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MICHAEL
WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S.
military's success in Iraq is spectacular. Insurgent
attacks are back to levels not seen since nearly two
years ago before the Samara shrine bombing sparked
the civil war. Much of the success comes from U.S.
military alliances with men like these: Sunni
insurgents protecting villages and neighborhoods like
here in Fadhil in Baghdad's heart. Across the
capital, the result is that civilian deaths have
dropped by a remarkable 75 percent. Yet, Baghdad
remains a dangerous place. The city carved into
sectarian enclaves, where crossing the dividing
lines, as we're doing today to reach Fadhil, can be
deadly.
(on camera): Is this Haifa Street?
(voice-over): With loyalties so fluid, we thread our
way through rival militia checkpoints and pass
undetected through Iraqi army positions; undetected
because you can't be sure whose side anyone is on.
But we make it to Fadhil. The latest neighborhood
where insurgents now allied to America have driven
out al Qaeda and we find life is returning to normal.
It's a stunning transformation, because weeks ago, al
Qaeda ruled here with vicious efficiency. Marking the
homes of families to be punished. Men to be killed,
homes to be burned.
(on camera): So, from al Qaeda, this is like a mark
of death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His family, not good here.
WARE (voice-over): Some deemed not good by al Qaeda
were led up this winding alleyway to a make-shift
torture chamber. Mutilated bodies were dumped in
rubbish heats or in this fetid water.
(on camera): And what would have happened to me on
these streets when al Qaeda was here?
(voice-over): My body would have been fed into a meat
grinder, this Sunni militia commander tells me. Then,
al Qaeda would have asked CNN and my country for
millions of dollars. The scars of the close quarters
combat it took for the Sunni concerned citizens to
drive out al Qaeda are fresh.
(on camera): But look at all the bullet holes even in
the school.
(voice-over): But the dramatic change here, the drop
in bloodshed, seems fleeting...
(on camera): This is all from the fighting, yes?
(voice-over): ...almost ephemeral. Why? Because
without reconciliation among the religious sects
themselves, it cannot last; and that feels a long way
off. Everywhere in Fadhil, there are memorials not
only to those murdered by al Qaeda, but also those
killed by Shia militia and government death squads.
The same alliance with the Sunni sets uprooted al
Qaeda has also seen the U.S. side with groups ready
for another fight against the Iraqi government and
any Iranian influence.
(on camera): Do you think this government will ever
be able to embrace the Sunni groups?
(voice-over): The government is not loyal to its
country says this U.S.-backed Sunni commander. They
are supported by the intelligence service of a
neighboring country. This, he says, is the abyss.
(on camera): Who will you be fighting when the
Americans leave?
(voice-over): And when American troops finally do
leave Iraq, the commander knows who he will be
fighting.
(on camera): We're talking about this government?
(voice-over): It's this government and the people
they are loyal to, he answers. And this commander
doesn't see much hope for reconciliation either.
Everybody knows militias and Iranian agents are
inside the government and inside the Iraqi Security
Forces, he says. They cannot work with us. He even
claims Iraqi soldiers actually fired at his men as
they fought al Qaeda.
(on camera): A convoy.
(voice-over): So with the sudden arrival of a
military convoy, the tension rises.
(on camera): Is it an American convoy, or Iraqi?
(voice-over): Who is it...
(on camera): It's Americans? Then we can film.
(voice-over): ...and can they be trusted?
(on camera): Is it Jaish American or Jaish Iraqi?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it's an American.
WARE (on camera): Get out of the way. If it's
American, we should be fine. How does he feel?
Nervous?
(voice-over): It is an Iraqi army convoy led by a
brigadier general. The government has ordered we ask
the Sunni elements to join the police and army, he
says, because we don't want the security institutions
controlled by one sect.
But as we get ready to leave, the Sunni commander
escorting us to leans into the car, telling me he
does not trust the offer. The mistrust is shared on
all sides and deeply troubles America's commanders,
for they know they cannot return home if Iraq cannot
make peace with itself.
Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.