Iraqi refugees aren't the only ones being displaced

After 126 deaths were reported yesterday in Iraq, at least 8 more civilians were killed on Monday.  A majority of those eight lost their lives during a drive-by shooting incident in Baqouba, the Diyala Province capital.  This is just part of a growing spike in violence in the Iraqi suburbs since President Bush's troop escalation began.

As the UK's newspaper The Guardian explained, certain portions of Baghdad are safer today because the troop escalation has forced insurgents to flood into the suburbs:

Ironically, the violence in Diyala has been exacerbated by an influx ofboth Shia and Sunni fighters displaced from Baghdad by the surge andalso from Anbar province who have relocated to Diyala to join a seriesof jihadi and nationalist groups already based there.

That was probably the reason why General Benjamin R. Mixon, who is in charge of security in the Diyala Province, pleaded with the Administration last week to send him more reinforcements.

In all, not only are Iraqi civilians being displaced, but insurgents are being displaced as well.  The troop escalation is forcing them to flee Baghdad and relocate into the suburbs.  This is hazardous to the health of the Iraqi government because, more so than in larger Iraqi cities like Baghdad, U.S. forces and local police in small suburbs do not have enough manpower to fight insurgent militias.  Bush's troop escalation may have backfired because towns like Baqouba are now falling apart.