Stars and Stripes has an online story today that is probably the most honest and accurate view of the Baquba operation that has been published. Unlike articles in WaPo and the NY Times, it has some understandable “metrics” – you know, facts - to help a reader judge whether we got our money’s worth.

After about 20 minutes of searching [a mosque], 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.

Well, OK. I did promise some facts, and finding a piece of paper urging local residents to not cooperate with the infidel crusaders does seem kind of minor. Really, that's just pro forma agitprop. The identity cards and ration cards might well be important, although chances are good that when they go to pick up Mohammed al-Rashish he’s going to say, “Hey, you found my ration card. Thanks for returning it,” or words to that effect.

I do wish the leaders at MNF-I and CENTCOM would pay more attention to the Wahabbi connection, because those are the buggers who actually killed more than 3,000 Americans n September 11th. You know, the Saudis.

The fact-stuff is all in a sidebar. Perhaps the most important item is a description of food distributed. Nothing says an occupying force cares about the occupyees more than feeding them. It’s the best way to win hearts and minds.

Oh, wait.

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.

The overall intent of this phase of the Baqouba operation, said Capt. Issac Torres, commander of Company C, is to “lock down the local population and keep pressure on them” until they begin turning in al-Qaida and other insurgents who remain in the city.[emph added]

Well, that could explain why all the food was distributed. The ocupyees are going to be locked in their homes and not allowed outside to shop or go to work until they give up all the bad guys.

Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Col. Steve Townsend, commander of 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, said about half of the estimated 300 to 500 fighters thought to be in Baqouba at the beginning of the operation had either fled the city or gone into hiding.

But according to local residents, most insurgents fled Baqouba two days before the offensive started, tipped off by reports on Iraqi television that U.S. and Iraqi government forces were set to begin a massive sweep of the city.

This explains one of the central reasons why whatever we do in Iraq is going to come out looking like something a dog left on your front lawn. With the Bu$h malAdministration, propaganda is king. Everything is geared to getting as many favorable column inches as possible, and nothing is allowed to stand in the way of getting that daily favorable publicity. Covert spies can be outted, war invasion plans can be shown to foreign citizens, military operations can be betrayed – nothing matters but getting some good publicity today.

The insurgents fled before the operation began. Now we get to do the whole thing all over again. In Anbar. Again.

A cynical man might feel forced to ask whether the Arrowhead Ripper and Phantom Thunder operations would have been successful if Democrats had been in charge.