Perspective: Tables turn quickly in Baghdad raids

American soldiers on patrol in the Sunni neighborhood of Dora yesterday. The Baghdad neighborhood has been one of the primary areas focused on in the ongoing 'crackdown'.

BAGHDAD — The U.S.-led convoy had been idling for at least an hour, waiting for a bomb squad to detonate a sizable haul of explosives uncovered in raids on the Iskan neighborhood of south Baghdad, a dense warren of narrow streets teeming with Sunni insurgents and roadside bombs.

It had been a successful morning: The U.S. forces, working alongside Iraqi national police, had detained 10 men in raids on the homes of suspected insurgents and had uncovered a homemade rocket launcher, two rifles and a cache of mortar rounds.

Then there was an explosion, but not the one they were waiting for: The convoy was under attack.

Read the rest at the LA Times