Ugly in Baquba

(AP) "One of Baqouba's main thoroughfares is so packed with IEDs that the U.S. military is considering declaring it ''irrevocably mined,'' said Col. Steve Townsend, commander of the Army's 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

U.S. forces would then build their own road -- right alongside the mined one -- and guard it 24 hours a day, said Townsend, 47, from Griffin, Ga.

''We have yet to clear the roads well enough to penetrate with our vehicles,'' he said. ''We're infantry, and we're comfortable on foot anyway.''