At a meeting of local sheikhs in Al-Dujail, the sheikhs expressed their concern that American road closures, intended to protect Iraqis, indirectly caused kidnappings and murders.
When coalition forces find a suspected IED (improvised explosive device), they stop traffic in both directions until an explosive ordnance disposal team can remove the threat. This can sometimes take hours. According to the Sheikhs, impatient Iraqis often try to bypass the delay and end up in perilous situations on isolated back roads. In a country where ten to twenty people are kidnapped daily, simple shortcuts can present serious hazards. Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Vuono, who commands troops in the Al-Dujail area, assured the sheikhs that his troops would start making an effort to create safe, temporary bypass roads while clearing explosives.
Conducting operations in Iraq that will help the average Iraqi and stop insurgents often proves more difficult than the American military had imagined. Given the layers of Iraq's conflict--anti-Coalition forces, sectarian battles, tribal feuds, and criminal activity--planning universally beneficial operations requires extreme sensitivity from the US military.
Understanding Iraq's continually shifting conflict already presents a sustainable challenge. Lieutenant Colonel Tom Fisher, commander of 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion, feels that describing the conflict in sectarian terms alone is overly simplistic.
Speaking of three Iraqis murdered at a checkpoint south of Baquba, Fisher explains, "I can...show you three dead bodies and ask you what happened. You won't be able to tell me they're Shiites so Sunnis killed them. You could just as easily say they're Tamimi so Jabouris killed them, because it's an old tribal dispute. You could just as easily say these three guys carjacked this guy's brother's car and he got his gang together and they came back and killed him. Or you could say that they had a nice car, and there was a gang that killed them and stole it. All you and I can say is there's three dead bodies."
For soldiers in the field, responding to situations like these prove confusing and frustrating.
On a routine patrol, White platoon, from 1-68 CAB's Alpha company, comes upon three burning dump trucks in the middle of the highway. A nearby shepherd reports that two cars overtook the dump trucks and sprayed them with gunfire. The attackers took the bodies of those they'd killed, abducted those left alive, set the trucks ablaze, and sped off.
Hoping to collect more information, Sergeant First Class Mike Greer sends Staff Sergeant Matt Nicodemus' humvee to a village within eyeshot of the road. One of the houses is home to a boy born with a deformed arm. White platoon had developed a good relationship with the family while trying to help the boy, so Nicodemus hopes they might be more forthcoming with information than other witnesses.
When Nicodemus arrives at the boy's home, all of the women have locked themselves inside, and they refuse to open the gate for Nicodemus and his interpreter. Hoping to appear less threatening, Nicodemus stays outside as the interpreter reaches under the gate, lifts up the latch and goes inside to talk to the family alone.
"Please go away!" begs the oldest woman as she breaks into tears. "If [the insurgents] see us talking to you they'll kill us." The interpreter works to calm the family, reassuring them that the Americans are trying to help the Iraqis by catching whoever did this. Gradually more women filter out of the house, but the family either doesn't know any more than the shepherd or is afraid to talk. Staff Sergeant Nicodemus gives them ten US dollars for their help, thanks them, and leaves.
White platoon photographs the burning vehicles and passes the information on to intelligence, hoping that someone else can make sense of what happened.
Even when soldiers try to help they worry their actions may have grave consequences.
After visiting a school in a friendly village, Staff Sergeant Nicodemus told his daughter that the children in Iraq didn't have enough school supplies. His daughter's Girl Scout troop decided to help by collecting papers, pencils, and notebooks. They mailed them to Nicodemus so he could deliver them to the school.
A month and a half after Nicodemus and White platoon delivered the school supplies, what looked like a funeral procession waved down White's brother platoon, Stalker. Men slapped the ground, screaming, "Where is God?" Women wailed, and children wandered teary-eyed and frightened amongst the procession.
At first AT4, the translator, was unable to make sense of the bawling Iraqis as they tried to explain what happened. Finally, he understood that three men had kidnapped the school principal, beheaded him, and returned his head in a burlap sack.
Later, White platoon struggled with the news, wondering if the principal might have been killed for working with the Americans. Everyone agreed too much time had passed for there to be a link, but people still worried. "I helped him carry a box of supplies," said Specialist Matt Roberts.
Ultimately, everyone believed he must have been involved in something else. Nicodemus shakes his head, "I guess I won't tell my daughter's [Girl Scout] troop about that."
