Diyala troops pause to re-evaluate strategy

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Diyala troops pause to re-evaluate strategy
By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, March 31, 2008

FORWARD OPERATING BASE CALDWELL, Iraq — Commanders of the undermanned cavalry squadron that patrols this vast swath of Diyala province say close partnerships with Iraqi security forces and a careful choice of where and where not to focus their operations have allowed them to put a significant dent in Sunni insurgent groups here.

But renewed fighting between Shiite militias and U.S. and Iraqi troops elsewhere in the country has forced a re-evaluation of both parts of that formula last week, leading to a pause in some operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq.

An Iraqi army quick-reaction unit that has been key to operations here in recent months is being pulled out of the area as other Iraqi units face tough fighting in Baghdad and Basra, American advisers to the unit say. Though its stay here was always temporary, its departure leaves a void that cannot easily be filled, and some officers worry about the extent to which other Iraqi security forces here have absorbed former members of the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia at the center of fighting further south.

Meanwhile, American commanders have been forced to turn new attention to Shiite areas that have seen few problems under the Mahdi Army’s monthslong ceasefire.

“We’re not going to put up with any type of civil disturbance,” said Lt. Col. Paul Calvert, 2nd Squadron’s commander. “All that does is distract us from our focus on AQI.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53719