U.S. Troops in Baghdad Take a Softer Approach

BAGHDAD, Nov. 19 -- It was billed as a peace concert in war-scarred Baghdad. But after 30 minutes of poetry and patriotic songs, only a scattering of tribal leaders and dark-suited bureaucrats were sitting in the vast expanse of white plastic chairs before a stage painted with doves. That didn't trouble Col. Bill Hickman, whose soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division helped organize the event. "We have sheiks from different places who will sit here and talk to each other," he said, standing at the edge of the audience with his men, a striking sight in their body armor and night-vision goggles.

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