Iraqis welcome troops to Sadr City

Washington Post:

Iraqi soldiers moved unhindered through Baghdad's vast Sadr City district on Wednesday as Shiite militiamen who have long controlled the area faded from view and schools and businesses began to reopen after weeks of strife.

The Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is pursuing an increasingly successful effort to contain the militias of his Shiite rivals and to exercise authority over areas where Iraqi forces were once unwelcome. The strategy has won Maliki admiration from Sunni politicians and from U.S. and British officials, who credit him with exerting some of the political will necessary to achieve reconciliation.

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On Wednesday, Iraqi troops received flowers and copies of the Koran from Sadr City residents, as well as assistance from Sadrist officials. Among the signs of renewed normalcy, one was striking: Ali Adnan, an Iraqi soldier, took a shower at a Sadr headquarters, as some of his colleagues washed their uniforms at a sink. "We expected some resistance," Adnan said. "We found the exact opposite."

Sadrist leaders said they had demanded that American soldiers remain on the sidelines of the military incursion.

"We stressed that the occupation forces do not come in," said Selman al-Freiji, a senior Sadrist leader in Baghdad. "We welcome the entrance of Iraqi troops."

U.S. officials have said they were happy to let Iraqi troops take the lead. "It is heartening to see Iraqi security forces operating peacefully while enforcing the rule of law," Capt. Gordon J. Delcambre, a U.S. military spokesman said in an e-mail.

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Iraqi soldiers began searching for banned weapons and wanted militiamen on Wednesday, a day after taking positions in Humvees and armored vehicles along the district's main roads. Many soldiers appeared relaxed. Some napped in their vehicles.

"We are not afraid to go anywhere," said Sgt. Romi Sayah, 30. "We did not come to go against any political party. We're only after the outlaws."

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This looks like a clear win for the US counterinsurgency strategy. Whenever the host nation can effectively use its forces instead of having to rely on ours that is a sign we are winning and that the Iraqis are becoming more self reliant. It is a testament to the training we have given them.

These kinds of operations will speed the day when US forces can leave with their heads held high. It should be pointed out, though that this operation would not have happened without the efforts of the US working with Iraqi forces to put the battier up on Qods street and destroy a lot of the militia and its leaders as well as the Iranian special groups. The Iraqi forces still rely on the US for much of their logistics too.