Triangle of death becomes one for enemy

LA Times:

U.S. troops had nicknamed the suspected insurgent "George Clooney" because of his handsome mug, but he wasn't so pretty after members of his own Sunni tribe shot and wounded him, then turned him over to the Americans.

U.S. forces say the tribe's act was an example of the payoffs from practicing the counterinsurgency techniques preached by Gen. David H. Petraeus as he enforces President Bush's troop "surge." But unlike the 28,500 newly arrived troops, soldiers here have been at it for nearly a year.

Their experience in trying to tame this palm-fringed enclave south of Baghdad, within the area sometimes called the "triangle of death," serves as a sobering reminder of how long it can take to remake a region steeped in violence, be it bucolic farmland or a chaotic city like Baghdad.

They have seen victories, but they also have suffered horrific losses. And most say that the improvement in security did not begin until May, when the disappearance of three U.S. soldiers prompted a virtual lockdown of the area.

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The troops say the approach has worked. Roads once booby-trapped with bombs are mostly quiet, and locals armed with clubs patrol some stretches to chase off outsiders. Soldiers on overnight guard duty at lonely battle positions might spend an entire shift behind their .50-caliber machine guns without hearing a shot. Locals line up for free checkups and medicine when U.S. forces bring mobile medical units to their villages.

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In the days following the May ambush, U.S. troops from across Iraq flooded the area and rounded up virtually every man and teenage boy for questioning. Most were released as locals pointed troops toward weapons caches and suspected insurgents. Although the added search troops were temporary, they enabled Infanti to position his soldiers in areas previously out of reach and to establish a 24/7 presence. That has made locals feel safe enough to keep providing intelligence, soldiers say.

"Let's face it, 95% of the people in Qaraghul are not terrorists," Capt. Shane Finn said. "Really, what it comes down to is people here are sick and tired of living in terror."

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"We're getting so much more human intelligence this year," Littrell said. "The pace really perked up after the DUSTWUN," he said, using the terminology for missing personnel — Duty Status: Whereabouts Unknown — to refer to the May 12 ambush.

Soldiers say locals approach them with information and sometimes turn down the financial rewards, from about $30 to as much as $200, that are offered when tips pan out. At the locals' request, soldiers destroyed bridges that crossed the Caveman Canal, a major irrigation source, to cut off suspected insurgent routes. In their place, U.S. forces built a new bridge that will be the sole crossing point. A checkpoint will be erected there.

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This does not sound like a sectarian civil war. It demonstrates that the concept behind the surge, providing security tot he people, is paying off with more intelligence info and tips about the enemy as well as some self help on the part of the locals as demonstrated by the lead. Those who oppose the surge and want to move US troops back to forward operating bases need to look at what has happened in the triangle of death and reevaluate their flawed strategy. That means most of the Senate Democrats who supported the Levin plan.