Stryker Brigade News

Once inside, the small group of U.S. soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and Kurdish troops from the 5th Iraqi Army Division began searching, rifling through papers, looking through stacks of books and peering into closets for weapons or documents that would confirm the initial reports.

After about 20 minutes of searching, an Iraqi interpreter the Americans call “Cal” produced a couple of sheets of paper with Arabic writing. The paper warned local residents not to cooperate with the Iraqi police, army or U.S. forces. It was signed on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq in Diyala province, an underground umbrella organization for al-Qaida and other insurgent groups in Iraq.

“This is exactly what we’re looking for,” said Capt. Stuart Chapman, 25, of Richmond, Va.

Other documents found at the site included identity cards, ration cards and piece of notebook paper with a sketch of an AK-47 rifle and a flag of the Islamic State of Iraq drawn in a childish hand.

Other documents identified the mosque as Wahabbi, a fundamentalist branch of Islam that is the state religion of Saudi Arabia and one to which many Sunni insurgents adhere.

Absent any weapons or insurgents themselves, it seemed that the raid produced something of a jackpot of potential intelligence information.

“We’re money,” said Sgt. Luis Cruz, 28, of Davenport, Iowa.

That sort of information could prove vital as U.S. and Iraqi forces move into the next phase of operations in Baqouba. With almost no hostile fire reported in days, combat operations are winding down. The focus of the effort now is to consolidate control and persuade local residents to begin cooperating with U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces.

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