DIYALA PROVINCE, Iraq, Feb. 23, 2007
North Of Baghdad, War Getting Worse
More Attacks, Less Troops In Diyala Province As Military Focuses On Baghdad Crackdown
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An American soldier backs up Iraqi forces as they move into the village of Buritz, in Iraq's volatile Diyala province in search of gunmen and weapons, Feb. 20, 2007. (CBS/Cami McCormick)
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A U.S. and an Iraqi soldier watch for a sniper in the Buritz village, in Baqouba, Diyala province, Iraq, Feb. 18, 2007. (CBS/Cami McCormick)
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Photo Essay Battle For Buritz In the dangerous Diyala Province, U.S. troops train Iraqi soldiers to become more self-reliant
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Dozens of Iraqi humvees, backed by U.S. soldiers and Bradley fighting vehicles, streamed into the village of Buritz, in the second attempt in a week to flush out enemy fighters. The dusty streets were otherwise empty; the residents holed up in their homes.
The Iraqi soldiers went door-to-door, kicking their way in and questioning those inside. A few streets away, other Iraqi soldiers were fighting gun battles. Snipers opened fire on them several times.
The Iraqi soldiers surrounded the house of a suspected bomb-maker. At first hesitant to go inside for fear it was booby-trapped, they eventually stormed in and seized items used to build makeshift weapons. They blew up a car outside the house that they suspected would be used in a vehicle-borne attack.
Buritz is part of Baqouba, an ethnically mixed city 35 miles north of Baghdad. It's one of several villages U.S. and Iraqi troops are in the process of clearing. American commanders believe securing these communities is crucial to the goal of handing over control of the Diyala province to Iraqi security forces in the coming months.
But the operations have grown deadlier, complicated by what may be an influx of Sunni and Shiite fighters flushed out of Baghdad by the stepped-up security operations there.
One U.S. battalion has lost 17 men here since October, accounting for more casualties in four months than an entire U.S. brigade lost the year before.
"It's a very complex environment," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jay George, deputy commander, 3rd Brigade. And there are fewer U.S. troops here to operate in it — last year two American brigades were in the area, now there is one.See Cami McCormick's Report In Pictures
Listen To Cami's Report
"It's definitely not a friendly area to either Iraqi Security Forces or Coalition forces," said Army First Lt. Ryan Boeka, leading a foot patrol through Buritz earlier in the week. "A lot of people from the Baath party are in here, and there are some other groups that push in from other areas."
Boeka and the other soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, (which has lost five men since December), have been living with the Iraqis at the Buritz Police Station, which was recently over-run by insurgents and later re-taken by U.S. forces. Half of the building is collapsed from a U.S. missile strike during that effort.
This week, an Iraqi police checkpoint nearby also came under attack, and the police fled. When U.S. forces moved in and secured the area the Iraqis returned, only to flee again when more gunfire was aimed their way.
Iraqi checkpoints have been hit so many times by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, and the roads leading to them lined with IEDs to target Americans coming to their assistance that the U.S. military decided to dismantle many of them.
"They were getting attacked over and over again," said George. "It was just a point of reference for the enemy to go to, so what we decided to do was break down the checkpoints and go on the offensive."
The U.S. has set up a training academy near Baqouba, and Iraqi soldiers and police recently practiced defending a building from attack. But when George visits Iraqi commanders he urges them to "attack, attack" and then repeats the word in Arabic to drive home his message about the need to go after the enemy, rather than waiting for it to come to them.
That is part of what the Buritz operation was all about. The new Iraqi police and Army units are hesitant to leave their bases without U.S. support. But the Americans are insisting they take the lead in operations. U.S. soldiers often stand in the rear, advising the Iraqis on how to treat suspects they detain and how to search houses for weapons.
The Iraqis appear to have more confidence with the Americans behind them, but they are no safer from the IED threat. An Iraqi humvee was ripped apart by one during the most recent clearing operation. Two Iraqi soldiers inside were killed and three others walking behind the vehicle were seriously wounded. At the end of the operation, the Iraqis pulled the damaged humvee — nothing more than a smoking axle — from a canal and towed it away.
