Iraqis in former rebel stronghold now cheer American soldiers (Oliver Poole, Telegraph)
In the low-slung concrete buildings of Tal Afar, a city built on dirty sand and mud, George W Bush sees the potential for military success in Iraq.
In recent weeks it has been one case study the American president has consistently cited in order to buttress the rhetoric that the insurgency, and the killing, can be ended.
Tal Afar was the site of the largest military operation of 2005, when 8,000 US and Iraqi troops reclaimed it from armed groups.
It has since been used to test a new strategy of “clear, hold, build”, in which areas would be purged of insurgents and then rejuvenated to win support from local people, before being handed over to the Iraqi security forces. It is also called “ink spot” strategy, whereby one area of control would spread to another – like an ink spot spreading on blotting paper – until the entire country was covered, in a model similar to that adopted by the British in Malaya.
In Tal Afar, according to the president, military success had been followed by the restoration of law and order and the implementation of reconstruction projects to give “hope” to its citizens.
Visiting the city, nestled near the Syrian border in the north-west of the country, there is no doubt that something has been achieved.
Unlike in Fallujah, another Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold, the storming of which by US marines was the defining campaign of 2004, there is actually large-scale rebuilding in progress.
Hmm, if the election news was fodder for Page A23 of the Chronicle, I’m guessing this news isn’t likely to make it into the local rag.