Anbar, US military, State Department leaders break Ramadan fast together

Written by Staff Sgt. Nancy Lugo, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Wednesday, August 24, 2011

RAMADI, Iraq - Provincial Council members and local leaders of the Anbar province, along with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, took part in an Iftar dinner, Aug. 8, in the province, hosted by the Anbar Provincial Reconstruction Team. An Iftar dinner is the breaking of the day’s fast during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which lasts through the end of August.

Trays of traditional Iraqi food and drink were brought out by Iraqi soldiers, filling a long table set up the length of the room in the provincial government’s meeting room, known as the Diwan. Dates where brought out first to break the fast as U.S. paratroopers, the PRT, council members and local leaders all ate together at the table, celebrating the last official act of the PRT and continued progress and improvements in the province.

Members of the 2/82 have been partnering with local leaders and Iraqi security forces since arriving in Anbar province in support of Operation New Dawn.

Events like this wouldn’t have happened five years ago at the height of the insurgency, said Col. Tim McAteer, 2/82 commander. The efforts by the people of the Anbar province, with the support of U.S. forces, have made events such as these possible.

The PRT leaving the province marks one more step in the changing nature of the U.S. commitment to Iraq. This transition will also see U.S. military forces moving out of Iraq in accordance with the current Iraqi security agreement.

“It was a good night of fellowship,” McAteer said.

(c) USF-I