Surge begins to take shape

"Thousands of U.S. troops swept house-to-house through mostly Shiite areas virtually unopposed Wednesday in the opening phase of the long-awaited Baghdad security crackdown. But four U.S. soldiers were killed outside of the capital in an area not covered by the operation.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers and police set up new checkpoints across the city of 6 million people, snarling traffic and forcing people to walk across bridges jammed with cars and trucks.
. . . The increased security measures drew a mixed response from Iraqis _ some angry over the inconvenience, others embracing any effort to stop the rampant violence.
. . . Baghdad residents had seen little evidence of the new measures until Wednesday, a day after the Iraqi commander, Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, announced that Iraq will close its borders with Syria and Iran and ordered the return of unlawfully seized homes as part of the drive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital along sectarian lines."

source
Lenz, Ryan. (The Associated Press). Baghdad Sweep Meets Little Resistance. February 15, 2007.

posted: thursday, february 15, 2007, 3:23 AM ET

tags: iraq security