The calm in Basra

Washington Post:

The Iraqi army soldiers walked with confidence into this city's notorious Five Miles neighborhood. Shiite militiamen once greeted them with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Now, smiling children waved, and a nearby market pulsed with energy. "Nobody before was able to get in here," said Col. Bilal al-Dayni, surveying the battle-scarred landscape.

For Dayni, a barrel-chested former officer in Saddam Hussein's military, the scene was a vindication. The Americans disbanded Hussein's army after the 2003 invasion. Under British administration, Basra fell into the grip of zealots and gunmen. But nearly three months after the Iraqi government launched an offensive to reinstall authority, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers control Basra, providing a glimpse of what might happen when the bulk of U.S. troops depart Iraq.

"The Iraqi army is like an antique vase," said Dayni, beaming. "When you remove the dust, you will find a diamond."

As the two countries pursue contentious negotiations over the future role of the U.S. military in Iraq, the evolution of Basra suggests that Iraqi troops, when deployed in large numbers in areas without deep sectarian divisions, can provide security largely on their own.

For Iraqi army commanders in this strategic southern Shiite city, where much of Iraq's oil flows to the rest of the world, the Basra offensive has reinvigorated their sense of pride.

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"The militias in Basra are finished," Dayni said. "What remains are the last fugitives, like their last breath."

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But Basra's sudden transformation, from a city under the control of fundamentalist militias to one in which simple freedoms like playing music can be enjoyed again, has brought praise for the Iraqi army. In interviews across the city, Basrans also expressed anger at the British, who steadily slashed their forces from a high of 43,000 in 2003 to a current level of 4,000. In December, they handed over control of Basra province to Iraq and are now based at the airport miles outside the city center, along with some U.S. military advisers.

Many Basrans believe the British did not take a forceful stand against the militias because they were wary of high casualty counts in a war that is unpopular in Britain.

"The presence of the British forces in Basra was a tragedy," said Ayad al-Kanaan, a tribal leader in the city's Tannouma enclave, once a stronghold of the Mahdi Army. "We believed there was a deal between the British and the militias: 'Don't attack us. And we won't chase you.' "

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The British "softly, softly" strategy was a failure in Iraq. While they were criticizing the US counterinsurgency strategy, it is easy to see in hindsight which one was the more effective. It is not surprising that the Iraqis are responding to the Iraqi army forces. Counterinsurgency doctrine is oriented toward getting the host nation forces into the security apparatus as soon as they are able to. the Iraqis have made great strides in the last year and they deserve a lot of credit for rising to the challenge and opportunity presented by the surge.