Roadside bombs are a major threat in this part of Diyala. Twenty were discovered during one recent weekend.
One U.S. patrol this week spotted men laying out bombs along a roadway the Americans use often. The men left mortars, an artillery shell, and a canister filled with explosives to form a "daisy chain", or a chain reaction of explosions.
It was a coordinated attack. They fired first on a nearby Iraqi checkpoint to distract the Iraqi police and stop civilian traffic from coming through. There were also men blocking the road from the other direction. When the U.S. soldiers spotted the suspects they called in U.S. military helicopters to give chase.
"God, I hope they get them," one of the U.S. soldiers said as he watched the helicopters trail the men.
The suspects vanished into the date palm groves lining the road.
Cami McCormick © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 153 CommentsSign this Appeal.
This site is an Appeal For Redress in support of our mission in Iraq.
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They gave the script to their famous broadcaster, "Tokyo Rose," and every day she would broadcast this same message packaged in various ways, hoping to have an impact on American GI morale. What was the message?
It had three main points:
1. Your president is lying to you.
2. This war is illegal.
3. You cannot win the war.
Sound familiar? the Democratic Party has picked up the same message and is broadcasting it to civilians domestic and abroad, and to our troops and our enemies. The only difference is that they claim to support our troops before they demoralize them.
Come to think of it, Tokyo Rose used to tell the troops that she was on their side.
I am often struck by how similar the rhetoric from the left is to the rhetoric from our enemies. Consider this transcript of a taped al qaeda message
Cami McCormick, please improve your reporting.
Please Sister Riverbend, Who lied to us?
The war on terror will not be won through military destruction, but it is certain to be lost if we continue to destroy our reputation in the world as we are now. Any step forward we take with an act of kindness, we give two back to the terrorists with every violent act we justify in the name of war. The terrorists%u2019 greatest victory in Iraq will not be our withdrawal; it was our invasion and continues with our half-baked occupation. The greater ideology will win the war on terror, not the greater body count.
Posted by Meritocrat at 04:15 AM : Feb 24, 2007
So good it deserves a repost.
http://www.aipac.org/forms/
join_aipacClubs.htm
The Elite Minyan group - you mean for a minimum of only $100,000 dollars a year I too can shape world policy? Tell me more!
For years no one would say anything against promoting the Israeli agenda for fear of being labeled an anti-Semitist but now America is learning it is also acceptable to disagree with Israeli promoters like AIPAC members who would gladly sell thousands of American soldier%u2019s lives to promote Israeli interest!Who cares if a country doesn%u2019t recognize Israel%u2019s right to exist? For years America did not recognize Peoples Republic of China%u2019s right to exist either!Get a grip do not be pulled into this NEOCON war talk!DON%u2019T BE A PUNK! GET SOME BALLS; BORROW SOME IF YOU NEED TO! DON%u2019T TALK A GOOD FIGHT GET IN THE FIGHT! Email your senators and representatives and tell them your views! http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_in
formation/senators_cfm.cfm or http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
The war on terror will not be won through military destruction, but it is certain to be lost if we continue to destroy our reputation in the world as we are now. Any step forward we take with an act of kindness, we give two back to the terrorists with every violent act we justify in the name of war. The terrorists%u2019 greatest victory in Iraq will not be our withdrawal; it was our invasion and continues with our half-baked occupation. The greater ideology will win the war on terror, not the greater body count.
A selected Council of equal number of Sunnis/Shiites/Kurds and other minority groups shall run the country....likewise the Police/Army forces must have EQUAL quotas from both Shiites/ Shiites & Kurds. I believe such a practical Plan would work...and bring UNITY and PEACE to the new Iraq. To continue with so-called DEMOCRACY wil bring only destruction .
I told you to stop milking that bull and I mean it.
Posted by j-whitman
Yes they are high risk and you have to be extremely careful with them. Like some women that I know.
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