Perspective: Baghdad neighborhood tells its own tale of war

A soldier from the 1st Infrantry Division uses an axe to breach the door of an abandoned house during searches for illegal weapons and explosives in Sadiyah in May.

At an intersection in the Sadiyah section of the capital stands a stark example of what underlies Iraq's sectarian war and why any peaceful outcome will unlikely be determined by U.S. combat power.

On a recent afternoon, a convoy of humvees brought Army Brig. Gen. John Campbell for a look. The deputy commanding general of the First Cavalry Division did not like what he saw.

To the east of a north-south boulevard the Americans have dubbed Route Spruce, Campbell surveyed the eerie emptiness of an enclave that until recently was populated mainly by Sunnis. It now resembles a ghost town.

"It looks devastated," he said.

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