What was the US involvement in Iraq about, again?

Islamist militants strengthen grip on Iraq’s Falluja

reuters.com

“In an embarrassing setback for a state that has around a million men under arms, the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its tribal allies overran Falluja and parts of the nearby city Ramadi on January 1.

“Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, seeking a third term in a parliamentary election in April, deployed troops and tanks around the city of 300,000 and funneled weapons to anti-Qaeda tribesmen, but has ruled out a full-scale military assault.

(snip)

“Ramadi, the provincial capital of the vast western province of Anbar, is mostly back under state control, but Maliki’s calls on local tribesmen to evict the militants from Falluja, just 50 km (31 miles) west of Baghdad, have so far come to nought.”

(I found that variant spelling of “naught”, as well as its usage, a bit odd until I realized that the reporter’s first language may not be English.)