Iraqi men gather next to a US soldier standing in front of a partially destroyed house during a patrol in the al-Dora neighbourhood in Baghdad on July 3, 2008. The house was damaged by an improvised explosive device during sectarian violence at an unknown time. Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama insisted he had not changed his plan to order immediate troop withdrawals from Iraq, despite earlier saying he might refine his policies. AFP PHOTO/ALI YUSSEF