Baquba under Al Qaeda/Sunni control
In this NBC blog post about the risks the local Iraqi stringers take.....
(The stringer is captured while filming.)
This battle for Baquba is part of a larger significant strategic effort by the Sunni insurgents. While the Shia are attempting to clear neighborhoods inside Baghdad, it seems the Sunnis are attempting to control the highways and access points to the city while conducting terror bombings to tie down the Shia in protection and defense. (Longer description here.)
Balad is another example of this Sunni strategy, and there are no pictures coming out of there right now either.
Currently, the US marines in Anbar are fighting from the outside to retake Ramadi from the Sunni insurgency. Sunni insurgents are walking openly in the streets and there is no Iraqi force presence. It is rumored that Haditha has similarly fallen.
The Sunnis are consolidating in Anbar and working a very distinct strategy. I don't see how adding 10,000 - 15,000 troops outside of Baghdad will yield much result with the current tactics. The areas involved are just too big.
That line that the country is peaceful outside Baghdad is a lie.
The stringer reports that large parts of the city of Baqouba have “fallen” under the control of al-Qaida-inspired Sunni militants. They attack American troops, Iraqi security forces and force Shiites from their homes. Many parents have stopped sending their children to school. Few state institutions function. The city is paralyzed.....
(The stringer is captured while filming.)
“There are no more journalists working in Baqouba,” he told me.
For three months, or so, up through mid-November, about 40% of the pictures I put up from Iraq were from Baquoba. It was the main sectarian conflict point outside of Baghdad, and now there are no more pictures. The Sunnis have won.
This battle for Baquba is part of a larger significant strategic effort by the Sunni insurgents. While the Shia are attempting to clear neighborhoods inside Baghdad, it seems the Sunnis are attempting to control the highways and access points to the city while conducting terror bombings to tie down the Shia in protection and defense. (Longer description here.)
Balad is another example of this Sunni strategy, and there are no pictures coming out of there right now either.
Currently, the US marines in Anbar are fighting from the outside to retake Ramadi from the Sunni insurgency. Sunni insurgents are walking openly in the streets and there is no Iraqi force presence. It is rumored that Haditha has similarly fallen.
The Sunnis are consolidating in Anbar and working a very distinct strategy. I don't see how adding 10,000 - 15,000 troops outside of Baghdad will yield much result with the current tactics. The areas involved are just too big.
That line that the country is peaceful outside Baghdad is a lie.
posted by mikevotes at
3:20 PM
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