Winning Iraqi Hearts and Minds by Rebuilding Sadr City
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. forces in Baghdad know that it will take more than imposing a security crackdown, imprisoning suspects and killing militia fighters to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. It will take rebuilding their community.
In that vein, Task Force Gold and military partner Task Force 1-6 have thrown themselves into fixing up one of Baghdad's notoriously neglected and run-down neighborhoods.
They have have given themselves one month to make a tangible difference in one-quarter of the Shiite slum of Sadr City —a hotbed of militant resistance and the site of fierce gunbattles.
It is no small burrito, and they are working at a frenzied pace.