Jacob Silberberg, Associated Press A U.S. Army gunner patrols through Baghdad's Sadr City section, formerly Saddam City. Click photo for larger image.

Story and photos by Jacob Silberberg
The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The capital's Sadr City section was once a hotbed of Shiite Muslim unrest, but it has become one of the brightest successes for the U.S. security effort.

	Iraqis work on a new drinking water treatment plant for Sadr City. Click photo for larger image.

So far this year, there has been only one car bombing in the neighborhood, and only one American soldier has been killed.

A year ago, militiamen garbed in black and armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades roamed the streets in open revolt against the American presence. But U.S. troops quelled the uprising, and today calmly patrol the district, aided by loyalists of the radical cleric who spurred the violence.

Life in Sadr city, a sprawling slum of 2.5 million people, is dominated by the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose face is on posters plastered everywhere. At police checkpoints, unarmed men from the Sadr Bureau wearing yellow shirts and black pants enforce security, keeping car bombs and foreign fighters out.

"They're hoping they can minimize the coalition's contribution to security," said Lt. Col. Gary Luck, whose U.S. Army unit is responsible for security in Sadr City.

After a series of meetings with American and Iraqi army commanders, young men loyal to Sadr also patrol the streets at night. They carry wooden clubs and are considered by the Americans a neighborhood watch.

"The Sadr Bureau is providing security, especially during the night," said Adel Rekan Salman, a guard at a school. "The Sadr Bureau prevents the terrorists from coming here."

	U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Brisley of Glennville, Georgia, watches a crowd of Iraqis while his commander meets nearby with a neighborhood leader in Sadr City. Click photo for larger image.

When Americans go on patrol, spotters release pigeons into the air, marking their movements through the neighborhood.

"You can do nothing in the quiet here. Within seconds they know," said Staff Sgt. Jaime Phillips, a native of England who joined the U.S. Army.

Sadr once advocated open aggression toward Americans. Najaf, the holy Shiite city in southern Iraq, as well as Sadr City swelled with violence. But U.S. and Iraqi troops resoundingly defeated Sadr's militia, and the cleric toned down his rhetoric.

"Najaf had a huge impact on this population," Luck said. "That was a very sobering fight for the Shiites. There was a huge cost to outward aggression toward the coalition."

Sadr City used to be called Saddam City. After the U.S.-led invasion ousted the dictator, the long-repressed district changed its name to Sadr City for the late Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, a prominent cleric slain in 1999 who was father of the young firebrand who now dominates the district.

American troops patrolling the neighborhood are greeted by children shouting "mister, mister" and they often hand out pencils, candy and bottles of water. Invariably, though, the youngsters throw rocks when the Humvees pull away. Machine gunners atop the vehicles have taken to wearing plastic face masks.

Despite the lack of terrorist violence, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers constantly find bodies dumped in industrial areas, bound, blindfolded and shoeless.

American commanders say Sadr controls a "punishment committee" that enforces vigilante justice against the cleric's opponents and those who violate religious strictures, such as those who drink alcohol and men who go without beards.

"There's some intimidation that is ongoing," Luck said.

	Children throw rocks at a departing U.S. Army patrol in Sadr City. Despite this level on unrest, this year there has been only one car bombing in the neighborhood, and only one American soldiers has been killed. Click photo for larger image.