THE TENSION: Combat Camera: Palm Grove Search Around Naqib, Iraq

U.S soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 19th Brigade, 5th Division, detonate firebombs with the intention of burning the underbrush of a section of palm grove on Dec. 22. This will expose or detonate the massive amounts of booby traps, Improvised Explosive Devices and weapons caches that are hindering local Iraqi's attempts to farm this al-Qaida stronghold on. This joint clearing operation is the third phase of an operation in which this new searching technique is being tested. (Photographer: Petty Officer 2nd Class Walter Pels, Joint Combat Camera Center.)

Iraqi soldiers question U.S. Army Capt. Todd Tatum what effects the strong winds may have on this scheduled burn. U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 19th Brigade, 5th Division, are preparing palm groves around Naqib, Iraq, for a controlled burn that will expose or detonate the massive amounts of booby traps, improvised explosive devices and weapons caches that are hindering local Iraqi's attempts to farm this al-QaIda stronghold on Dec. 22. This joint clearing operation is the second phase of an operation in which this new searching technique is being tested. (Photographer: Petty Officer 2nd Class Walter Pels, Joint Combat Camera Center.)

Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians unearth a cache of bomb making material at the side of a road. U.S soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 19th Brigade, 5th Division, are preparing palm groves around Naqib, Iraq, for a controlled burn that will expose or detonate the massive amounts of booby traps, improvised explosive devices and weapons caches that are hindering local Iraqi's attempts to farm this al-Qaida stronghold on Dec. 22. This joint clearing operation is the second phase of an operation in which this new searching technique is being tested. (Photographer: Petty Officer 2nd Class Walter Pels, Joint Combat Camera Center.)

U.S. Army Spc. James Earl uses a mine detector to clear a ditch of improvised explosive device and caches. U.S soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 19th Brigade, 5th Division, are preparing palm groves around Naqib, Iraq, for a controlled burn that will expose or detonate the massive amounts of booby traps, improvised explosive devices and weapons caches that are hindering local Iraqi's attempts to farm this al-Qaida stronghold on Dec. 22. This joint clearing operation is the second phase of an operation in which this new searching technique is being tested. (Photographer: Petty Officer 2nd Class Walter Pels, Joint Combat Camera Center.)