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The stunning security improvements in Al Anbar province during 2007 fundamentally changed the military and political landscape of Iraq. Many, both in and outside the military (and as late as November 2006), had assessed the situation in Anbar as a lost cause. The "Anbar Awakening" of Sunni tribal leaders and their supporters that began in September 2006 near Ramadi seemed to come out of nowhere. But the change that led to the defeat of Al-Qaeda in Ramadi-what some have called the "Gettysburg of Iraq"--was not a random event. (1) It was the result of a concerted plan executed by U.S. forces in Ramadi. Tactical victory became a strategic turning point ...