The relative calm has come in part through the U.S. military's willingness to work with former Sunni insurgents to fight foreign extremists as well as to work tacitly with the moderate elements of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia to stabilize neighborhoods.
Baghdad's Rashid district, for example, was once an area with a majority Sunni population. After years of violence, its population is about 70% Shiite.
Securing the area has meant coming to an understanding with the same militia responsible for expelling the Sunnis, American officials acknowledge.
"It's the reality of western Rashid," said Army Lt. Col. Patrick Frank, whose battalion is responsible for the area. "Everyone we deal with is" a member of the Mahdi Army, he said.
Frank has sought a truce with what he views as the movement's moderate wing and praised what he sees as its positive role in guarding outdoor markets and managing trash collection. At the same time, he said, he has continued to target its radical elements.
His willingness to engage the Mahdi Army through its intermediaries helped lead to a reconciliation agreement last month between Sunnis and Shiites in Rashid's Jihad neighborhood. A small number of families from both sects have slowly started to return to their homes, said Dr. Anas Zaidi, who attended some of the reconciliation talks but no longer lives in Jihad.
For Shiites in neighborhoods across Baghdad, many still see the militia, not the government, as their legitimate defender.
In New Baghdad, Mohammed Ashraf, 28, described sectarian cleansing as the heavy price of safety. "It's a popular Shiite neighborhood and therefore it's only natural that they shall prevail. They work in coordination with both the Iraqi police and army," Ashraf said. "Sure there are some negative aspects in them, but the positive ones outweigh those, such as providing essential services and security to the people."
The Mahdi Army has turned the west Baghdad neighborhood of Hurriya into a haven for Shiites driven out of nearby Sunni areas like Adil during last year's sectarian cleansing. The local militia had also expelled its own Sunni population. Now the Mahdi Army rules the area in cooperation with the U.S.-sponsored neighborhood council.
"Did you hear of stealing cooking gas, tanks, cars or motorcycles in the Shiite areas? There is none. It never happens. It is very rare. This is because of the Mahdi Army," said resident Hazim Muhsin.
