Drop in violence allows soldiers in Baghdad to fix essential services

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Drop in violence allows soldiers in Baghdad to fix essential services
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, November 24, 2007


BAGHDAD — Reduced violence in Baghdad means soldiers here spend more time meeting Iraqi leaders, restoring essential services and handing out sweets and soccer balls than they do battling insurgents.

It’s not the sort of action Baghdad-based troops from 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment trained for in Germany in June. Then, predeployment exercises focused heavily on raiding houses, detaining individuals and dealing with roadside bombs.

But after two months of hard work to rid southern Baghdad of al-Qaida, the squadron’s focus has shifted from combat to reconciling Sunnis and Shiites.

“We are doing a lot more talking than fighting right now,” squadron commander Lt. Col. Myron Reineke said Wednesday.

“I don’t know that anybody could have predicted the downturn in violence. It’s been better than expected. We now have an opportunity to improve social services and security by the population because the surge can’t last forever.”

The 2nd Squadron troops still face a constant threat from roadside bombs, and they still raid houses in search of high-value insurgent targets.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50483

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1. Notice The Propaganda In This Article

"But after two months of hard work to rid southern Baghdad of al-Qaida ..."