Some good news in Iraq

NYTimes about northern Iraq:

For the past several months, American and Iraqi forces have been slowly applying pressure on the city. The operation, named Lion’s Roar, began officially on May 10. In it, the Iraqis have relied on significant American military assistance, after similar and tentatively successful assaults in Basra and Sadr City.

American tanks have formed cordons while Iraqi soldiers have searched house to house. Forts built and operated by Americans in western Mosul also greatly helped to stem the car bombings that had plagued this city. The Iraqis, though, drew up the arrest lists and conducted the parleys. To soothe ethnic tensions, a Sunni Arab general oversaw the operation.

In all, 83 percent of the military action had a majority of Iraqi troops participating.

American military statistics show that significant acts of violence, including roadside bombings, sniper shootings, and mortar and rocket grenade attacks, fell from 195 in the week before the operation to 93 in the week after it, according to Lt. Col. Eric R. Price, the chief American adviser to General Hussein.

The WaPo on Basra in southern Iraq. More freedoms noticed there, but then there's this gem:

On this day, Zaki embraced the forbidden. He walked to an organ and played "Listen to Your Heart" by the 1980s Swedish pop band Roxette.

Not for nothin', but there's worse things in the world than living in a country that forbids the playing of Roxette songs.

The WaPo on Sadr City. Some real progress there - so far of course.

A little over two weeks ago, U.S. troops in Sadr City were on the front lines of fierce, unrelenting urban warfare. But virtually overnight, their main mission has become one of rebuilding portions of the vast, tattered Shiite district and building trust in neighborhoods where many residents despise Americans.