Ronald Gans New York , Nov. 1 , 2006 To the Editor : Re '' Iraqi Demands a Pullback ; U.S. Lifts Baghdad Cordon '' -LRB- front page , Nov. 1 -RRB- : As an Air Force veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm and whose brother is an Army captain who will be serving a second tour in Iraq , I was proud of the fact that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki , Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey Jr. reached an agreement to remove checkpoints around Sadr City .