For decades farmers in Salman Pak, a lush townland by the Tigris river, used canopies of date palms to shelter orange groves from a broiling sun. When insurgents took over the area earlier this year they used the foliage to hide stolen cars, weapons caches and supply routes from American drones buzzing overhead. The insurgents’ presence was no secret. They razed the police station, set up checkpoints and turned the surrounding district of Madaen into a stronghold.Full Story