Stars and Stripes reports that the Americans in Baghdad say they're fighting a "three-block war," and that the soldiers of the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team are making progress.
On one block in Baghdad, they say, soldiers are meeting with local officials, working basically as civics teachers — disciples of democracy transferring neighborhood and metropolitan governance skills to Iraqis.Posted by Alan at October 6, 2003 05:22 PMOn the next block, soldiers are rebuilding infrastructure ignored for decades by former dictator Saddam Hussein, renovating a school, or funding sewer and water projects with money seized from the deposed regime.
On the third block, they are in a firefight.
With little support from allies or the United Nations, policymakers in Washington, D.C., are using the Army to do a complex, interrelated matrix of missions — everything from nurturing local neighborhood and municipal councils to recruiting spy networks and launching raids.