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So, why is Ramadi such a key battleground in the fight against ISIS?
Well, it's hugely significant,both to the United States as well as to the Iraqi government.
First of all, Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province, which is the largest province in Iraq, but not necessarily the most densely populated one.
And the government of Haider al Abadi, the prime minister, declared that Anbar was going to be the next place it would try to back from ISIS.
So, losing the capital Anbar was certainly a big blow to the Iraqi government.
Also, now that ISIS holds this city, they now have three provincial capitals in Iraq and in Syria.
And we also have to keep in mind that Ramadi has a population of about 500,000 and many of those people are either on the run or under the control of the extremists.
However, Ramadi also has major importance to the U.S. and especially to many U.S. service members who fought in Iraq.
In the years between 2004 and 2006, it was one of the worst battlegrounds for U.S. forces in all of Iraq.
Thousands of United States Marines as well as soldiers fought there, trying to hold the town and take it back from Sunni insurgents.
And many of those insurgents came from a precursor organization of ISIS which was called al Qaeda in Iraq.
And it was really after very tough battles with a lot of casualties that the U.S. managed to win.
And Ramadi also became a turning point in the war in Iraq when the U.S. employed a new strategy,which was called the Sons of Iraq or the Sunni Awakening program,where they actually started to talk to a lot of the Sunni tribes that were allied against them and made them join forces with the U.S.,as well as with the Iraqi government,to turn on the insurgents and therefore win back Anbar province from al Qaeda in Iraq.
So, certainly, there will be a lot of U.S. veterans out there looking at what's happening in Ramadi right now with great anger.
In order on today's roll:the Natural State,the Beehive State and the Sunshine State.
