To the U.S. military, the restive Iraqi city of Baquba is a testament to a failed war strategy and a snapshot of the future if American troops pull out too soon.
Army Gen. George Casey in 2005 judged the mixed Sunni-Shiite city of 300,000 as a prototype for how to methodically disengage from Iraq. He withdrew all but a brigade, backfilling security with Iraqi soldiers and police.
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“Because of that success, we felt as a coalition that we could withdraw our forces and allow the Iraqis to take over,” said Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard, who commanded troops that year in Diyala province, where Baquba is located. “I believe that was way too soon.”
After the February 2006 al Qaeda bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra, sectarian violence broke out in many parts of Iraq. Al Qaeda terrorists, their safe havens disrupted in al Anbar province, moved east to Baquba. Iraqi troops were unable, or unwilling, to stop them.
“There just wasn’t enough coalition force structure there in Diyala to be able to keep a lid on that violence,” Pittard said.
Then, as the Baghdad security plan kicked off earlier this year, al Qaeda cells flushed from the capital scampered north to join allies in Baquba. The terrorism network took over entire neighborhoods, imposing harsh Islamic rule and executing Shiite residents.
The al Qaeda invasion prompted the top U.S. commander in the area, Brig. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, to say on May 11, “I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala province to get that security situation moving.”
A month later, Army Gen. David Petraeus, Casey’s replacement, launched Operation Phantom Thunder to take back Baquba and other cities and hamlets ringing Baghdad. Joint U.S.-Iraqi reinforcements invaded Baquba’s al Qaeda-held neighborhoods, killing scores of fighters. Hundreds got away.
Petraeus’ deputy, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, vowed that Americans would not have to liberate the city again.
Pittard, now charged with training Iraqi soldiers, revisited Baquba last week after the battle.
“I nearly shed a tear when I saw Baquba today,” he told reporters. “The markets aren’t up. The projects that we’d spent so much time on together with the Iraqi government are now in many places in shambles.”
The lesson, he said, was clear. “Do not move our force structure down too quickly. Do not draw down too quickly when we think there’s a glimmer of success.”
