Adding troops hasn’t brought political action

Iraqis say electricity and water remain inadequate.

BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military buildup has brought some relief from bombs and bullets to Baghdad’s shattered neighborhoods. But it has failed so far to reach its overarching purpose: getting Iraqis to agree to the political compromises that Washington considers crucial for any lasting stability.

That mix of cautious hope and deepening frustration — cited by U.S. officials and reinforced by recent events — will be among the key sticking points this week as Congress judges the American military surge and what to do next.

The pumped-up troop presence that began early this year was designed to ease the sectarian slaughter in Baghdad so that religious and ethnic-based parties could agree on how to share power in the new Iraq. Instead of coming together, Iraq’s Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds appear to be drifting farther apart and adding ever more complications to Washington’s eventual goal of scaling down its record-high military presence.

Evidence is everywhere. Neighborhoods in the capital are fragmented into Sunni and Shiite enclaves. Major factions from both groups have bolted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s tottering national government. Both the Shiite and Sunni communities — armed groups and political parties alike — are riddled with rivalries and competing poles of power.

Various factions

Shiites fought Shiites last month in Karbala and up to 52 people died. Sunnis who once attacked Americans are turning their guns on fellow Sunnis loyal to al-Qaida ideology. Sunni politicians are deeply divided on whether to return to the Shiite-led government.

But beyond these high-profile signals of discord, deeper worries lurk.

Many Iraqis, bitter and traumatized, complain they don’t feel any of the promised effects of improved security — which were supposed to include a boost for the nation’s crippled economy and more attention on fixing such daily woes as chronic power outages and water cuts.

Perceptions are crucial to building confidence in a political system that can lead the country to stability.

“The general situation is still like it was before, with some slight improvement in recent months,” said Raed Fawzi, who sells men’s clothing in a mostly Shiite area of east Baghdad. “But in general, there is no promising progress.”

Civilian deaths nationwide rose last month to their second-highest level this year — at least 1,809 according to an Associated Press count.

About 4.4 million Iraqis — out of a prewar population of 26 million — have fled their homes to escape the violence.