In Baqubah, 'Focus Is Aimed, Controlled Shooting'

BAQUBAH, Iraq, Feb. 18 -- Helicopters hovered over the American military base here Sunday night, and the crackling of automatic gunfire echoed as U.S. forces attacked insurgents they believed were trying to plant an improvised explosive device, or IED, just outside the camp.

Detecting IEDs is a never-ending task for American and Iraqi military forces here, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, a place that has become one of the most lethal in Iraq for U.S. troops. In the past two weeks, nine members of the U.S. Army battalion responsible for this city of 300,000 have been killed, most as a result of IED attacks.

U.S. military officials reported Sunday night that in operations in the past 72 hours, troops had found 32 IEDs in some of the city's most troubled areas. They also recovered 16 rocket-propelled grenades, along with antitank mines, AK-47 assault rifles, IED components and other weaponry used by insurgents.

Violence is on the rise in Baqubah, U.S. military officials acknowledge, even as they maintain that it is waning in other parts of oil-rich Diyala province. In recent weeks, they say, insurgents have stepped up attacks against civilians and staged spectacular strikes against the Iraqi police and army.

Although the U.S. military has the might to eliminate the insurgents, officials say, keeping Baqubah secure for the long term requires building up the police and army and boosting confidence in the government.

The task is difficult, they add, in a city where former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, Shiites looking to cement their political control, Iranians seeking an Iraqi foothold, Kurds attempting to expand southward and insurgent groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq struggle for dominance. The provincial council has not met in six months, and there are few local media the government can use to communicate with the people.

"Sometimes, fast is slow and slow is fast. I could reach through this city and clean it out, but I have to do it right," said Col. David W. Sutherland, 45, the brigade commander responsible for all of Diyala, a province the size of Maryland, with 1.6 million residents.

Because of the tribal complexities here -- Diyala is home to 19 tribes and 100 subtribes -- "trying to find one individual leader who will say, 'We will not allow terrorists on our land. We will not allow IEDs to be placed on our land. We will not give support' is difficult, because you can't find just one leader in Diyala," Sutherland said. "If you're asking what I need, I need the provincial council to come to work an d show backbone, and I need local media. . . . I don't need more forces."

A major part of the U.S. effort involves trying to build the Iraqi army and police into competent, professional forces. In the latest milestone Sunday, a combined class of American soldiers and Iraqi troops and police officers graduated from a week-long U.S. Army training course on military values, marksmanship, tactics and leadership.

Under a bright sun at a smaller military base in Baqubah, the troops and police officers demonstrated a live fire exercise for an audience of reporters and other Iraqi and American troops. The event culminated in a display of firepower -- mortars, grenade launchers, automatic rifles -- targeting an empty field next to the camp.

"The focus is aimed, controlled shooting," said Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Felt, 50, the creator of the course, in which 10 U.S. Army soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division and 32 Iraqis participated.

Afterward, the U.S. soldiers stood in a formation alongside the Iraqis -- army troops wearing "chocolate chip"-pattern camouflage fatigues and police officers in several types of blue uniforms.