In one Iraqi neighborhood, al-Qaida digs deep
May 3, 2007
By TODD PITMAN
BAQOUBA, Iraq (AP) _ Across the walls of the villas they seized in the name of their shadow government, black-masked al-Qaida militants spray-painted the words: "Property of the Islamic State of Iraq."
They manned checkpoints and buried an elaborate network of bombs in the streets. They issued austere edicts ordering women not to work. They filmed themselves attacking Americans and slaughtered those who did not believe in their cause.
For months, al-Qaida turned a part of one Baqouba neighborhood into an insurgent fiefdom that American and Iraqi forces were too undermanned to tackle _ a startling example of the terror group's ability to thrive openly in some places outside Baghdad even as U.S.-led forces struggle to regain control in the capital.
Watch an Apache gunship fire a helfire at insurgents in Baqouba in April, 2007.
Shadow State
Brain Rangers
When the going gets tough in Iraq, U.S. Army calls the 'Brain Rangers'
September 18, 2004
By TODD PITMAN
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ Add long working days in 110 degree (43 degree Celsius) heat with the threat of death at the hands of insurgents. Subtract families, friends and spouses the troops are separated from by thousands of miles (kilometers). Multiply by a yearlong tour.
The result, sometimes, is battle fatigue.
When the going gets tough and the tough in the U.S. military can't get going, they call in the "Brain Rangers" _ an Army combat stress company that keeps an eye on troops' mental health in the field.