Word: ghazaliya
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...influx of American troops into Baghdad has significantly lowered the level of violence in Ghazaliya, one of the Iraqi capital's most dangerous neighborhoods. But Ghazaliya highlights both the promise and the limitations of the troop surge. Residents are relieved to have the Americans around for now, but they have little faith in the Iraqi soldiers who will eventually replace them...
...Three U.S. Army companies currently live on small bases in the neighborhood, and a fourth is setting up shop. Delta Company, 2-12 Cavalry, operates in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of south Ghazaliya, and in recent weeks it has seen the constant drumbeat of sniper fire, roadside bombs and firefights with insurgents ease significantly...
...area remains dangerous, but safe enough for Captain Jon Brooks to begin sending his men out on foot patrol as much as possible. Last week Brooks and his men walked to a meeting at one of the battalion's other outposts in Ghazaliya...
...insurgency needs to exist, survive, flourish - and eventually possibly succeed - is the acquiescence of the population," Brooks says. He notes several reasons residents supported the insurgency in Ghazaliya, including a political or religious opposition to the U.S. presence and an unwillingness on the part of Sunnis to submit to a Shi'ite-dominated government...
...While the Americans in Ghazaliya have managed to defy Iraqi politicians' objections by building a wall, they cannot alter the fundamental dynamic of sectarian conflict. Still, whatever happens when Americans leave Ghazaliya, for now the wall seems to be serving its purpose. "Whether the Iraqis take them down when we leave, that's on them," Holtzendorff said. "I don't foresee us taking it down...