US forces 'tiptoe' into Sadr City
Stationed on the edge of the Shiite district in Baghdad, they and their Iraqi counterparts are trying to signal that they want to help its residents.
from the April 5, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
"What's concerning is that they are in fact providing arms. They are providing money, they are providing training, and they are trying to subvert what's going on here in Iraq. And I think that's dangerous. I think it's dangerous for the future of Iraq and peace and stability within Iraq," he says.
On the streets of Sadr City, the dire needs of its residents and the deep opposition to the American presence are both apparent. Outside a school where the headmistress asked the Americans for help with fixing the sewage system and even food for the students, children threw rocks at the US soldiers, telling them to leave.
One American soldier told an Iraqi security guard to tell the children to stop or he would shoot.
But, as one guard at the school pointed out, threats of violence may mean little to a generation being raised in such poverty and reared with a hatred for the US.
People in Sadr City "exist between life and death; that's why they fight," he says. "They have nothing to lose."
Key events in Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno's career
1976 – Graduated from West Point after growing up in Rockaway, N.J.
October 2001-June 2004 – Commanded the US 4th Infantry Division.
August 2004 – Son Anthony Odierno lost an arm in an insurgent attack as he led an operation in Baghdad.
November 2004-May 2006 – Served as assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
December 2006 – Assumed command of the Multinational Corps-Iraq.
Source: US Army
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