U.S. Troops Uneasy as Rules Shift in Iraq

Spec. Bryan Svejkovsky, 22, of Garfield Heights, Ohio, patrols with an Iraqi sergeant in Sadr City as garbage burns behind them. Under the security agreement between the United States and Iraq that went into effect with the new year, American troops are required to coordinate all missions with Iraqi security forces. (By Ernesto Londoño -- The Washington Post)
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"Tonight is an important mission," Ivanov said, using an interpreter to communicate with the sergeant. "I'm not supposed to tell him, but I will because we're friends."

The sergeant stripped out of a fitted green sweat suit, slipped on his uniform, grabbed his rifle, and wrapped a brown-and-white kaffiyeh, a type of head scarf, around his face.

"He doesn't want people seeing him with the Americans," said Rad, Ivanov's interpreter. For that reason, the 26-year-old sergeant, a Kurd, and Ivanov asked that the man's name not be published.

Minutes before midnight, Ivanov and his men, on a joint mission with the lone sergeant, headed out to a street market to meet an informant. Ivanov possessed two sworn statements from witnesses about a man suspected of collaborating with the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia that for years controlled Sadr City. But he wanted more evidence to persuade a judge to sign off on a warrant.

"We'll be patient so we can put him away for a long time," said Ivanov, of Kemah, Tex.

Ivanov, the Iraqi sergeant and the informant met in a dark spot of the market, between two trucks. Ivanov was doing all the talking, while the Iraqi sergeant smoked and wandered around. The conversation was interrupted by bursts of gunfire. Initially sporadic and distant, the shots grew progressively louder and more frequent, fired perhaps from a block or two away. Ivanov and his men looked concerned. Then one soldier looked at his watch.

"It's New Year's, sir," he told Ivanov.

Ivanov didn't want to endanger the informant if people saw them speaking on the street, so they agreed to meet at the man's house later.

The Iraqi sergeant, amused by the celebratory gunfire, asked Ivanov if he could fire a couple of rounds in the air.

No way, Ivanov shot back.

The sergeant laughed, and lit another cigarette.

Sadr City Station

Iraqi government officials last year demanded, as part of the security agreement negotiations, that U.S. troops withdraw from populated areas by July. American military officials have taken some steps toward that end, closing down large bases and outposts occupied only by U.S. troops. But they have no imminent plans to shut down dozens of inner-city bases like the one in Sadr City, which they call a joint security station. A handful of Iraqi officials work alongside Eifler's unit. Like other security stations in Baghdad, it is overwhelmingly populated, and unmistakably controlled, by Americans.