European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday March 29 2007 stars and stripes pages Lauren col David Sutherland front commander of the 1st cavalry divisions 3rd brigade leads iraqi soldiers and Jack Keane a retired fourstar us army general on a tour Friday of combat outposts in Buhrz a suburb of bad Cuba Iraq some 35 Miles Northeast of Baghdad Iraq reality tests theory the colonel in charge of the military in bad Cuba wants to win the War not create More terrorists by Lauren Frayer the associated press bad Cuba Iraq Cigar smoke curled around col David Sutherland face As he sat at his weekly campfire just Miles from the enemy recalling the Days when he paced the front of a classroom lecturing army officers on How to capture a town and not destroy it now those theories Are getting a test in the brutal reality of bad Cuba rubbing up against a Tough sunni insurgency and Al Aida in Iraq the 45yearold Sutherland runs the us military show in troubled Dyala province a place where iraqi police Are beheaded in Public Parks his men Tell Sto Ries of iraqi children covering their ears when american vehicles rumble by because they know a Roadside bomb is Likely to explode Here off the Public radar screen violence has spun viciously out of control in recent months while All eyes were on Baghdad Dyala is a Little Iraq weve got it All tribal wars sectarian wars and Al Aida Sutherland said recently at his office on a us base in bad Cuba the colonel who underwent heart bypass surgery four years ago asked to be sent to Iraq and was Dis patched to Dyala in october he holds a masters degree from the school for advanced military studies at fort Leavenworth Kan where he was teaching when the Iraq War began but he plays the role of soldiers Soldier consciously not the academic sort when his offic ers gather at the weekly Bonfire four of his soldiers died on one Day last month and the bad news arrived at his office in Waves a Knock on the door a note handed in by an aide Heads bowed knowing glances exchanged aides say Sutherland walks to the mortuary affairs tent at his base and embraces the dead bodies of his men i hug All my fallen soldiers Suther land said Sutherland has not always been As open about the province and its capital the problems it faces with violent insurgents two months ago he was painting a far Rosier picture than the evidence would sup port Success or failure in Sutherland violent Patch of ii Dyala is a Little Iraq weve got it All tribal wars sectarian wars and Al Aida f f col David Sutherland commander of us forces in Dyala province Iraq Iraq could prove emblematic for the country As a whole i didst come Here thinking it be easy no one told me youre Gonna get 9 hours of sleep a night and youre not Gonna lose soldiers he said but i believe this is the place for me Sutherland smells faintly of soap cigars and the Sandy dust that permeates everything Here each night he reviews the Day with his feet propped on a Wood stove outside his trailer at one of the sessions on a re cent night Sutherland bluntly explained his and the us military limitations i can kill and kill All Day Long and it wont do anything other than create More terrorists he said the iraqi government in Baghdad needs to Start providing for these people behind his desk a verse from exodus stretches across the Wall in Large letters let us Deal wisely with them or else they will multiply and in the event of War they will also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us next to it hangs a map of Dyala with pushpins marking each us death across the room there is a Dart Board and a group photo of military men in hawaiian shirts holding drinks with paper umbrella swizzle Sticks at the Center of Sutherland Battle space is the mostly sunni Metropolis of bad Cuba a City that Alsaid linked militants Are believed to want for their capital top militant leaders Are hiding just North of the City us officials say but american troops cant get close because giant Roadside bombs line the Way direct attacks on coalition forces Are up nearly 70 percent since last summer according to military Fig ures earlier this month a Battle tested Stryker Battal Ion about 700 soldiers Riding in the army new est armoured combat vehicles was rerouted to Dyala from Baghdad to help the night they arrived Sutherland outlined the next Days Mission nearly 100 armoured vehicles would Roll Down bad tubas Broad thoroughfares at Sunrise in a show of Force but As the Sun Rose and the Muslim Calltop Rayer fell silent gunfire erupted across the City the enemy knew they were coming cuts May affect medical Access on us bases by Leo Shane Iii stars and stripes Washington cos cutting measures in the military health systems proposed fiscal 2008 budget could mean a Cut in hours at some on base clinics and longer lines in the waiting room and could push some families of base for medical specialists according to the services top medical officials our cuts will be equivalent to losing one of our Large Fame a practice hospitals Navy sur Geon general vice adm Donald Arthur told members of a House armed services subcommittee tuesday we will have to have serious conversations about what services we can still provide in february defense officials presented Congress a Bil lion defense health budget for Fis Cal 2008 Down slightly from the previous year but included in that plan is billion assumed savings from unspecified cuts to various depart ments for example Pentagon officials have directed military facilities managers to come up with million in savings from their projects and pharmacy manag ers Are being asked to find million in savings from improve ments to the defense pharmacy program the savings assumptions have come under fire from Congress and Pentagon officials said they May reconsider those estimates before lawmakers finalize the Mil itary spending Bills later this year but maj Gen Gale Pollock act ing surgeon general of the army said if those estimates Arent realized the Money will have to be trimmed elsewhere she expects longer lines at base medical facilities closings of some clinics and cuts to staffing and if we Cut services and have to Send them out to Pri vat sector care we also lose our ability to ensure the continuity of care she said we lose our ability to track the Quality of care committee members called the cuts in service unacceptable at what Point does this Start to affect retention because As we know families feel the medical benefits they get Are fabulous said rep Susan Davis Calif when a mom cant see a Pedia Tricia or Doest feel like the paediatrician can really relate to the military family that goes into their decisions we need to work so the families feel like they Are being taken care of the surgeons general also voiced concerns Over budget plans to convert More military medical professional jobs into private Sec Tor contracts saying the Cost Sav Ings for those moves Likely wont be As dramatic As estimated email Leo Shane at Friendly meal with afghans ends in a weapons Cache find the associated press Chinar Afghanistan the us paratroopers sat Down with afghan elders and police to a shared lunch meant to Foster relations but even before the roast Lamb had been mopped up the Ameri cans made an unnerving discovery a Cache of rugs mortars and a land mine soldiers suspicious that the weapons could belong to Mili Tants raced to remove them from the police storage facility the pleasant mood fostered Over a meal was shattered even As it col Brian Mennes ordered his 82nd airborne Para troopers to Calm Down he acknowledged the general sense of alarm i think the fact that they have mines and mortars is a Little suspicious Mennes said were going to take the dangerous stuff otherwise were going to be in for a Long couple weeks hinting that the police weapons could be aimed at us positions just out Side town Mennes and other us leaders sat Down for the meal knowing Well that some of the men in Long dark beards and Black turbans were enemies playing Nice but in order to get a foothold in the area the americans had to talk with the Taliban us and nato soldiers Are increasingly bolstering their weapons and attending traditional afghan lunches and tribal meetings known As Suras an embrace of local customs in a country where conversation Over Tea is a nation Al pastime