THIS EXCELLENT in depth article in the Washington Post uses two reporters to measure the differences between how the US Soldiers believe they are perceived...and what the Iraqis actually say about them. And it doesn't bode well. By the way, the neighborhood mentioned in the article is in the 2d Brigade, 1st Armored Division sector.

At about 10:20 a.m., it was 98 degrees when the patrol moved out through the concertina wire that protects their outpost and past two Bradley Fighting Vehicles parked out front.

The patrol was configured so that one "fire team" of four soldiers was in front, and another in the back. In the middle, leading the patrol, was Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Haumschild, 26, of Stillwater, Minn., accompanied by the medic.

Just to their left was a mosque known for anti-American sermons. Capt. Gerd Schroeder, commander of Bravo Company, said that when he sent an interpreter to listen to last Friday's sermon, the theme of the day was, "if you're not killing the Americans and the Jew pigs, you're not a true Muslim."

There's more. Read it here.