A Washington Post article headlined, U.S. Bolstering Force in Deadly Diyala, carries the subtitle, "Violence Against Troops Has Risen Sharply". It begins with an ambush.
The gunners in three other Strykers took up the barrage, until a thunderous bomb sent up a plume of dust and smoke around the convoy. After four minutes and nearly 2,000 rounds, the attack abruptly stopped and the American soldiers drove back to their base unharmed.
For some reason, this news from Iraq didn't make the front page today. Would it have been different if the American soldiers were not unharmed? Would that have made it a more important story, one that would demand front page real estate?
The Baghdad security plan has caused a shift in enemy tactics. Al Qaeda in Iraq is now on the attack in Diyala. About this time last year al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi adopted Diyala as the capital of his Islamic caliphate. Zarqawi is dead, and this year the security plan tactics that have forced al Qaeda out of Baghdad and into Diyala are being employed in Diyala.
Capt. Marc Austin, a company commander of the 1st Battalion of the 12th Cavalry Regiment, said soldiers from his unit will eventually move into a ring around Baqubah to let others take downtown.
"Now you've got the mini-Baghdad security plan here. You've got forces inside and you've got heavy forces outside encircling, cutting off the lines of supply," he said.
In Buhriz, soldiers said shops have reopened and streams of people have moved back into their homes along what were barren streets just a month ago. On Friday, the Stryker troops gathered tribal leaders into the defunct Buhriz government center to coordinate distribution of an emergency shipment of rice, vegetable oil and other provisions to residents.
"It's nice because you actually feel like you're making a difference out here, you can see it change for yourself," said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Gunderson, 32, who is based at Fort Lewis, Wash.
There are some who might consider this pretty good news. Apparently, the Baghdad security plan is working, not only in Baghdad but in Diyala as well. For Post editors, though, good news is no news, so this news is pushed off onto page A11. Maybe people will miss it. For Post editors, congressional Democrats, and anyone else counting on and hoping for Bush Administration failures this is not good news. It's page A11 news.
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