Diyala Province Update

"Iraq Vet and VFF member, David Bellavia, offers this dispatch available on popular milblog BlackFive from an embed in Diyala province. Good to see that COIN-doctrine is being utilized successfully and that the Chief of Diyala police, whose sectarian allegiance has been extremely questionable, was recently replaced by the governor of the province. But, Diyala has been a hotbed of insurgent activity after the Anbar Awakening in 2006 and the initial surge in Baghdad in 2007 pushed many militants into the province. To complicate problems, the police force is primarily Shi'ite while the majority of the population is Sunni, and it borders Iran. This allows for exportation of weapons across the porous border, including donkeys smuggling munitions into the province. The Sahwa movement in Diyala has been essential to maintaining some of the security gains in the province, and that's why Dr. Irack of Abu Muqawama has some disturbing news concerning their future:"
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