Mission Unfinished

ENLARGE PHOTO+

U.S. soldiers at Combat Outpost Rabiya in western Mosul take a break while waiting for the "decisive battle" promised by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki

Yuri Kozyrev / NOOR for TIME

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In the end, the Americans decided simply to seize the municipal yard in one forceful move. About 150 soldiers suddenly appeared at the intersection on Jan. 19 in various armored vehicles. They blocked off the roads, threw up barriers, hauled out rubble and trash and set up two tents, one for themselves and one for the Iraqi army troopers. Within days, the compound was crackling with radio chatter and churning with humvees, Bradley fighting vehicles and tanks. Now U.S. soldiers usually spend two or three days at Rabiya before getting a short break back at the main U.S. camp, Forward Operating Base Marez, where they can eat a hot meal, take a shower and use a flushable toilet. But that base, too, periodically comes under mortar attack.

The U.S. military's strategy in Mosul today differs from that of the early years of the war in one significant respect: this time, Petraeus is pushing the Iraqi security forces to do much of the heavy lifting. Iraqi army forces that were pulled from Mosul to help secure Baghdad as part of Petraeus' surge are returning, and U.S. forces are also upping their efforts in the city: six combat outposts similar to Rabiya have gone up since December just on Mosul's west side, where insurgents have their strongest presence. Iraqi officials have claimed that the coming clash in Mosul will break the back of the insurgency. After a string of bombing attacks on the city, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Jan. 25 vowed a "decisive battle" against insurgents in Mosul.

But a month later, the rhetoric has not been matched with action. Iraqi army troops, which number about 9,000, struggle to keep pace with the roughly 1,400 U.S. soldiers operating in Mosul. Even less able is the local police force, which has about the same number of men as the Iraqi army. Police ineptitude contributed to the undoing of U.S. successes in 2004, and there's little sign now that the police are ready to take the streets from the insurgents.

As in much of Iraq, the Americans remain the only credible guarantors of security. On a recent afternoon, Norris visited a police station near Rabiya to talk about plans for a checkpoint the Americans want to build and have the Iraqis control. The motor pool in front of the station house is full of battered Chevy pickups. Inside, the officer with whom Norris previously discussed the checkpoint is absent. An officer Norris doesn't know is there, in an office watching A Fish Called Wanda with the radio operator. Norris introduces himself and explains his idea for the new checkpoint, again. The officer on duty knows nothing about it and urges Norris to come back when the officer he dealt with before has returned. Nearly five years since Mosul's first liberation, some things haven't changed at all.