When coalition forces find a suspected IED (improvised explosive device), they stop traffic in both directions until an explosive ordnance disposal team can remove the threat. This can sometimes take hours. According to the Sheikhs, impatient Iraqis often try to bypass the delay and end up in perilous situations on isolated back roads. In a country where ten to twenty people are kidnapped daily, simple shortcuts can present serious hazards. Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Vuono, who commands troops in the Al-Dujail area, assured the sheikhs that his troops would start making an effort to create safe, temporary bypass roads while clearing explosives.
Conducting operations in Iraq that will help the average Iraqi and stop insurgents often proves more difficult than the American military had imagined. Given the layers of Iraq's conflict--anti-Coalition forces, sectarian battles, tribal feuds, and criminal activity--planning universally beneficial operations requires extreme sensitivity from the US military.
Understanding Iraq's continually shifting conflict already presents a sustainable challenge. Lieutenant Colonel Tom Fisher, commander of 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion, feels that describing the conflict in sectarian terms alone is overly simplistic.
Speaking of three Iraqis murdered at a checkpoint south of Baquba, Fisher explains, "I can...show you three dead bodies and ask you what happened. You won't be able to tell me they're Shiites so Sunnis killed them. You could just as easily say they're Tamimi so Jabouris killed them, because it's an old tribal dispute. You could just as easily say these three guys carjacked this guy's brother's car and he got his gang together and they came back and killed him. Or you could say that they had a nice car, and there was a gang that killed them and stole it. All you and I can say is there's three dead bodies."
For soldiers in the field, responding to situations like these prove confusing and frustrating.
On a routine patrol, White platoon, from 1-68 CAB's Alpha company, comes upon three burning dump trucks in the middle of the highway. A nearby shepherd reports that two cars overtook the dump trucks and sprayed them with gunfire. The attackers took the bodies of those they'd killed, abducted those left alive, set the trucks ablaze, and sped off.
Hoping to collect more information, Sergeant First Class Mike Greer sends Staff Sergeant Matt Nicodemus' humvee to a village within eyeshot of the road. One of the houses is home to a boy born with a deformed arm. White platoon had developed a good relationship with the family while trying to help the boy, so Nicodemus hopes they might be more forthcoming with information than other witnesses.
When Nicodemus arrives at the boy's home, all of the women have locked themselves inside, and they refuse to open the gate for Nicodemus and his interpreter. Hoping to appear less threatening, Nicodemus stays outside as the interpreter reaches under the gate, lifts up the latch and goes inside to talk to the family alone.
"Please go away!" begs the oldest woman as she breaks into tears. "If [the insurgents] see us talking to you they'll kill us." The interpreter works to calm the family, reassuring them that the Americans are trying to help the Iraqis by catching whoever did this. Gradually more women filter out of the house, but the family either doesn't know any more than the shepherd or is afraid to talk. Staff Sergeant Nicodemus gives them ten US dollars for their help, thanks them, and leaves.
White platoon photographs the burning vehicles and passes the information on to intelligence, hoping that someone else can make sense of what happened.
Even when soldiers try to help they worry their actions may have grave consequences.
After visiting a school in a friendly village, Staff Sergeant Nicodemus told his daughter that the children in Iraq didn't have enough school supplies. His daughter's Girl Scout troop decided to help by collecting papers, pencils, and notebooks. They mailed them to Nicodemus so he could deliver them to the school.
A month and a half after Nicodemus and White platoon delivered the school supplies, what looked like a funeral procession waved down White's brother platoon, Stalker. Men slapped the ground, screaming, "Where is God?" Women wailed, and children wandered teary-eyed and frightened amongst the procession.
At first AT4, the translator, was unable to make sense of the bawling Iraqis as they tried to explain what happened. Finally, he understood that three men had kidnapped the school principal, beheaded him, and returned his head in a burlap sack.
Later, White platoon struggled with the news, wondering if the principal might have been killed for working with the Americans. Everyone agreed too much time had passed for there to be a link, but people still worried. "I helped him carry a box of supplies," said Specialist Matt Roberts.
Ultimately, everyone believed he must have been involved in something else. Nicodemus shakes his head, "I guess I won't tell my daughter's [Girl Scout] troop about that."
posted by Tom | 10:47 PM
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