Hunt for the Bomb Factories

The car bombs that go off in Baghdad are manufactured in the relative quiet of an arc of Sunni tribal lands around the capital. That is the true heartland of the resistance, where it draws on massive weapons depots secreted in river valleys and deserts. The nationalist fighters who control the area supply Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi's networks with the ammo they use for their deadly operations, according to U.S. military intelligence. Even as more attacks took place last week in the run-up to the election--including mortar rounds on the U.S. embassy that killed two Americans--the Iraqi government announced the capture of several key al-Zarqawi lieutenants, including an alleged "bomber-in-chief." U.S.-led forces arrested other significant insurgent leaders, the result of a monthlong sweep beyond Iraq's big cities. On a recent mission, TIME Baghdad bureau chief MICHAEL WARE saw the strategy at work:

Backed by Bradley fighting vehicles, the American soldiers of Coldsteel Company swarm into a clutch of farmhouses as a platoon of Estonian infantry closes from the rear. The Americans are part of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment's operation to seal off a stretch of villages hugging the Euphrates in the Jafr Sakhr region, about 60 miles southwest of Baghdad. "Go round 'em up," a U.S. officer hollers, and male villagers of military age--one with his crying 3-year-old clinging to his neck--are sifted out. A humvee approaches and stops in front of the lined-up Iraqis. From within, a passenger, face masked, raises or lowers a thumb as each man is singled out. It isn't clear who the masked man is, perhaps an intelligence source or an informer. Those given the thumbs-up are seated. Others, who get the thumbs-down, are separated and detained. In the meantime, the village mosque is secured. Its imam and congregation are known to be hostile to U.S. forces.

The raid's focus shifts to a building marked as House 69 on the soldiers' maps. The night before, a source, possibly a cell member who turned during questioning, gave up the names and locations of six suspected cell members. Among them are two brothers thought to be central players in nationalist attacks on U.S. soldiers. Also on the list is the leader of their Islamic Army outfit, a man known as Abu Ayesha. The brothers are found in their family compound in a nearby village. Abu Ayesha is a different story. One of the homes near House 69 is said to be his. But although spotters have been positioned to catch anyone running from the battalion's advance, Abu Ayesha is not to be found. "Everybody gave us a different story on which house was his, so they were well versed in not giving a straight story," an intelligence officer concludes.