BAGHDAD — Along a road a man sells hot, fresh rotisserie chicken under a string of lights. Nearby, two men stand in warm coats and knitted caps casually sipping a hot drink at a store front where another man in a blue “USA” sweatshirt moves quickly back and forth behind a glass counter tossing fresh ingredients in warm pitas for a growing line of patrons.
It’s just a typical evening along the street market near the Jamilla and Al Quds Road in Baghdad’s Sadr City district, Dec. 18.
“It’s really bustling isn’t it,” said Lt. Col. Michael Pemrick deputy commanding officer for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division Baghdad.
Pemrick is excited when he walks this street now because only seven months ago his Soldiers along with their partners in the Iraqi Army, fought a pitched battle on this street, and others like it to take control of this once volatile district.
“Before, when you heard the word Sadr City, you pictured an urban war zone,” he said. “Now, the people are relaxed, they are comfortable around Americans, and the IA have a good relationship with the people.”
Today, store fronts once littered with broken glass, and doorways that once covered U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers from sniper fire and rocket propelled grenades are home to barber shops, clothing stores and restaurants.
“Looking back on it, it just doesn’t seem like the same street,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Condreay, a military policeman for 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div. and patrol leader for Pemrick’s command security detachment.
He believes the change in Sadr City is largely in part to the rise in confidence and professionalism displayed by the Iraqi Army who patrol the streets there.
“The IA have become very productive. They have a real sense of pride in what they’re doing,” Condreay said.
Pemrick spoke with Iraqi Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division before touring the street and talking to citizens.
“We’re glad you’re here,” he tells an Iraqi company commander. “You’re doing a great job.”
The Iraqi Army has controlled Sadr City north of the wall along the Jamilla and Al Quds Road since May, and they partner with Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers south of the wall where many of Sadr City’s markets operate and thrive thanks to the reconstruction efforts of 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div.
He said he thinks the efforts of the IA have effectively defeated the criminal elements that once terrorized Sadr City and have now set the conditions for a much better future for all of Sadr City’s residents.
“The cooperation between the U.S. and the IA has turned this place around,” Condreay said.
(Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO)