Military begins escalation in Diyala Province

The recent influx of more troops into Baghdad has forced insurgents to spill out into the suburbs, such as the Diyala Province -- located just northeast of the capital.  Within the last six days, the situation has been getting rapidly out of hand -- now to the point where General Patraeus has agreed to send 3,000 more U.S. soldiers into the that province.

Patraeus answered the calls of General Benjamin Mixon, who is the commander of U.S. forces in that province.  Last week, Mixon lashed out at the Pentagon for not sending giving his soldiers enough support.

The added help could not come at a more urgent time.  Just two days ago, a chemical weapons attack occurred in the village of Abu Sayda.  A bomb packed with chlorine went off and killed 32 people.  Some of the 50 who were wounded were quickly rushed to the hospital and treated for chlorine poisoning.   

While Saddam Hussein did not have chemical weapons right before the U.S. invaded, since the post-Saddam insurgency began there have been a number of chlorine bomb incidents.

Meanwhile, the people in Diyala are suffering because of the violence.  They are isolated.  Food is being delivered to the region through air transport.  But not fast enough:

"In the past six days more than 900 families, about 5,000 individuals,have fled Diyala governorate. Some of them were forced out by militantsand others were scared of the clashes," said Faris Abdallah, mediaofficer for Diyala governorate office.

All in all, Reuters confirms that violence outside the capital in suburb provinces like Diyala has risen since President Bush's troop escalation began in February.  When U.S. forces arrive, insurgents simply leave and go attack someplace else.  That has been the story recently.  As more U.S. troops went to Baghdad, many insurgents went to Diyala.  Now that more troops are being sent to Diyala, the question is where will the insurgents go next?

This is such a tragedy.