AS WE HAVE been keeping an eye on, the troops of the 3d ID can't get a break. And I'd say that is bad news for the locals that we will send the "war-hardened" 3d ID into "trouble spots outside Baghdad". In addition to being war-hardened...now they are pissed off as well. Read the whole article here.

Faced with armed resistance that has killed four American soldiers this week, allied military commanders now plan to keep a larger force in Iraq than they had anticipated and to send war-hardened units to trouble spots outside Baghdad, senior American officials said on Wednesday.

Instead of sending home the 3rd Infantry Division, which led the charge on Baghdad, American officials are developing plans that call for most of its troops to extend their stay to quell unrest and extend American control.