Army General David Petraeus, the commander of Multinational Forces Iraq, gave his first briefing from the theater early this morning. The surge in American forces to Iraq will now include an additional 4,600 troops. About 2,200 Military Police (MPs) will be deployed, along with 2,400 support troops. "The MPs will arrive in Iraq over the next few months and will be assigned to duties at detention centers, to provide route security for convoys and to mentor Iraqi police," notes American Forces Press Service. "Additionally, the Republic of Georgia has volunteered to send an additional combat brigade... and Australia will contribute 70 seasoned military trainers." The full compliment of of U.S. forces will not be in Iraq until early June, General Petraeus said today.
One region in Iraq that must be dealt with is Diyala, a mixed Sunni-Shia province where al Qaeda has massed since the announcement and implementation of the Baghdad Security Plan. Al Qaeda in Iraq is using Diyala to train, arm and sortie suicide and car bombers into Baghdad and the surrounding areas. One American military intelligence officer described this to me as "launching human artillery" from the province. Several thousand al Qaeda in Iraq fighters may be operating from Diyala.
General Petraeus said Diyala will be a focus of the troop buildup. As we noted in the past, only 2 of the 5 U.S. combat brigades are currently in country, and the remaining three may be moved to the provinces depending on the security situation in Baghdad.
Al Qaeda's activities in Diyala may be stirring up local resistance to the terror group.