John Ross: Bush's Surge Hits Mosul

As the crude reality of imminent attack closed in on Iraq, Saddam flew a bunch of us Shields up to Mosul 240 miles north of Baghdad during the first week of March 2003. Mosul is Iraq's largest Sunni majority city and with a population of 1.7 million, the nation's third city behind Baghdad and Basra. Despite the Sunni majority, Mosul has a lively ethnic mix. Bordered by Kurdistan, a substantial portion of the population wears the Kurdish colors. Turkmen, Christians, and Yazedis - the non-Muslim sect slaughtered by unknowns in August 2007 - are all players in the ethnic push and pull. There are few Shiaas in Mosul.

Saddam rewarded the loyalty of Mosul's Sunnis by selecting many of his elite army officers from the city and the now-outlawed Baath party ruled local politics. In the summer of 2003, Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, on the run from their American pursuers, sought refuge in Mosul only to be taken out by U.S. sharpshooters when they were betrayed by a local Judas.