The U.S. military says it has launched a major combat operation in the west of Iraq near the Syrian border after resistance fighters made significant gains in recent days and killed at least 13 soldiers in the area in the past week. The Pentagon is calling the action Operation Spear. This comes as the Guardian newspaper reports that the resistance is almost completely in control of the large western city of Ramadi. The US operation reportedly began in the predawn hours today and involves more than 1,000 marines.