IRAQ; Karen McCarthyin Zafarniyah, Baghdad, reports on the US army's strategy for winning hearts and minds from the much-feared local militia
"Everyone here is scared, Shia and Sunni," said Levi, a Sunni interpreter who is working with the US military in this Shia- dominated district of Baghdad. He is committed to helping the US forces combat Jaysh Al Madhi (JAM), the Shia "Mahdi Army" of Muqtada al-Sadr, which killed his fiancee and best friend, and tortured his father.
Zafarniyah is JAM territory and is easy to influence. Its Shia population of about 200,000 is poor and largely uneducated.
"For some, the goal is a Shia state," said Lieut Clay Hanna of one of the Second Infantry's artillery units that patrols this area. He has found some diehards that believe Sadr is the future of Iraq, but battery commander Capt David Smith said they're largely dealing with a mafia-style element.
The absence of an overarching ideology has given rise to the exploitation of Shia as well as Sunnis.
This JAM element works to drive out Sunnis, take their property and sell it, but they also run protection and extortion rackets, and control much of the lucrative fuel distribution market by picking it up from depots and selling it to locals at exorbitant prices.
They reportedly reward snipers for killing US soldiers to garner national attention.
Lieut Andrew Aiken, who oversees intelligence operations in the area, said while they pay young men to place bombs they exert control mainly through fear and intimidation.
The militia is said to operate from the large Sadrain mosque that reportedly has a torture room.
The screams that Lieut Hanna has heard fuel fear of JAM and of the Iraqi security forces that locals believe are infiltrated with militia cells.
The Iraqi army here is led by experienced Sunni officers who don't want to deal with JAM, but that does not help the Shia who have distrusted Sunni-led security forces for generations.
According to Lieut Hanna the Iraqi police "hurt more then they help", and members have been arrested for carrying out sectarian violence for the militia.
To further complicate matters, they have little faith in the competence of the Iraqi government, often criticised for sectarianism.
"The government is not experienced enough to control the country," said Sa'ed Nabil, chairman of the Mulhalla's neighbourhood council, who has been waiting four years for the ministry to fix a phone line. "They are slow and inefficient."
The only semblance of trust seems to be from the locals for the US soldiers. Coupled with a need to restore basic services and a weariness of JAM bombs and kidnappings, this is paying off in anonymous calls that are leading to a significant number of arrests.
"Until the people feel comfortable with the Iraqi army and trust that they don't have militia ties," said "Chris", a US intelligence officer , "the US is the only thing holding them from being at the mercy of JAM or the Iraqi police."
The Shia districts are more dependent on the Iraqi security forces, unlike the Sunni areas of Ramadi and Baquba where the locals themselves stood up to al-Qaeda. The profile of the two communities is fundamentally different. Sunnis tend to be better educated, wealthier and more accustomed to leadership.
Their tribal leaders exert considerable influence and community leaders or muqtars have more power.
The Shia have been oppressed, poor and less educated for a long time. Their tribal leaders or sheikhs have less influence and local leaders have less political power. The community is more sectarian than tribal, which has opened a leadership vacuum on a local level that is being filled with self-appointed sheikhs who are often in the militia.
The American military is tackling the trust, security and political problems with a "bottom up" approach.
Following January's Baghdad security plan, they train the Iraqi army, arrest infiltrators, push soldiers out into combat outposts to increase the visibility of both armies, and put a large emphasis on economic development in an effort to provide jobs for men who would otherwise resort to violence.
"JAM influences by intimidation, the US by economics," said Maj Chris Wendland who oversees the security operations and economic programmes in the area. "We're showing JAM won't provide for a better life and showing the US are."
Success is defined as making a transition to an Iraqi security force capable of coping with its own security and a political system capable of coping with the economy, said Lieut Col Dunham, deputy commander of the brigade in charge of south eastern Baghdad.
The optimism at the command level - albeit in the form of a long-term strategy - is not in evidence among the troops on the ground who relentlessly arrest JAM leaders and disrupt their operations on a daily basis.
"It's frustrating," said Capt Chris Holstead at the combat outpost.
"At our level we don't see any end in sight."
The commanders say they are making progress. They've brought in teams of US State Department experts and city planners.
They're fixing sanitation and infrastructure and providing small development grants to local business owners.
Battalion commanders can allocate funds to help schools and provide humanitarian assistance. Weekly they meet local leaders to try to fix the broken links in the local government and increase efficiency.
They are working to increase the ability of the Iraqi army, identify infiltrators and validate the authority of the sheikhs. Lieut Col Dunham acknowledges a need to include JAM members who renounce violence in the political process.
Still many fear the Iraqi army will not stand up to JAM when the US leaves and Zafarniyah will fall into sectarian cleansing under militia control. Others like councilman Yunis say even if they combat the militia, they won't be strong enough to win.
Last week the Iraqi army provided sole security for the four-day pilgrimage of the Seventh Imam.
It went off without incident and was considered a mark of success for their increasing capability.
"Every day a victory is won," said Maj Wendland, "and those little victories add up."
Karen McCarthy is embedded with US troops in Baghdad