Iraqi forces make push in Sadr City

[unhappycamper]

Sgt. Mohammad, with the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division, instructs "Neighborhood Guard" recruits from the Jamilla neighborhood of the Sadr City district of Baghdad on Tuesday. They were learning to fire AK-47 rifles at a range on Forward Operating Base War Eagle in northern Baghdad.


Iraqi forces make push in Sadr City
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, June 6, 2008

BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces are continuing a slow push through the Shiite slums of eastern Baghdad, and U.S. forces have begun recruiting locals from the area to join armed watch groups, officials said Thursday.

Iraqi troops have been in Sadr City since a truce in early May with Shiite militias allowed them to enter and search for weapons. And while the Iraqi troop presence is limited to parts of the district, U.S. officials say they are starting to receive tips on weapons cache locations.

In one day this week, the materials for making more than 100 roadside bombs were confiscated by Iraqi troops, U.S. military officials said.

More Iraqis are stepping forward and helping to reveal weapons caches and criminals, Col. Bill Buckner, a top U.S. spokesman in Iraq, said in a statement Thursday.

At the same time, U.S. troops have begun recruiting and training local cadres of civilians in Sadr City separate from the so-called "Sons of Iraq" or "Awakening" groups that have been formed throughout the country and whose members are paid by the U.S. military.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55353

[groovedaddy]

1. I guess we just need to stay a little bit longer - 20 years maybe?

Does ANYONE actually believe anything coming out of the Pentagon any more? It all seems like such self-serving crap.
It's still the Iraqi people's decision (or should be) as to whether or not the U.S. military should be occupying THEIR country.