Among The Rebels

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American commanders also worry about the possible dangers posed by a new "army" being mobilized by renegade religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr, son of the late Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, who is revered by Iraq's Shi'ites for his struggle against Saddam. Two weeks ago at Friday prayers, al-Sadr declared his opposition to the American-appointed governing council and the American occupation and announced the formation of a "peaceful" army to defend Iraqi dignity, culture and sovereignty. He has since softened his rhetoric, saying the force will be armed only with "faith" and that it will restrict itself to public works.

Al-Sadr's grandstanding is partly politics; he is trying to strengthen his position among Shi'ite leaders. But few doubt his pulling power — hundreds of thousands regularly attend his sermons — or dismiss the implied threat of an Iranian-style Islamic uprising.

As they struggle with myriad threats, U.S. officials must tread the impossibly fine line between eliminating enemies and creating new ones. In Tarmiyah, a town north of Baghdad, locals say American heavy-handedness has provoked them to take potshots at the U.S. convoys that regularly travel a nearby highway.

"Our people loved the Americans as a people, even before the war, but now they do not," says an elder who declines to give his name. "The resistance does exist, but it's not to protect Saddam or avenge Uday and Qusay. The resistance belongs to the community." A community that's hard to fit on just one deck of cards.