The Candy Man Can
Ed Morrissey

Who can take tomorrow, dip it in a dream? The candy man, baby:

The commander of U.S. troops in Iraq wanted some sweets, and nothing was going to stop him. Not even the fact that he was tramping through a neighborhood that only days ago had been teeming with snipers and Al Qaeda fighters who would love nothing better than to say they just shot Gen. David H. Petraeus.

With soldiers casting anxious glances along the desolate dirt road, the four-star Army general made a beeline for a tiny shop and helped himself to a bite-sized, honey-coated pastry proffered by the owner. ...

General Petraeus has a flair for the theatrical -- which shows he understands his mission well. It will not be enough for Petraeus to quell the violence momentarily. He has to show that he has changed the paradigm on the streets of Baghdad, and he has to demonstrate it publicy and boldly in order to build confidence that the city has turned a corner in securing itself. ...

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Video: Petraeus on Maliki, Sadr City, and the surge 
Allahpundit

A question or two about Iran would have been welcome here but it’s still worth your time. Interesting that he expresses support for Maliki when Allawi and Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani are in Riyadh, possibly negotiating his ouster. Also interesting is what he says about Sunni jihadis having already been caught trying to infiltrate Sadr City and pull off another spectacular attack along the lines of the Samarra bombing to get the sectarian war hopping again. I hope security is tight in Najaf and Karbala; if they can’t provoke the Shia in Baghdad, those would be the logical next targets.

The man who would benefit most from a major Sunni attack is reportedly still in Iran. Richard Miniter of Pajamas Media is hearing that the U.S. is trying to take advantage by negotiating the dissolution of the Mahdi Army:

With al-Sadr’s paymasters gone many mid-level commanders are unpaid. And so are the fighters under them. (In the Mahdi Army, commanders are responsible for the financial well-being of the men under their command.) Some have resorted to extortion, robbery and violent crimes. They are desperate for money. And they are also being hunted by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers throughout Iraq.

This has created a unique opportunity for American and allied troops, intelligence sources say. ...

The theory here, I guess, is that we’re going to buy off the Shiites — whose poverty is such as to make U.S. troops vomit — with jobs, and then hopefully create a vibrant enough economy around them that Sadr won’t be able to afford them when he finally comes home, even though he’ll come bearing Iranian money and his own messianic religious/personal charisma. That’s a tall order for a superpower that’s on the clock. I think that’s probably why the U.S. wants Allawi as PM eventually. You can’t trust a religious Shiite to move on another religious Shiite when the time comes. And it will come. ...

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Surge On!
By Smash  

While Congress quibbles over how to best orchestrate an American defeat, the death rate in Baghdad is dropping.

US and Iraqi officials on Wenesday claimed that civilian deaths had declined precipitously in Baghdad since the push to secure the capital began a month ago.

The Americans acknowledged, however, that car bombs remained a big threat that could restart the cycle of violence, and said they were concentrating operations in areas where such weapons were believed to be assembled.

Brigadier Qassim Moussawi, Iraqi military spokesman, said the number of Iraqis killed by violence in Baghdad in the 30 days since Operation Enforcing the Law began was 265, down from 1,440 killed in the previous month.

Oh, my. What will Murtha do?

Meanwhile, Colonel Austin Bay (an Iraq veteran) writes: ...

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The Real Enemy in Iraq 
By John Noonan

Is our troops, according to the New York Times.

Alcohol, strictly forbidden by the American military in Iraq and Afghanistan, is involved in a growing number of crimes committed by troops deployed to those countries. Alcohol- and drug-related charges were involved in more than a third of all Army criminal prosecutions of soldiers in the two war zones — 240 of the 665 cases resulting in convictions, according to records obtained by The New York Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Seventy-three of those 240 cases involve some of the most serious crimes committed, including murder, rape, armed robbery and assault. Sex crimes accounted for 12 of the convictions.

Sounds like a horrible problem! A downward spiral! A worsening trend!

Unless of course, you remove the sensationalism and stick to the numbers.

Bull Nav, our resident Swabbie over at OPFOR, hits the NYT's with a healthy dose of perspective.  ...

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More "Real Enemy"
By Greyhawk

Responding to an earlier post from Noonan here...

Jason Van Steenwyk (who I believe was the first regularly-posting, long term milblogger from Iraq) found a similar story this week:

When you're standing in ranks, look at the soldier or marine to you're right. Now look at the one to the left. Now look at the guy in front of you. If none of them are crazy, statistically, it means you're the nutcase. At least according to researchers in (ahem) San Francisco.

It's one of those storylines trotted out periodically - the current effort fueled by the heat generated by the Walter Reed story. (And yes, it harkens back to much of the psycho-Vietnam-vet mythology of the '70s and '80s).

I found an earlier Iraq-based example two years ago, shortly after I came home from my first trip "over there".

Mental Disorders Are On The Rise Among Afghanistan, Iraq Veterans

Funding cuts could overburden system

As many as one out of four veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals in the past 16 months were diagnosed with mental disorders, a number that has been steadily rising, according to a report in today's New England Journal of Medicine.

To make a long story short, I compared numbers to published figures for the U.S. population as a whole...

[...]

I'm absolutely in favor of maximum funding for VA medical centers (really, I love it when Dems and Repubs try to outdo each other to tangibly support the troops), and I'm fully aware that PTSD and other such issues are real, and potentially devastating to those afflicted. But for some reason I always get the feeling such issues aren't the real purpose behind most of the media coverage

Or maybe, being an OIF vet, I'm just paranoid.

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The Opportunity In Sadr City
Ed Morrissey

A report by The Scotsman on the shock experienced by American troops on their first forays into Sadr City reveal an opportunity that we can seize to push the militias aside. Basic services such as sewage and trash removal do not exist, and although the residents of the slums have so far given the American surge a chance, success will depend on replacing those services provided by the militias:

In a capital where public services barely function and five straight hours of electricity is a cause for celebration, Sadr City stands out. Some 2.5 million people, nearly all of them Shiites, live in the northeastern Baghdad community. Many of them lack running water and proper sewerage. Hundreds of thousands have no jobs and subsist on monthly food rations, a throwback to the international sanctions of the Saddam Hussein era.

Streets in some parts of Sadr City run black with sludge. Damaged power lines provide, at best, only four hours of electricity a day.

Many US soldiers were unprepared for what they found. During a patrol last week, troops brushed flies from their faces as they drove through rotting heaps of refuse and excrement that were piled outside houses. One soldier opened his Humvee's door and vomited.

Improving the quality of life for Iraqis - including those in Sadr City - is part of the American strategy, articulated by the new US commander, General David Petraeus.

The sorry state of Sadr City has increased the appreciation of the Mahdi Army's role in the slums for American troops. What few services the residents received came from the Shi'ite militias -- along with protection rackets, violence, and exploitation. These people want to see their situation change, and they will be willing to work with almost anyone who can improve their conditions and allow them to get off of the dole.

General David Petraeus understands this. His strategy of neighborhood-based security allows for close interaction with the residents. He has adjusted the tactics used in implementing security to allow for softer, more friendly approaches to Sadr City residents, who will appreciate the difference between professional American troops and the crime-lord approach of the Mahdis. At this level, it is a hearts-and-minds strategy that Petraeus hopes will pay short- and long-term dividends. ...