I edited, read the entire article, very informative
When pressed, a weary Sheik Mahmoud al-Needa admits that what is happening in this farming village by the Tigris River is "part of the price we have to pay." Al-Owja, birthplace of Saddam Hussein, enjoyed favored status under the dictator’s rule.
| "We're Numbah One! We're Numbah One!" |
Now, although U.S. forces have not yet captured its famous native son, they have a tight hold on his village.
| "Y'win some, y'lose some. Some gets rained out. Other times there's sand storms. Or mud slides. Or earthquakes. Or volcanic eruptions..." |
A month ago, facing attacks allegedly led and financed by people in the village, troops encircled it with rolls of barbed wire, lining the nearby highway and snaking along the sand between the eucalyptus trees on the edge of the community. All males over 16 years old must register for Army-issued identification cards. Until Friday, soldiers searched cars and recorded the identity of anyone entering or leaving the village.
| "'Mahmoud', huh? Whut kinda name is that? Y'ain't from around here, are yew?" |
A few dozen on a "blacklist" were not allowed to exit. Friday evening, the checks ended, though they can be reimposed. The U.S. Army officer who thought up the plan is hopeful that residents got the point. "It has forced them into a dialogue with our forces," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, a battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division. "They realized that the rules were completely ours."
"So, lemme see if I got this straight: Youse guys, you're the conquering army that disposed the dictator that clung to power for 35 years, invaded two of his neighbors, and gassed his citizenry, dumping him in three weeks or less."
"Uhuh."
"And we're...?"
"Squat."
"No. We ain't squat."
"Have it your way." |
Russell’s battalion, which covers the nearby city of Tikrit and surrounding villages, has suffered the most casualties in the division — five killed and 48 wounded. But no U.S. soldiers have been killed there in the month since al-Owja was encircled.
| Says something, doesn't it? |
He said the registration of the men — which includes the issuance of the photo ID in English — has turned the town into a "fishbowl" for gathering information on Iraqi insurgents. Many residents of the town see the plan as unfair.
| "It ain't fair, Mahmoud! It just ain't fair!" |
Al-Needa noted that despite the new tactics, this has been a deadly month for attacks on U.S. forces throughout Iraq.
| Sounds like an indication there are more rolls of barbed wire needed at other towns through Iraq... |
Residents also say the new system is haphazard. For example, they note that one of those on the blacklist for exit was Nasser Hussein Obaid, a 40-year-old invalid, crippled since birth, who lives in a fly-infested home with his equally disabled brother and mother. Russell said Obaid has "close ties to Saddam" and may possess valuable information. He noted that only about three dozen residents are on the blacklist, and the rest of the town’s 3,500 residents were free to come and go past the checkpoint.
| "But don't bring Nasser." |
But the one with the upper hand is clearly Russell, a casual, telegenic 40-year-old Oklahoman. He studied military history — the tactics used by Napoleon in Germany and the French in Algeria — to find a way to track an enemy who lives among the population. He relies in part on tribal politics to keep the village subdued, giving al-Needa a chance to use his sheik’s clout in winning the residents’ cooperation. Of course, he can frequently draw on ample force — U.S. troops have raided and searched about a third of the homes in the village. But he also uses incentives, saying that the coalition has helped al-Needa acquire loans and complete paperwork with the new bureaucracy. When he wrapped the village in barbed wire, he told al-Needa that the residents must stop supporting attacks on the coalition, provide information on hidden weapons in their farmlands and make those on the blacklist available for questioning at any time. He said al-Needa has delivered about as well as he can.
| Which I'd guess would be grudgingly... |
But last week, before the checkpoint was suspended, al-Needa took a bitter view of the American actions.
| "It hate it!" he said, his eyes filling with tears. "I mean, I'm a sheikh and everything. I got this burnoose, and these curly-toed slippers. People come from miles around, just to kiss my shoulders. And I gotta defer to these... these... infidels!" |
He warned that the IDs and the barbed wire would just turn people against the Americans — something Russell dismisses, noting the existing anti-American sentiments.
| "What the hell are they now?" |
In the end, though, al-Needa said he can do little except follow the American dictates. That’s exactly the message Russell would like to send to the whole village. "If this happened in the time of Saddam Hussein, we would fight him," al-Needa said. "But we can’t fight the Americans. They are more powerful."
| Since worse things happened under Sammy, and most of the time people didn't fight him, I'd doubt the truth of that statement... |
You may want to read the entire article |