politburo diktat 2.0

Mood in Sunni west Baghdad turns in favor of US troops

Predominantly Sunni western Baghdad has long been a battleground for US troops against a firmly entrenched insurgent presence backed by a population that appeared sympathetic to the rebels.

Now, however, that attitude is changing as the pace of sectarian violence quickens across the city and raises the grim specter of civil war.

For western Baghdad’s mainly Sunni residents, Iraq’s increasingly aggressive Shiite militias and their perceived allies in the post-war government security forces are a greater threat than the once hated Americans.

“With the Americans here now in Iraq there is kidnapping and killing. Can you imagine what it would be like if they left?” said Abu Atheer.