In Iraq, Petraeus practiced the population-centric counterinsurgency strategy he helped design. He would later tell journalist Peter Bergen that he was shocked to see the transformation of streets that he remembered as bustling thoroughfares during his first deployment to ghost towns with tumbleweeds in the streets. He toured neighborhoods and spoke to Iraqis to help build confidence in local security efforts. Above, he laughs with a merchant in the Shorja market area on March 3, 2007 in Baghdad.
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