Baghdad outpost eager to put boredom behind

Among those most concerned are members of the Awakening Councils, composed of former Sunni Muslim insurgents who switched sides and teamed up with the Americans to fight the Al Qaeda in Iraq militant group. Without the immediate protection of their American allies, they will feel uniquely vulnerable to arrest by the Shiite-led Iraqi government, or assassination by the insurgents they turned against, said Sheik Hazem Shaker, an Awakening leader in south Baghdad.

"I think all the Awakening leaders will be killed or arrested," he said. "The Americans are protecting us now, but when they leave, who will protect us?"

In Shiite neighborhoods such as Hurriya and Shula, the bigger worry is whether Shiite militias will try to reconstitute themselves after the Americans have gone. Tips have been trickling in from residents that militia leaders chased away last year are back on the streets, from exile in Iran or southern Iraq. The three roadside bombings are blamed on the renegade, Iranian-backed militias known as "special groups."

But outpost commander Capt. Steven Veves says there's no evidence that the efforts to reorganize are gaining any traction with residents.

"There's a lot of rumors that they'll come back, but I think the security is so good and the civilian populace is so tired of that stuff that it's really hard for it to happen," he said.

And the soldiers, some of whom are on their fourth tour of duty, say they're tired too. If this retreat doesn't work, few will be keen to make another push back into the city.

"Nobody wants to come back here," Pfc. Devlin Lasiter said. "It's been six years, and if now is not the right time, it never will be right."

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liz.sly@latimes.com