Equally important, he said, coalition troops would move into both Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods.
Although the sweep in the three Shiite neighborhoods on Wednesday was the biggest operation in the capital, other efforts were felt across the city.
Within minutes this entire Shiite neighborhood in central Baghdad had mobilized for war.
Bassim left two jobs as a butcher and a hospital cleaner because they were in very Shiite neighborhoods.
He said their departure contributed to the recent spasm of violence in Shiite neighborhoods.
The buses were normally used to take the workers to Shiite neighborhoods around Baghdad.
The remark did not go unnoticed in the Shiite neighborhoods that bore the brunt of the pain.
At one point, he ran an extortion racket in a Shiite neighborhood of Beirut.
In the Shiite neighborhoods on the east side of Tyre, that choice appeared to have already been made.
Even in Baghdad, their presence is thin and scattered, restricted predominantly to Shiite neighborhoods.