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by Sgt. Zach Mott
3rd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
ADHAMIYA, Iraq– Reconciliation and reunification hopes rose high in the northern Baghdad neighborhood as Sunni and Shia religious leaders gathered on the Muslim holy day.
As the marketplace flooded with men, women and children seeking anything from grilled chicken to electronics, heads of the Sunni-dominated Adhamiya and Shia-populated Kadhamiya neighborhoods spoke of security for each religious sect if they were to travel across the Tigris River that divides them.
"There is no difference between Sunni and Shia," said Ali Farouq Abdulah, a 24-year-old Adhamiya resident, hopeful that the reconciliation would increase job opportunities.
Part of the reconciliation efforts included officially opening the bridge that joins the neighborhoods. The bridge was closed shortly after U.S. forces entered the area in 2003 as clashes spiked in the region.
"I'm very happy they opened the bridge," said Kaiser Ghazi Ahmed, as he played a card game in an Adhamiya coffee house.
Others gathered in the coffee house spoke of the need for a unified Iraq to be able to prosper as one and achieve success in the future.
"It's progress. We will provide security for Khadamiyans in Adhamiya, and we expect the same thing in Khadamiya for Adhamiyans," said Najal Mahdi Ibrahim, a 65-year-old retired member of the Ministry of Education.
Najal also talked about a unified front across Iraq – not just prosperity in the two neighborhoods.
"We need equality across Iraq," he said. "As long as we have equality, everything will be good."
As the meetings were ongoing, Lt. Col. Jeff Broadwater and members of the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, that he commands, walked through the local marketplace talking to residents.
"It's all about trying to connect all the people," said the Radcliff, Ky., native. "If you can make a difference to get them all working together for the common good of everybody, then you'll be successful because you can energize all their efforts to focus on one point."
The 3rd Sqdn., 7th Cav. Regt., which is part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and is currently attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, has seen much change in this neighborhood in the past year.
"You look around; you see all of the people out on the streets and the people at the Mosque, this was not what it normally was in August of 2007 and September of 2007. Security was and remains our number one focus down here," said Broadwater.
With events such as those today, where Sunni and Shia leaders are working to build a prosperous future, Broadwater said he sees a thriving future in this neighborhood.
"I think it's got a very, very bright future. As you look around, you can see some of the construction starting to go; people are getting back to their normal way of life, and the economy is starting to come back. When you generate all those variables into their future, I think that it's very, very bright," he said.
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2008 09:32 |
| Story ID: | 16869 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 315 |
| Downloads: | 294 |
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