Battle for Baghdad ‘a critical point’ in the war

Operation implemented in stages
Once U.S. troops secure a neighborhood, reconstruction teams move in to map plans to restore electricity, water and sewage. Those teams have 90 days to make proposals, which are submitted to the Iraqi government for funding.

The operation has achieved some success: In July, violent deaths among civilians in Baghdad soared to an unprecedented high of 3,590, according to the United Nations. In August the figure dropped to 3,009, the U.N. said.

But the battle has proved politically tricky.

Many of the estimated 23 Shiite and Sunni militias operating in the capital have ties to the very politicians whom the U.S. encouraged to join the new government of national unity. Al-Sadr, for example, is a pillar of support for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

And gunmen considered by the Americans to be a threat to Iraq’s survival are often viewed by their own communities as their best source of protection.

Problematic politics
“There’s a lot of politics going on now, and we’re a police force, not an army,” said Sgt. Nicholas Sowinski, 25, of Tempe, Ariz., assigned to the 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment. “It limits our options.”

Hurriyah, a once-quiet mixed neighborhood of north Baghdad, serves as an example of the dilemma.

Just over a year ago, al-Sadr’s militiamen quietly slipped in and set up an office in the main outdoor market. They told Shiites they would protect them from a Sunni militia called Omar’s Army.

By early October, Shiite militiamen were roaming the streets of Hurriyah, kidnapping, killing and intimidating Sunnis. Handbills circulating last month warned that 10 Sunnis would die for every Shiite killed.

Late last month, Shiite gunmen killed four Sunnis outside a mosque in Hurriyah. The next day, a Sunni extremist group detonated a bomb in Sadr City, killing 37.

Many U.S. soldiers say their biggest problem is that local people are not helping to identify militiamen.

“Unless you catch (them) in the act, you’re not going to catch them at all,” said Staff Sgt. Justin Nelson, 26, of Stockton, Calif. “The main thing that you think about when you take someone in is: How’s the public going to take this?”

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