By Lennox Samuels

As the U.S. presidential aspirants traded criticisms over the war in Iraq this week, some Americans may have been bemused by the insertion of "Anbar" into the discussion. Republican Sen. John McCain used the Iraqi province to show how off-base he thinks Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama was in his initial opposition to last year's surge, which saw the infusion of 30,000 additional U.S. troops into the war. McCain pointed out that Anbar, once among the deadliest places in Iraq, was greatly improved, with Al Qaeda in Iraq mostly driven from the sprawling western governorate.

The GOP senator was generally right, although Anbar at that moment was not exactly a poster province for tranquility. The day before he spoke, Iraqi authorities declared a security alert and imposed a curfew in Fallujah, a major provincial city and site of some of the war's heaviest fighting just months ago. Fallujah police chief Abdul-Kareem al-Dulaimi says the measure was taken because of recent incidents in the city, including a suicide bombing that killed 15 people and injured at least 17 at a tribal gathering. That attack followed months of calm in Anbar. "We also aimed at limiting the movements of the armed groups on the outskirts of Fallujah who plan to give support to other armed groups inside," he adds.

Anbar has been trumpeted since tribal Sunni militias turned against Al Qaeda in 2006 and appeared to have helped neutralize the terrorist network. But political rifts among the remaining Sunnis appear to be growing more disruptive. The tribal forces are in a bitter power struggle with the establishment Sunni leaders who were elected to key posts back when most Sunnis still boycotted the vote. Recently, the two factions have been feuding over who should be the provincial police chief. U.S. troops had planned to officially turn over security leadership in the mostly Sunni province to Iraqi troops in a ceremony on June 27, but canceled, with the military saying dust storms were going to interfere with travel to the event.

But since then, several Anbar figures have disputed whether the handover, which has occurred in 10 out of 18 provinces so far, should go forward just yet. Tribal leader Ali Hatem al-Suleiman told NEWSWEEK earlier this month that local forces were not strong enough or sufficiently organized to do the job. Though the weather cleared weeks ago, the handover still has not occurred.

As the surge ended this week, leaving 150,000 Americans troops still in Iraq, much of the country has been quiet. U.S. military officials say that nationwide, attacks are at their lowest level since March 2004, declining 80 percent since the surge began in June 2007. In Baghdad, attacks have returned to February 2008 levels after a spike in the intervening months, says Major Gen. Michael D. Jones, of the Directorate of Interior Affairs, which advises the Ministry of Interior. "They're currently at levels that I didn't dream we'd be at here in Baghdad," he says. He did not have specific numbers.

Current Anbar police chief Gen. Tariq Yousif, who is backed by tribal leaders, says the province is in much better shape now, with the Baghdad-Damascus and Baghdad-Amman highways (highly dangerous arteries a few months ago) safe, and open 24 hours. He insists the handover was postponed because of bad weather and adds, "I think we will do it this month, for we are completely ready to deal with the security in a good way by ourselves, without any help from the Americans, except consultations."

The Fallujah curfew was lifted after less than 24 hours. "[Al] Qaeda now has nothing to do but suicide operations and cannot face the Iraqi police," says Yousif. But with at least 30 people killed in the city in recent weeks and signs of restiveness appearing in other parts of the province, "Anbar" may still be more of a cautionary tale for the U.S. military than a success story to be cited in America's presidential campaign.

With Omar al-Mansoury in Fallujah