European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 5, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 thursday to were wondering if we might see a lot of celebratory fire on that Date not the but the horizontal kind f f capt Daniel Ramos on photos by Monte and stripes above humvee Roll through new housing in the 9 Nissan Security District Many expensive new Homes have sprung up in former vacant lots in recent Monts since the East Baghdad neighbourhood has come to be seen As relatively Safe below capt Daniel Ramos 28 of san Antonio Texas checks out a Park rehabilitation project in the District und p by Monte Morin stars and stripes Baghdad it is by Iraq Peculiar standards among the quietest districts in a Capi Tal torn by sectarian conflict named for the Day that us troops toppled Saddam Hussein regime four years ago the 9 Nissan Security derived from april 9 in the assyrian Calen Dar the Mahdi army stronghold of Sadr City and was once Home to Iraq main surface air missile factory yet today roughly two months after the Mickoff of the new Baghdad Security plan the District of 15 million mostly shiite Resi dents has seen a 70 percent drop in attacks and execution style murders while also experiencing a phenomenal Boom in housing construction the weeks Long Lull in violence May face its biggest test in the coming Days As Radi Cal shiite cleric Muntada a Sadr has called for mass demonstrations against us forces on april 9 Sadr whom us troops refer to disparagingly As cookie has called upon follow ers to Fly iraqi flags from every rooftop until us forces leave the country in a District where militiamen encourage Young boys to hurl rocks at americans in Hopes of instigating a bloody overreaction by soldiers troop commanders Are anxiously counting the Days until the demonstration were walking on eggshells really said capt Daniel Ramos 28 of san Anto Nio were expecting to see a lot of flags and a lot of Large gatherings Ramos the commander of company d 1st battalion 8th cavalry regiment 1st cavalry division oversees a portion of 9 Nissan called habibian which locals consider an Extension of Sadr City in his Calendar Ramos has also circled another significant anniversary of the 2004 Mahdi army uprising were wondering if we might see a lot of celebratory fire on that Date Ramos said not the straight up kind but the horizontal kind anybody guess it col Jeffrey Sauer commander of the 18 Cav which is attached to the 2nd brigade com Bat team 2nd infantry division said his troops along with members of the 4th brigade 1st Divi Sion iraqi National police have done much to Root out or disrupt Mili Tia activity since the Start of the Security plan however what Hap pens in the coming Days was anybody guess if s going to be a very interesting week Sauer said recently or then again it could be very Boring Well see the character of Sauers area of operations which is loosely referred to As new Baghdad has changed dramatically Over the last six months when 18 troops first arrived Here they saw frequent attacks Forward operating base rus Tamiyah the unit s Headquarters saw daily mortar and rocket attacks the addition of new us troops to the area and the creation of a handful of joint Security stations and combat outposts in area neighbourhoods As Well As an earlier Call by Sadr for his militiamen to Lay Down their weapons sharply curtailed such attacks one of the biggest indications of the areas developing stability is a Boom in the Calm for now construction of new houses commanders say vast Fields that stood vacant in Sadd ams time have erupted with enormous ornately designed Homes some Worth hundreds of thou Sands of dollars locals say Many of the new residents Are from Sadr City which has grown extremely crowded or from areas such As Dyala which have seen an increase in violence the population of 9 Nissan has exploded Sauer said the perception is new Baghdad and 9 Nissan Are relatively Safe places coalition troops have used the Lull to court residents Here befriending families living near out posts and proposing projects for schools and infrastructure com Manders say they have for the most part received a warm Welcome and generated an unprecedented number of tips company commanders like Ramos said forging relationships with locals is key to the Security plans Success recently he or dered his platoon leaders to search out and identify at least five local renovation projects in their sectors the Prospect of improvements not Only helps win the affection of iraqis it also ensures the safety of us soldiers he said one example of that was the creation of soccer Fields in areas where trash heaps and other debris could be used to bide Road Side bombs making the switch7from kinetic to civil military operations has been a difficult one for his troops however three or four months ago my soldiers were out in these same sectors getting fired at by rugs Ramos said now there Back in the same neighbourhoods doing school projects that s a hard thing for them to get used to to be sure the 9 Nissan District continues to be a dangerous place for us sol Diers in the last couple weeks there has been an increase in attacks involving explosively formed projectiles a particularly deadly form of armo piercing Roadside bomb the explosives which us commanders say Are produced in Iran have been used extensively along two routes connecting us bases and combat outposts the exp threat along these routes is considered to be the biggest in All of Baghdad if not Iraq last month six of Bauers troops died in a Roadside bomb ambush what happens next despite worries about what could Hap pen in the coming officers say Sadr militia has been so damaged they cannot mount a serious sustained threat not while us troops remain such was the message in a conversation one civil affairs officer had with a Sadr sup Porter recently in Obaidy the Sadr supporter insisted residents want us forces to leave if s not just me the supporter said when you ask people when they think they will have Security they Tell you it will be when the coalition forces Are gone the civil affairs officer capt Bruce Beardsley Shook his head if s not the coalition forces that Are kill ing shiites and sunnis if s iraqis beards Ley said and that s not going to Stop when we leave and in saddened by that email Monte Morin at Iraq response on Turkey meeting awaited the associated press Ankara Turkey several countries have agreed to attend a High level International Confer ence on Iraq in Istanbul prime minister recep Tayyib Erdogan said wednesday adding that Iraq would respond to the proposal soon the gathering would be held at the level of foreign ministers with the participation of coun tries bordering Iraq five Perma nent members of the United nations Security Council and the group of eight industrialized nations Erdogan told a joint news conference with Kuwait s prime minister Sheik Nasser Al Moham med Al Sabah several countries have responded positively Erdogan said of the conference expected to be held later this month Erdogan said iraqi president Jalal Talaban told him during a recent meeting in saudi Arabia that Iraq would respond in the first week of april i Hope the result of the Confer ence would positively affect the future Erdogan said italian foreign minister Massimo Dalema has said the Europe an Union would also be represented at the next conference on Iraq two French Aid workers missing in Afghanistan Kabul Afghanistan two bodyguard provincial police French Aid workers and their chief Daud Askaryar said three afghan staff have gone miss Askaryar said they left their of ing in Southwest Afghanistan offi see without telling their col vials said wednesday As a Pur leagues in Nimrod ported Taliban spokesman Interior ministry spokesman claimed that the group kidnapped Yemen Kashary confirmed that the five two French people employed by Tho a a nongovernmental organization the French Man and woman that works with children had who work with an organization g0ne missing Between Nimrod called Terre Denance had left and neighbouring Farah province their office in Nimrod province the French embassy declined tuesday morning and were travel comment ing with their Cook Driver and from the associated