market. This wasn't a John McCain photo op, this was a no-shit walk through the market, and she was absolutely amazed at how normal it was.

No place in Fallujah is considered unsafe today.

Q --  Fallujah must be unique in this  ?
A -- Absolutely not. Shiek Sattar and the Sons of Anbar have reached out from Ramadi into the whole area. Habbiniyah is safe. You've been to Ramadi, you know it's safe. Al-Quam, Rawah…this is a far different environment than a year ago.

Q -- Problems with the Iraqi Security Forces continue to make the news, and Gen Jones called for the disbanding of the Iraq National Police. Are these problems you encounter also?
A -- No. In fact the Coalition Forces have taken a backseat to the ISF. In my AO these guys do a great job; the IP's are aggressive and very competent, the Neighborhood Watch is extremely effective. We're available to help, but let me tell you that these guys are good.

Q -- How is Fallujah governed ? Is it still run tribally ?
A -- Not at all. Mayor Saad was elected, and is supported by a 20-seat city council. There is an elected government here, with a growing city government. They're taking an active interest in making this a livable city again.

Q  - Do the locals have any pride in their country? It seems to me that they're Al-Rishi, they're Sunni, they're Anbari…and being an Iraqi is about # 9 on the list. Can we build a country if they don't care ?
A -- No, Andrew, I think that they have a great pride in being Iraqi; they have a very nationalistic fervor. We (Marines -- ISF -- IP -- IA ) are always playing the Iraqi national anthem at our events Pride in being an Iraqi is especially true in the Iraqi Army, which is predominantly Shia. I'd say that they have the interest in creating an Iraqi “state'.

Q -- What do the local citizens want -- either from their mayor or from us?
A -- They want the same things in Fallujah as we have in America; health care, education, and technology. They want good schools, markets with food and stuff to buy, along with electricity to run their computers, air conditioners, and businesses.

Fallujah, Ramadi, and the other cities in Anbar are filled with Iraq's intelligentsia -- the Sunni's were the college professors, teachers, businessmen, and senior-level military. What we do here now is simple; “selling America” is easy because they want the same things for themselves and their families that we want for ours.

So we get all sorts of congressional visitors who are looking for the “Anbar” story, and let me tell you what I tell them: we are winning, but we have not yet won.”

Follow up Questions after the tragic murder of Sheik Sattar :

Q -- How does the killing of Shiek Sattar affect the actions and interests of the Sunni Shieks in Fallujah ?

A -- It is a tragic event and the other sheiks within AO Raleigh see it as such, however, they were prepared for that because the sheiks here  understand that they are at war and casualties are suffered during combat. I think that they are saddened, I think they are upset, I think they see it as a tragic event, but the best part to take out of it is that none of them have quit, none of them have come to Coalition Forces saying, “We can't work with you anymore out of fear, out of murder and intimidation, or what has happened to Sheik Sattar.” 

The only other piece that I would add to that, and this is conjectural on my part, is that I have seen events like this is that when AQI has conducted their tactics of murder and intimidation, it has worked in our favor and against them. 

This event can have a unifying effect on the other sheiks within AO Raleigh to, in fact, do more to benefit us, the Coalition Forces, as well as themselves and work against AQI.

Q -- So the sheiks in AO Raleigh intimidated? Or are they more determined to continue his policies?

A -- No, they are not intimidated. They saw it as a very tragic event.

We offered them transportation to Sheik Sattar's funeral, and several of them accepted that offer and in fact have gone out of their way to engage with us more and to take more actions to one, track down the people that did it, two, to defend themselves against further actions, three, as I stated earlier, and event like this works against AQI.

It had the opposite effect that AQI wanted. AQI's message was “Look what happens when you work with the Americans, you wind up dead.” That is not what I am getting from the sheiks that I work with in AO Raleigh, it is just the opposite. They are saddened, but they are angry and makes them work with more energy to get to the same end state that we are trying to reach.

I see this event, if anything, had the opposite effect that AQI wanted to have.  Instead of causing a rift between us and the local sheiks, it did just the opposite. It has brought us closer together, if from nothing else but a security aspect, where we're working harder to protect them, they're working closer with us. Anytime that we are together, even if it is brought on from a security point of view, like this is, that's just the starting point. Once we are together and we are talking security, the next step is, “Okay, how can we do something else better?”  I see Sheik Sattar's death, although tragic, without a doubt, I do not see any evidence that it has caused the local sheiks to be timid, to stand down from working with the Coalition Forces, in fact I have seen, if anything an opposite effect.  They are working closer with us, communicating with us more, and I actually think that it is going to benefit us in the long run.

OnPoint thanks Col Richard Simcock for talking with us.