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US Military Struggles to Quell Violence in Iraq

Sep- 4-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Alisha Ryu

Earlier this month, the U.S. military deployed several thousand extra combat troops to flashpoint districts in the troubled Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The security operations are part of a joint U.S.-Iraqi effort to halt escalating sectarian violence and shore up support for Iraq's struggling government.

Huddled inside the belly of a Stryker combat vehicle, 20-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Zack Sherman quickly checks his weapon one last time as the 17-metric ton vehicle rumbles into eastern Adamiyah District. [...]

This operation, dubbed Together Forward, is the second phase of an operation that began two months ago and is largely aimed at convincing Iraqis that the country's nascent security forces are willing and capable of stopping the sectarian violence which has torn apart entire communities.

"Hello. How are you today? Pardon the intrusion into your homes and neighborhoods this morning," said Lieutenant Colonel John Norris.

On this day, the commander of the Stryker Brigade's 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel John Norris, tries to assure nervous Sunni residents in Adamiyah that help is on the way.

"We are working in cooperation with the Iraqi army, the Iraqi national police, the Iraqi police, trying to clear it of the sectarian violence and make your neighborhood safe for you and your family," he said.

Nearly all of the residents politely invite Iraqi and American soldiers to search their homes. A sizable number of Sunni Arabs serve in Iraq's new army and there appears to be some acceptance of the army in districts like Adamiyah. [...]


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