BAGHDAD

While generals and heads of state negotiate the final details of a planned June 30 U.S. military pullback from Iraqi cities, commanders and troops on the ground are left wondering how their jobs will change.

A spike in violence, punctuated by a string of deadly bombings concentrated in Baghdad, has shone a spotlight on the planned pullback and what it might mean for security. Despite the attacks, the Iraqi government has remained firm in its demand that U.S. forces leave cities, though officials have hedged significantly on where cities begin and end, indicating nervousness about pushing U.S. troops too far from urban centers.

Most importantly, several large bases — such as the sprawling Camp Victory complex near the Baghdad International Airport — will be considered outside the city even though they are within the city limits. But recent comments by Iraqi government officials indicate that American troops in Mosul, still a stronghold of insurgents, will still have to pull back by the deadline.

Earlier, Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, indicated an exception might be made for the Sunni-majority northern city of 2 million people, but he has since backtracked on those comments.

In the capital, the numbers bear out a dramatic shift toward Iraqi control, with about 85,000 Iraqi soldiers and police patrolling the streets in addition to the nearly 50,000 "Sons of Iraq" guards, members of neighborhood militias who mainly man checkpoints, according to U.S. military numbers. About 25,000 U.S. troops are based in Baghdad.

In some areas, the Iraqis are firmly in the lead, while in others they still take their cues from U.S. troops.

On the ground, local commanders are scrambling to make changes while awaiting final word on what will close and what will remain open. With seven weeks to go, many commanders are still unsure what the reconstituted mission will look like.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tim Karcher, who oversees operations on the outskirts of the volatile Shiite slum of Sadr City, said he trusts his bosses to make the right decision, but is still waiting for a concrete plan.

"It’s probably one of the most complex things facing this country right now," said Karcher, of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. "What does ‘out of the cities’ mean? How do we fulfill our obligations [with a smaller presence]?

"It’s one of those things you find yourself scratching your head through your helmet."

‘On our way out’

While talks continue between Washington and Baghdad to figure out exactly what the U.S. mission in the cities will look like after June 30, Odierno said in a news conference Friday that U.S. troop presence would be about 20 percent of current levels.

He said U.S. officials remain committed to leaving cities by the June 30 deadline, despite a recent increase in violence.

"Yeah, well, frankly, we’re basically out of all the cities except for two, Baghdad and Mosul," he said. "We are on our way out of Baghdad. We’ve been slowly turning that over to the Iraqi security forces now for about three months, and I think they’ve made some pretty good progress."

At Joint Security Station Sadr City, a dusty concrete encampment, troops simply walk out the front gate to start patrols, allowing them to interact with residents without the intimidating, street-clogging presence of a large convoy of armored vehicles.

That is likely to end soon, as the joint security station is on the chopping block, along with most of the 50 outposts scattered throughout the capital, said Lt. Col. Philip Smith, spokesman for Multi-National Division-Baghdad. The number of such outposts is likely to dwindle to the teens by June 30, with remaining bases absorbing the additional troops.

Karcher said he hopes the pullback from the heart of the city won’t be too drastic.

"We’ve got … to continue to support [the Iraqi army and police] and I can’t support them from too far away," he said.

As troops in Sadr City prepare to move, those at Joint Security Station Ur on the outskirts of northeast Baghdad are making room for an influx of people. The population of the outpost, about 300 troops, is expected to double.

And, for weeks, Army 1st Sgt. James Funk has been overseeing a major construction project to accommodate the influx.

Iraqi laborers have been placing hundreds of additional 15,000-pound concrete blast barriers, portable toilets and living quarters.

"It’s like the project that never … ends," Funk joked.

‘The will to succeed’

Iraqis had mixed opinions about the pullback, with some supporting a more Iraqi-based security apparatus and others skeptical the Iraqi security forces are capable of taking on more responsibility.

"No, we have to have Americans to support [Iraqi soldiers and police] — they’re not strong enough," said Fatima Aziz, a teacher who was shopping at a market in northeast Baghdad.

At the same market, Hamza Shaab said he wants the Americans to leave, reflecting a growing frustration some Iraqis feel about the continued military presence.

"When the bombs go off, when the Americans appear, they arrest all the Iraqis," he said. "When the American army goes by we all have to stop. What makes them better than us?"

Accountant Jamal Azeema Ahmed, 45, also said it is time for the Americans to reduce their presence.

"The Americans did a lot for us, but the Iraqi army is very qualified," he said.

Some of the direst assessments of the Iraqi security forces’ preparedness come from the American troops working with them.

On a recent night patrol in northeast Baghdad, soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division expressed constant frustration with their Iraqi counterparts — starting at the beginning of the patrol, when the Iraqis didn’t show.

Later, there were tense moments when the U.S. soldiers inspected an Iraqi army checkpoint. When an American lieutenant explained to an Iraqi master sergeant that his men had set up their beds in easy view of potential snipers on nearby rooftops, the master sergeant snapped back at him that the American didn’t understand how Iraqi soldiers suffered.

"You are an American, you have air conditioning in your Humvee," the master sergeant said.

That sent Staff Sgt. Justice Johnson into a rage, dressing down the Iraqi in front of his men.

"You can give people money, you can give people training, but you can’t give them the will to succeed," Johnson said in frustration.

In other parts of Baghdad, though, U.S. soldiers praise the progress of the Iraqi security forces. On a recent joint patrol with American and Iraqi soldiers through the Ur neighborhood, the Iraqis took the lead, properly holding their weapons and spacing themselves to defend against attack and not, as happens with some regularity, wildly firing warning shots at traffic.

"These guys are squared away," said Army 1st Lt. Joshua Vandegriff, the patrol’s American leader.