Iraq: The Small-Town War

The American officers believe that within weeks they can kill or disperse insurgents in the valley, strangling the flow of fighters and weapons into Baqubah and Muqdadiyah. The retaking of those two towns may require much more time. Siegrist says clearing operations in Baqubah could take months and require another influx of U.S. forces, and Sutherland, the commanding officer in the province, says he's mulling over making a request for more soldiers.

But with the military already scrambling to send reinforcements to Baghdad, it's unlikely that the U.S. will ever have the forces it needs to fully pacify places like Diyala. Even if U.S. troops manage to re-establish a measure of normality in the city, simply pushing out the insurgents won't solve the deep-seated disputes that have sent the province, like so much of Iraq, hurtling into civil war. A functioning local government for the valley must re-emerge, with support from Baghdad, if the area hopes to break free of the militants who hold sway in its absence. "I can kill all day long," says Sutherland. "It will do no good." Four years after it came to Iraq, the U.S. has learned that lesson the hard way.