From Wire Reports

BAGHDAD, Iraq – In the battle for Baghdad, Haifa Street has changed hands so often that it has taken on the feel of a no-man's land, the deadly space between opposing trenches.

On Wednesday, in a small preview of the troop increase that the U.S. hopes will secure the city, U.S. soldiers and armored vehicles raced onto Haifa Street before dawn to dislodge Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias who have been battling for a stretch of ragged slums. But as the sun rose, many of the Iraqi army units who were to do the actual searches of the mostly abandoned buildings did not arrive on time, forcing the Americans to start the job on their own.

When the Iraqi units finally did show up, it was with the air of a class outing, cheering and laughing as the Americans blew locks off doors with shotguns. As the morning wore on and the troops came under fire from all directions, another apparent flaw in this strategy became clear as empty apartments became lairs for gunmen who flitted from window to window and killed at least one American soldier, with a shot to the head.

Whether the gunfire was coming from Sunni insurgents or Shiite militia fighters or some of the Iraqi soldiers who had disappeared into the Gotham-like cityscape, no one could say.

"Who the hell is shooting at us?" shouted Sgt. 1st Class Marc Biletski, whose platoon was jammed into a small room off an alley that was being swept by a sniper's bullets. "Who's shooting at us? Do we know who they are?"

Just before the platoon tossed smoke bombs and sprinted through the alley to a more secure position, Sgt. Biletski had a moment to reflect on this spot, which the U.S. has now fought to regain from a mysterious enemy at least three times in the past two years.

"This place is a failure," Sgt. Biletski said. "Every time we come here, we have to come back."

He paused, then said, "Well, maybe not a total failure," since American troops have smashed opposition on Haifa Street each time they have come in.

With that, Sgt. Biletski ran through the billowing yellow smoke and took up a new position.