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Hearing Intrudes in Sadr City, if Power Lasts

Apr- 9-2008 » Filed Under: 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment

The following article also features a nice slide show of 2nd SCR soldiers in Sadr City.

By MICHAEL R. GORDON, The New York Times

BAGHDAD — When the electricity came on in the ramshackle district of Sadr City, the soldiers from the Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment flicked on the television to watch Tuesday’s Congressional hearings with Gen. David H. Petraeus.

For a brief moment, Washington politics intruded into a world in which automatic weapons fire, tank fire and explosives rock the streets. But before General Petraeus could complete his prepared statement, the power shut down again.

The fleeting reminder of the debate at home was followed by a blunt discussion of the larger aims of the American involvement here.

None of the soldiers clustered around the television favored a speedy reduction in American troops. For soldiers defending a toehold in the most violent area of Baghdad with often unsteady Iraqi troops the idea of confronting well-armed militias with fewer troops seemed almost unfathomable.

“If we did start downgrading forces, it would hurt us more,” said Staff Sgt. William Edwards, who was among the half-dozen troops watching the start of the proceedings. “We would have a lot less to fight all the militias.”

But some from the unit — First Squadron, Second Platoon, Bull Company — harbored doubts about the Iraqi government’s determination to take on the militias.

“It has got to be done,” said Specialist Nicholas Dutkiewicz, 23, from Bristol, Conn. “I don’t know if they are willing to carry it all the way through.” [...]


Comments For "Hearing Intrudes in Sadr City, if Power Lasts":

Good article. Congratulations on your promotion Edwards. You deserve it. I wish I could have been there to see it and congratulate you. You guys stay safe. See you when I get back.

Bryan

Posted by: juggalo09173 [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 10, 2008 1:43 AM

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