Show I US U.S. Turns War on Insurgents j in B Baghdad gh a Thomas E. E Ricks The Washington Post Here in a ruined half-ruined house bristling with dull black machine guns and surrounded by green sandbags sandbags sandbags sand sand- bags shin-deep shin and shad shadowy palm groves lies the leading edge of the US U.S. war in Iraq This remote outpost manned by Bravo Company of a unit in the st Airborne Division is the forward- forward most American position in the so- so called Triangle of Death southwest of Baghdad Some US U.S. commanders say the region is now the focal point in their campaign against Iraq's stubborn stubborn stub- stub born bom insurgency Its It's a tough fight Just getting US U.S. troops established here in the laced canal-laced fields of the Euphrates River Valley meant running running running run run- ning a gantlet of roadside bombs with one platoon encountering 14 ina in ina ina a three-hour three stretch Interviews with US U.S. soldiers from top generals to line front-line grunts in Tall Afar Balad and throughout Baghdad as well as briefings at the US U.S. military headquarters headquarters headquarters head head- quarters for the Middle East in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar reveal a markedly different war from that seen in 2003 and 2004 or even last year Baghdad 4 I Cont on Page 9 Baghdad Cont Cant from front Current US U.S. military commanders commanders commanders com com- manders say they have come to understand that they are fighting fighting fighting fight fight- ing within a political context which means the results must first be judged politically The pace and shape of the war also have changed with US U.S. forces trying to exercise tactical patience and shift responsibilities ties to Iraqi forces even as they worry wont that the American publics public's publics public's publics public's pub pub- lic's patience may be dwin dwin- The war also has changed geographically Over the last three years it has developed a pattern of moving around the country from to Najaf to and Samarra and back to Last summer and fall it was focused in Tall Afar in the northwest and in the upper Euphrates in the remote western part of Anbar province near Syria This year the war seems to hinge on the battle for Baghdad Inside the capital that promises to be primarily apolitical a apolitical apolitical political fight over the makeup of the future government of Iraq and whether it can prevent prevent prevent pre pre- vent a civil war a threat that appeared much more likely this past week with the bombing of ofa ofa a Shiite shrine in Samarra and retaliatory attacks on Sunni mosques and clerics US U.S. officials dont don't talk much about the prospects of civil war It is unclear what role the United States would play if such a war broke out but military military military mili mili- tary strategists said American forces would be used to try to minimize violence but not to actually intervene between warring groups On Baghdad's outskirts the war remains very much a military military military mili mili- tary campaign The flat agricultural agricultural agricultural tural plain south and southwest of the capital is what I would call the most lethal area in Baghdad said Col Todd Ebel the brigade commander there This is the war of the as American troops call the cluster of hard-bitten hard towns named and that over the last two years became insurgent strongholds Not coincidentally coincidental- coincidental ly these towns between Baghdad and also are on the fault line between Sunni Iraq and Shiite Iraq and likely would be a flash point for a civil war It is a difficult way to wage war On one typical day this month there were 24 significant cant acts small-arms small attacks bombings and other noteworthy noteworthy thy events recorded in one relatively relatively relatively rel rel- rel- rel small part of Ebels Ebel's area of operations We got ambushed all over but didn't suffer any casualties said Maj Daniel Morgan operations officer in a battalion southwest of Baghdad Weve been pushing into the west into insurgent havens along the Euphrates River southeast of Fall uj ah and they dont don't like it |