Christian Science Monitor
[snip] On June 24, hundreds of insurgents mounted a complex ambush unlike any the US military here had seen: a particularly lethal alliance between foreign Islamic extremists loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Baqubah’s estimated 1,000-strong homegrown insurgency led by disgruntled Iraqi officers, Baathists, and Sunni tribesmen.
US commanders assert the bold attack backfired, leaving scores of insurgents dead and stirring a rift between local fighters and the Zarqawi network, which claimed credit.
Yet the drawn-out battle also shows the potential in troublespots like Baqubah for an unsettling stalemate between US forces unrivaled in firepower and a maturing network of insurgents able to manipulate a passive population, strike, and slip away to fight another day. US commanders acknowledge that as their troops pull back, insurgents in cities such as Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra, and Baqubah will work to continue the cycle of violence, exploiting the weakness of Iraq’s fledgling government and security forces while recruiting and intimidating the people.[snip]
By 8:30, insurgents with Syrian and other foreign accents had overrun two police stations stealing 140 AK-47s, 30,000 rounds of ammunition, uniforms, and at least one police truck. Then they raised over the stations Zarqawi network flags, black banners with gold discs and the words Unity and Holy War. A half-hour later, insurgents attempted to assassinate Baqubah’s police chief, Waleed al-Azzawi, who escaped to the roof only to have his house set ablaze. “Foreigners went after the police stations while using locals as cannon fodder to slow us down,” says Maj. Kreg Schnell, the brigade intelligence officer. “[They want to] discredit the coalition and remove capable people.”
Still, Iraqi police and Iraqi National Guard (ING) responded with surprising tenacity, if not tactical skill. During unrest in Baqubah in April, the police had stripped the ranks off their uniforms and ran, while guardsmen shrank into buildings. Now, they stood their ground beside GIs, suffering dozens of casualties and taking the offense. “We shoot for you!” ING Sgt. Ali told the Americans after emptying his AK-47.
Ultimately, it took a barrage of US munitions to begin turning the tide. “The only tool in my toolbox I didn’t use that day was naval gunfire,” says Paxton.
Some 30 insurgents were stationed in buildings near the stadium in eastern Baqubah, apparently to obstruct US forces from reaching downtown. Rather than clear the buildings - two vacant schools and a swimming pool - Colonel Pittard decided to demolish them with four 500-lb. bombs. Soldiers later searched the area and found large stockpiles of rockets, grenades, and two car bombs.
Back at the checkpoint, the ING soldiers heard the explosions and began dancing around and slapping high fives. “Do it again! Do it again!” shouted Sgt. Ali.
At midmorning, tank company commander Capt. Paul Fowler received a mission: Fortified enemy positions still threatened the main road and bridge into town, with possible reinforcements on the way. Tanks were needed to take control.
Captain Fowler and his men from Alpha Company 2-63 had slept only an hour since an all-night raid outside Baqubah. They rushed to load high-explosive rounds into their tanks’ main guns.
By about 11 a.m., Fowler was riding in a Humvee in the middle of a column of six tanks and four M-113 armored personnel carriers along the same road where insurgents had battered the North Carolina guardsmen at daybreak.
Within minutes, they were hit by what Fowler later described as an almost perfectly choreographed attack. A ring of road bombs exploded, followed by well-aimed rounds of armor-piercing RPGs targeting the tanks. Then insurgents opened up with machine guns, covering fighters who ran yelling toward the vehicles in a suicidal bid to throw grenades into the open hatches. Wearing turbans and checked headresses, some fighters came within yards before the Americans shot them.[snip]
The evening call to prayer wafted from the mosque, and, as if on cue, Baqubah’s residents reappeared on the streets. Vendors opened roadside stands and began selling watermelon and sodas. Children ran and laughed, fearlessly approaching hot, exhausted US troops to ask for candy and water. The police chief was escorted back to his station. Some 60 insurgents lay dead in Baqubah’s streets; the rest slipped away down back alleys and through palm groves. Ibrahim went to the hospital, and was told that the cloth he had passed by on the road next to the burned car had covered the body of his wife, Saadia.
Fowler returned with his men to his base. He learned soon afterward that he was subject to an Army investigation into the death of Ibrahim’s family.[snip]
