Iraqi Troops Push into Sadr City; 'Tony Soprano' Next?

The once ten-thumbed Iraq Army appears to be getting a grip on this counterinsurgency business.

First, the soldiers managed to subdue Basra(with some American and British help, of course). Now, more than 4,000 Iraqi troops have pushed into Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City neighborhood.

For years, the central government didn't dare interfere with the district. Then, it was the scene of bloody, bloody fighting. Now, Iraqi forces are "roll[ing] unopposed through the huge Shiite enclave," according to the* New York Times*.

However (and there's always at least one however in Iraq):* *"In both cities, the militias eventually melted away in the face of Iraqi troops backed by American firepower. Thus nobody can say just where the militias might re-emerge or when Iraqi and American forces might need to fight them again."

“We have seen a lot of indications that some of the senior leaders within JAM [Jeysh al-Mahdi, Moktada al-Sadr's militia] and the [breakway] special groups are preparing to leave or have already left Sadr City,” said Col. John Hort, the commander of the Third Brigade Combat Team, Fourth Infantry Division.

"In other words, JAM has lived to (potentially) fight another day," our friends at Abu Muqawama note.

The best way to neutralize the militia: step in and provide the services they used to dole out to Sadr City's impoverished residents.
Which is why Iraqi troops are "set[ting] up shop around hospitals and police stations in a clear bid to assert Iraqi government authority."

And speaking of government authority, what's going on with those
"Sons of Iraq" -- those local militias and neighborhood watchmen set up by the Americans last year? The idea was to slowly incorporate them into the Iraqi police. Instead, the * Los Angeles Times* reports. That hasn't exactly worked out, however. And so the groups are turning to, er, alternative means of obtaining compensation.

*[D]oing business with the gunmen... is like striking a deal with Tony Soprano, according to the soldiers who walk the battle-blighted streets, where sewage collects in malodorous pools. *

"Most of them kind of operate like dons in their areas," said 2nd Lt.
Forrest Pierce, a platoon leader with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry
Regiment. They shake down local businessmen for protection money, seize rivals for links to the insurgency and are always angling for more men, more territory and more power.

These "Sopranos" are mostly Sunni, and operating beyond the government's control. The improving Iraqi Army is Shi'ite, and trying to reassert that authority. How's this gonna end?

[Photo: Robert Nickelsberg / NYT]

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