Face of battle in Ramadi

Antonio Castaneda, AP:

The hole in the ceiling is just a way to let out steam for the soldiers showering inside a damaged trailer in Ramadi, one of Iraq's most dangerous cities.

But each knows how that hole was created. A mortar round came through the trailer roof a few weeks ago and could have killed everyone inside had it detonated. Most mortars are not so benign, and there are many here.

The Iraq war for most troops is fleeting; brief ambushes or sudden, powerful roadside bombings. But in this troubled city, the capital of deadly Anbar province, the conflict is nearly constant. Gunbattles in the streets are common and mortars rain down on the bases every week.

On the eastern edge of town at Camp Corregidor, a base named after a famous World War II battle in the Philippines, U.S. soldiers regularly hunker down during "indirect fire" attacks or what they generally call "incoming" _ military vernacular for inbound rockets or mortars.

The attacks happen at least three times a week, soldiers say, and usually end with explosions that miss their target. Sometimes the mortars hit nearby neighborhoods, maiming and killing civilians.

But the insurgents also have taken a toll on U.S. troops. This week a soldier at an outpost a few blocks from Camp Corregidor was killed by a mortar. Several soldiers have been wounded by shrapnel.

Many soldiers say they have adjusted to this life under regular fire. They say the attacks rarely injure soldiers or hamper operations, although they have many tales of near-misses.

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There is more. Castaneda is AP's best reporter in Iraq. He is almost always out witht he troops and has a flare for writing about the life of the troops. Ramadi continues to be a mess because of a decsion by the US forces to let the IRaqis take care of clearing the enemy out of the city and the Iraqis are not in a position to do so. As a result the enemy makes occassional failed attacks on US and Iraqi forces which sometimes result in counter attacks. The US will occassionally raid enemy areas and capture some of the enemy, but there has been no clearing operation like the one at Fallujah or Tal Afar. The US has recently put a cordon around the city to make it more difficult for the enemy to come and go, but it has not made a serious attempt to clear the infestation.