Hundreds of women in black abayas crowd outdoor food markets, snapping up groceries and fresh vegetables. Stores are open again. Children play soccer on dirt fields until dusk - or later, when there's electricity. This is Sadr City, where black-clad militiamen of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army once enforced discipline across the sprawling slum of 3 million people - half of Baghdad's population. The Iraqi army won control of the district in May after weeks of battles that damaged scores of houses and emptied the streets. "Security is better without the Mahdi Army," said a 42-year-old resident who wanted to be identified only by his nickname, Abu Israa. "We don't want them back." Most residents do not seem to miss the Mahdi Army, and the U.S. and Iraqi governments hope that sentiment sticks. So Sadr City is witnessing a flurry of public works projects - part of an effort to build confidence in the government and make it more difficult for the extremists to return. The U.S. military has tried the same strategy before in Sadr City after cease-fires but with limited results. This time U.S. officials are more confident that they can do a better job of managing the effort and maintaining the flow of money. They also believe that support for the militia has dropped sharply because residents are tired of bloodshed. ...
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