In a switch from the current way of doing business, these U.S. forces will be housed in the very neighborhoods they patrol. Military planners tell ABC News there will eventually be about 30 mini bases, called joint security stations, scattered around Baghdad housing both U.S. and Iraqi troops.
Also,
Under the new plan, the city of Baghdad will be divided into nine separate sections at the request of Iraqis who want one Army and police battalion devoted to section.
The additional 18,000 U.S. troops being sent to Baghdad will be divided among those nine sections of the city, nearly doubling U.S. combat power in the region.
More bad news: The military expects the new plan will increase troop deaths in the beginning:
Commanders believe the new approach will make U.S. forces better positioned to combat sectarian violence, but they acknowledge the new approach is riskier and will likely mean more U.S. casualties in the short-run.
As for the National Guard troops:
ABC News has also learned National Guard troops who have seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan will likely be getting some unwelcome news: They may have to go back to Iraq later this year. National Guard combat teams would be sent to Iraq as the next wave of the surge, unless the first wave succeeds in reducing violence.
This new plan sounds like a shot in the dark to me.
Commanders here caution it will take several months to fully implement the plan and maybe even longer to see results. As one senior military official here said today, "we don't know if this will work, but we do know the old way was failing."
