European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 182007 stars and stripes Page 13 crackdown restores Baghdad Commerce by Steven r Hurst the associated press Baghdad the us military said on thursday that it and its iraqi partners in the Mont hold Baghdad Security crack Down had been turning marketplaces a favorite target of Al Aida and sunni in Sruv gent suicide car bombers into Pedes Tri a Only zones and that Commerce was reviving dramatically in the capital maj Gen Joseph f Fil or also told re porters theres a sense of suspense in the air a sense of anticipation and expectation of decreased violence with the iraqi peo ple i think it is being met by this Tion said the general who is in charge of Baghdad but he like other top military officials cautioned against expecting Quick Overall Success from this the third arid perhaps last Hance Effort to curb sectarian Vio Lence that has shaken Baghdad and its Resi dents to the Core the enemy has not quit the Battlefield by any Means in some ways Hes fighting Back harder than he Ever was he said at a luncheon meeting with the us Congress pressing to set a Date for a us troop withdrawal by next year Fil said he found it impossible to pre dict if the Mission in Iraq could be wound up successfully by that deadline my guess is things Are going to be sub Stantial better in 2008 but whether or not we will be finished Here i dont think we can answer now we we rent finished in r Germany five we we rent finished in Japan we we rent finished in we we rent finished in Bosnia i dont know Why we would expect to be finished Here he said Fil also said that the United states would have american soldiers in As Many As 100 garrisons scattered throughout Baghdad by the time the last of the additional r20uooplus troops allocated by us presi Dent Bush arrive at the end of May the bases will be a combination of joint Security stations command and control Center operated jointly with iraqis and Small combat outposts there Are 77 of them now either established or on the Way to being established i imagine Well be up toward 100 in another month or so said Fil who is on his Sec Ond tour in Iraq he acknowledge the Security crackdown was putting us troops at greater risk in the capital simply because they were in the streets in greater numbers statistics on american deaths bore that out while the total number of american deaths during the first 28 Days of the Security drive fell to 80 from 104 in the previous four week period the percent of those deaths occurring in Baghdad Rose to 36 per cent from 25 percent a Sadr us continue uneasy cooperation Cash Mem by Sudarsana Raghavan the Washington Post Baghdad us troops Are conducting Security sweeps in the shiite stronghold of Sadr City for the first time in three years part of a revamped plan to pacify the capital yet the Mahdi army militia of shiite cleric Muntada a Sadr has not risen up to fight them despite us raids on their Homes and growing sunni attacks on shiites until now our Leader has or dered us to keep quiet explained Ayad Alkhab a local official in Alsa drs organization this is in order for the Security plan to succeed after four years of hostility a Sadr and the americans Are cooperating uneasily As the United states and Iraq at tempt to tame Bagh dads sectarian violence Ameri can officials who in recent months described his Mahdi army and other shiite militias As the biggest threat to Iraq stability now Praise the shiite cleric the collaboration represents a remarkable shift for two adversaries who control the largest armies in Iraq and who fought some of the fiercest Battles since the 2003 used invasion for a Sadr it is the latest stage in an evolution from populist cleric to guerrilla fighter to political Kingmaker and now to Power Bro Ker in the Early months of the occupation us officials dismissed Sadr As irrelevant to Iraq future today they View him As a political catalyst who can help keep Iraq together or implode it were very encouraged by what were seeing on the ground right now in Sadr City said maj Gen William Caldwell the us military chief spokesman in Baghdad there is a tremendous amount of cooperation and Dia Logue ongoing its proven to be very beneficial to both sides it is a tenuous cooperation that could collapse at any moment us troops walk a thin line be tween peace and War in Sadr City a sprawling Jumble of Nar Row streets Tan buildings and crowded markets each Day tests the tolerance of a Sadr and his fighters who Are widely believed to operate death squads us commanders con cede that their troops May face isolated attacks they Are an occupation Force we refuse their presence totally said Mohammad Abu Haider a Mahdi army commander who has battled americans their ultimate goal is to destroy the Sadr trend on thursday gunmen am bushed the Convoy of Sadr cites mayor Rahim Alda Raji seriously wounding him and killing two of his bodyguards Daraji an a Sadr appointee has been negotiating with us and iraqi government officials Over the role of us troops in the Security Clampdown publicly a Sadr has criticized the us presence inside his stronghold he is a fierce nationalist who has Long demanded a withdrawal of us troops from Iraq and his authority derives in Large part from his opposition to the occupation but privately he has or dered his militiamen to lie Low no matter How much they Are provoked by american forces said fighters and a Sadr representatives in interviews the absence of full blown Resis Tance against us troops and tie recent decline in the number of bodies found with signs of Tor Ture usually attributed to the Mahdi army suggest that a Sadr still controls the bulk of his forces even As us intelligence officials assert his grip Over the Mahdi army is slipping such murders have dropped by a third during the first month of the Security plan Fil said fun us Gen Dan Center the top commander of Natoley International Security assistance Force in Afghanistan loads his gun As he arrives at Forward operating base Diablo during his visit to Thorak District of Kandahar province in Southern Afghanistan on Friday five Afghanistan policemen mistakenly killed in South by Fisnik Abrashid the associated press Kabul Afghanistan used coalition forces mistakenly killed five afghan police in a clash in a Southern province the government said Friday a charge denied by a coalition spokesman the police were Manning a checkpoint in Gershk District of Helmand province when the clash broke out Early thursday Interior ministry spokesman be Meri Kashary said it appears at this moment that there was no us involvement in the Gershk incident said sgt 1st class Dean Welch a coalition spokesman the military investigation into what happened and who was involved in the incident is not yet Complete Welch said the clash came As Natoley forces pressed on with their larg est operation yet in Afghanistan trying to secure a Region of Hel Mand province a stronghold for resurgent Taliban militants it col Angela Billings a spokeswoman for natos inter National Security assistance Force in Kabul said their troops were not involved in the clash in All about 47000 Western forces Are currently deployed in Afghanistan nato leads 36000 troops and the used coalition maintains a 11000strong Force engaged in Independent ant terror activities throughout the country Helmand is the Center of the Taliban led insurgency and also the Hub for the country world leading opium and heroin Trade that is believed to help fund the Taliban but also profits afghan officials