By Maj. Kirk Luedeke4th Light Infantry Brigade, Combat Team Public Affairs
BAGHDAD — U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, visited the Dora Market March 31 and saw the significant improvements made there since December.
"There will be challenges here. This is an area that al-Qaeda continues to go after because it does represent success for the Sunni Arabs, and they (al-Qaeda) don’t want to see cooperation with the Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces."
“Chai for everyone,” Petraeus exclaimed with a smile as he placed some money on the counter at a small tea shop to buy tea for all who accompanied him on the trip and then some. Later he sipped tea with an Iraqi Army battalion commander and Col. Ricky D. Gibbs, commander of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, whose unit is responsible for securing the Dora Market area. They discussed the visible progress in what was, just four months ago, a dangerous cluster of ramshackle buildings full of roaming death squads and criminals.
(Photo: U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, Multi-National Forces - Iraq commander, conducts a tour of the revitalized Dora Market in Baghdad, March 31, 2007. In late December, there were three shops open for business, but on the day of the visit, 141 stores were open. U.S. Army photo by Maj. Kirk Luedeke.)
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