Iraqi civilian deaths plunge in last 60 days

And in the largely Sunni enclave of Ghazaliya, residents say the protection they receive from American troops has made a world of difference. Where Shiites were forcibly and bloodily evicted, Sunni men now stay outside till 10 or 11 p.m., sitting in lawn chairs. The light spills outside from a barber shop open late. One night, a string of cars from a wedding party drives down the street, passengers honking their horns.

"I expect to live in Ghazaliya the rest of my life. This is our home," Azzawi said. "Now that it is pure Sunni, it is better for us.

"Now the Americans are with the Sunnis and against the Shiites," he said.

The dangers of ceding power to armed groups has also become clear in the Sunni neighborhood of Amiriya, where the Americans forged a partnership in June with residents and former insurgents known as the Amiriya Revolutionaries fighting such foreign-inspired insurgent groups as Al Qaeda in Iraq. What U.S. officers have hailed as a success -- and a model that has spread to other neighborhoods -- has left some Sunnis worried that they are at the mercy of thugs parading as freedom fighters.

"Those who deal directly with the people are the Revolutionaries. We have trust in them but not 100% because we don't know what they have inside them or what they will do tomorrow," said a resident, who was afraid to give his name. "Some of the Revolutionaries have taken over houses abandoned by Shiites who left."

Even Campbell expressed some doubt about what would happen with the Revolutionaries' leader, Abu Abed, an ex-member of the Islamic Army insurgent group.

Abed has played the role of sheriff in Amiriya. If there is a problem, for instance a tenant refuses to pay his rent, Abed will resolve it. But as the Americans draw up plans to add 12,600 police officers in Baghdad, many of them from Amiriya, it remains unclear what Abed's intentions are. Will he join the government system or stay outside?

"I've talked to Abu Abed. We say, here is the deal. . . . You've got to do something as part of the government. You ain't gonna be no mercenary. He understands that. I don't know what he wants to do yet," Campbell said.

Some who have emerged relatively unscathed from the violence are pessimistic.

Ahmed Shakir, an 18-year-old high school student in west Baghdad's Yarmouk neighborhood, has taken advantage of the perks of the U.S. buildup. The young Sunni has played basketball at night outside. He has visited marketplaces as far away as east Baghdad's Sunni Adhamiya district.

But he has no faith in the future. He predicts the country will be divided between "Shiitestan" and "Sunnistan."

This summer, his three best friends' families left for Syria.

"I can't leave Iraq," he said. "Most of my friends, we hear about Iraqis who left the country, how they are living in humiliation. What options do I have?"

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ned.parker@latimes.com

Times staff writers Usama Redha, Saif Hameed, Said Rifai, Wail Alhafith, Raheem Salman and Salar Jaff contributed to this report.