How’s that “Surge” Thing Working Out?

War reporting, not just a TV piece with troops as a convenient backdrop.

BAGHDAD — The US-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 Eskan neighborhood of south Baghdad, a dense warren of narrow streets teeming with Sunni insurgents and roadside bombs.

It had been a successful morning: The US 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.