Chicago-based Marines in Iraq destroying terrorist network: This New York Times story details some of the work of Strike Force Two this week in Central Iraq.

The primary mission of the 2/24 battalion, a Chicago-based Reserve force of 1,200 troops, is to destroy a network of insurgent cells that United States military intelligence has identified as the nerve center of the Sunni insurgency in central Iraq.

A Chicago police sergeant brings his street skills to the war.

Perhaps the most successful of the marines' tactics have been the nighttime raids. With more than 70 police officers in the battalion, the work-up for the raids at the Mahmudiya base has been strongly influenced by American police tactics. Colonel Smith said he attributed much of the unit's success in tracking down wanted insurgents to Warrant Officer Jim Roussell, a 53-year-old Chicago police sergeant who spent years working with the city's gang unit.

And when he gets back, hopefully he'll take some of this new terrorist-fighting skills to the gang-bangers in Chicago (I hope they let him keep his M4/M203, not sure if Sandra Day O'Conner would approve of that as an anti-loitering device). Read the whole thing, it's fascinating.