An interesting response from the current battalion commander in Ameriyah, LTC Don Kuehl, to this article from the Guardian.

One thing that I haven't seen much of is to what extent the "soft" ethnic cleansing, i.e., the homogenization of neighborhoods, has contributed to the willingness for CLC to work with US forces and contributed to the reduction in citizen deaths.

Another thing I haven't seen is coverage on upcoming elections and efforts to unlock the grips of political power from the religious/militia parties. I wonder if it's a matter of trying not to taint potential alternatives with American support and coverage or something else. While this goes much beyond just one neighborhood, much of the recent coverage revolves around the string of tactical successes that the "surge" has brought, but unless this translates into greater strategic success, then we won't have really moved the ball forward much.