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Article: Edging Their Way Into Sadr City; U.S. Officers Try Negotiating Before Buildup in Baghdad Slum
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 21, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The U.S. military is engaged in delicate negotiations inside Sadr
City to clear the way for a gradual push in coming weeks by more
American and Iraqi forces into the volatile Shiite enclave of more
than 2 million people, one of the most daunting challenges of the
campaign to stabilize Baghdad.
So sensitive is the problem of the sprawling slum -- heavily
controlled by militiamen loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-
Sadr -- that Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in
Iraq, personally approves all targets for raids inside the Baghdad
district, military officers said.
Lacking sufficient troops so far to move deeper into Sadr City,
the military has cautiously edged into the ...