Word: iraqi
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...Iraqi Shi'ite militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr has long been one of the galvanizing figures for opposition to the U.S. presence in the country. Friday's massive street protests against Washington's plans for a long-term strategic agreement with Iraq, along with his followers' call for a public referendum on the issue, were further evidence of this. But opposition, or at least skepticism, towards the U.S. appears to be spreading through the ranks of Baghdad's political establishment, even among partisans the United States hopes to win over...
...weekly Yusufiyah area government council meeting is about to start, and the heavily fortified front gate of the local community center is a crush of activity. U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi police call the men forward one by one, and pat them down for weapons before letting them inside. It is a scene replicated thousands of times a day all over the country. Except for one difference: here, the security detail includes a team of eight Iraqi women checking all of the females attempting to enter as well...
...weapons and explosives past checkpoints because women are rarely, if ever, searched due to cultural norms that forbid public touching between men and women. That hole in the safety net was made abundantly clear on May 14, when a female suicide bomber successfully eluded several checkpoints and assassinated an Iraqi Army captain just a few miles from the Yusufiyah Community Center...
...Iraqi Army base where the captain was killed, Rohling drives this point home. "You need to strike a balance when you deal with the Qarghuli," he tells two junior Iraqi Army officers. "I understand that you can't demonstrate weakness, but you can't come on too strong, either. Today is the hottest day of the year so far, but I need cool heads, okay?" They nod in agreement...
Everyone the colonel speaks to on his rounds today, whether Qarghuli or Iraqi Army, affirms that life is better now than it was even a few months ago, and they pledge that peace will be maintained. But tensions, distrust and resentments roil beneath the surface, and they can erupt quickly and intensely. Haji Kaadam says Iraqi Army vehicles scream past his checkpoints at reckless speeds and says some Army officers have been demanding that the Sons of Iraq salute them. The Iraqi Army officers, meanwhile, sneer that the Sons of Iraq are either incapable of maintaining security or, worse, provide...