When word came down the chain of command that Third Platoon was taking an evening patrol to Salam's house, a handful of soldiers knew they'd be skipping the Army dinner about to be served.

I'd seen Salam once before, during my first few minutes with Bravo Battery as I was introduced around the headquarters' main office. Salam sat in front of a computer wearing a collared shirt and khakis.   He turned halfway around to wave, gave a genuine smile, then turned back to his business.

The business, it turned out, was getting paid by the U.S. Army.

Salam is the founder and leader of his neighborhood's Sons of Iraq, a type of local policing force usually organized by prominent members of a community. Rank-and-file members generally receive $300-per-month directly from the U.S. military.  Sons of Iraq units are showing up all over country, which the American commanders say has lead to a significant reduction in violence throughout areas of conflict. 

Despite these success stories, there are critics at all levels who doubt the long-term effectiveness of such units.  Speaking to a Los Angeles Times reporter in May, a U.S. Army platoon leader characterized the Sons of Iraq leader in his own area of operations:

"Most of them kind of operate like dons in their areas," said 2nd Lt. Forrest Pierce, a platoon leader with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment. They shake down local businessmen for protection money, seize rivals for links to the insurgency and are always angling for more men, more territory and more power.

Soldiers in Bravo Battery's third platoon, however, seem to trust their own local Sons of Iraq head.  

"I think he's a pretty good guy with good intentions," said Private First Class Anthony Spears.  "He's just trying to help out his neighborhood."

As the sun began to set over Baghdad, Third Platoon mounted their armored humvees and set out for the 10 minute drive to Salam 's house, a nondescript white-faced building in the Riyadh section of Karadah. 

That night, as during other recent nights all over the city, the mood was quiet and relaxed as residents mingled outside their homes and businesses.  The humvees arrived at a small Sons of Iraq checkpoint, and to the left stood Salam in front of his home ready to great the soldiers.  He motioned us inside.

"They know the way already," he said, pointing to one of the soldiers.  

We passed through an entranceway which, I'd learn later, bore the marks of an unsuccessful bomb attack against Salam carried out earlier this year.

A Sons of Iraq checkpoint in Karadah. Photo: David Botti

As a visitor to this near-weekly meeting of Salam and Third Platoon's soldiers, it was difficult to gage the dynamic among them.  Four soldiers, along with their Iraqi interpreter, settled into the room as if it were their own.  They pulled off flak jackets and helmets and flopped onto the empty couches.  They treated Salam as they might a favorite uncle, and he in turn offered cigarettes, Pepsi, and Jordanian energy drinks.

Yesterday's Third Platoon patrol took us to the same National Police headquarters in the Kamshara area as the day before.  Later in the morning a joint patrol was planned to clear the main road of rocks and debris.  The purpose here is to remove any type of concealment for explosives planted along the route.

Along with Third Platoon came Bravo Battery's commander Captain Christopher Kliewer, a red-haired Oklahoman who watched as the acting-platoon leader, Staff Sergeant Eddie Ruiz, sat down with the National Police captain.

The meeting between leaders was amicable enough. Ruiz ran down the usual checklist of supplies the Army could provide and, just as the day before, discussed the morale of his colleague's men. 

As the meeting came to a close the room's door swung open and a policeman entered somewhat excited.  There had been a carjacking on a highway nearby.  There was no other information.  The policeman left.

The National Police captain sighed and seemed disinterested considering the violence that occurred less than 500 yards away.  It wasn't in his district, he told the Americans through their military translator.  He would need a direct order from his commanding officer to send men those few hundred yards to assist in the necessary police work.  Otherwise, if one of these policemen were hurt doing so, he'd be in considerable trouble.

At that moment the same national policeman entered the room and reported a civilian was killed in the attack.  A minor commotion ensued as both the National Police captain and the Army translator both tried to question the bearer of news, who seemed uniformed on anything but the most general of details.  

He eventually left and the room settled once more.

The National Police captain continued, saying the Iraqi Police were responsible for that area, and that they do nothing but checkpoints without patrolling their area. The captain recounted one incident where Iraqi Police simply stood by as gunman opened fire on a group of civilians.

Some background: The National Police and the Iraqi Police constitute two of the six armed security forces operating in the Kadarah neighborhood, the other four being the U.S. Army, the Iraqi Army, the neighborhood-based Sons of Iraq, and the Kurdish security detail for Iraq's president Jalal Talibani, who lives in western Karadah.

Soldiers here explained the difference between the Iraqi Police and the National Police as being akin to local and state police in the United States.  While the Iraqi Police are strictly assigned to neighborhood, the National Police are assigned throughout the country.

Checkpoints manned by these various groups can be as close as a few blocks away. There is little or no communication between these checkpoints directly, Captain Kliewer said, but so far this hasn't presented any significant problems.

If you could go on Iraqi television and tell the country one thing what would it be?

I'd try to emphasize that we're trying to help them.  I think it's mixed: some people know we're here to help them, others don't.  I'd ask for their cooperation, since it seems like half cooperate and half don't.  It's just like in the U.S. where it's how your parents raise you.  If their parents don't like us they won't.  And if their parents like us they will.

-PFC Scott Glover, 22, Stockbridge, GA

SGT Otto. Photo: David Botti

Can't we all just get along?  That's the easiest way to sum it up.

-SGT Nicholas Otto, 23, Milwaukee, WI

That's a hard one.  I'd say, hey, if you want to make your country better, you've got to get involved in the whole thing.  I can't tell 'em that they're all going to start trusting each other.  All I can say is just for them to get involved.  That's the whole reason we're here.

-PFC Brandin Delion, 19, Riverside, CA

A Tuesday morning patrol for Third Platoon brought them to what's considered one of the less friendly sections of Karadah.   The buildings are thought to house members of the Jaysh al-Mahdi, or JAM, Muqtada al-Sadr's militia unit.  There haven't been any overt problems in the area recently, Staff Sergeant Eddie Ruiz, the acting-platoon leader said—it's the countless repair shops, warehouses, and metal shops that cause concern.  

As Sergeant Jeffery Breen put it after we dismounted the humvees and began to hop-step over large puddles of oily water: "they can build anything they want here."  The worry is that what could be built here is some sort of explosive device that would eventually be used against U.S. soldiers.

On the previous night's patrol through another of Karadah's districts, the soldiers freely shook hands and joked with neighborhood residents.  Tuesday morning in the JAM area, however, the soldiers were largely greeted without emotion, or with what seemed to be a carefully feigned disinterest in their presence.  

Sitting in chairs outside their shops, or walking alongside the patrol as they go about their daily business, the people watched Third Platoon's humvees rumble by.  Overhead electrical wires sagged.  The soldiers explained these low-hanging wires are one of the reasons they can't use the much touted MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles, which are considered the military's new line of defense against roadside bombs and explosives.  Here the MRAP's are too tall and would easily catch onto the wires and pull the electrical polls down.

Despite the weary looks of the neighborhood residents, Third Platoon remained in good spirits.  Squad leader Sergeant Jeffery Breen even managed to elicit a tight smile from a shop owner when he borrowed the man's hose and pretended to wash the shop's driveway.

Third Platoon soldiers on patrol. Photo: David Botti

A white Kia sedan screeched to a stop, as one of the humvees turned onto a main street full of early morning traffic.  The driver continued to stare straight ahead, as a soldier lifted his hand to stop the rest of the traffic.