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| Iraq |
| A look at Tarmiya |
| 2006-05-26 |
| If the United States has any hope of pulling its troops out of Iraq, it is going to have to hand over volatile towns like Tarmiya to Iraqi forces. This Sunni rebel stronghold is surrounded by soothing palm trees that belie a violent rebel campaign of bombings and kidnappings that have intimidated both town residents and Iraqi forces charged with taking over security from their U.S. allies. Helicopters were shot down and a group of 35 policemen massacred by insurgents before about 100 U.S. troops arrived here two months ago to support 200 Iraqi soldiers, as policemen are trained to eventually stabilise the town on their own. Tarmiya could be a test case for the U.S. military, which hopes its training of Iraqi forces will enable them to withdraw after three years of confrontation with Sunni Arab insurgents. "When we arrived here two months ago we could not get one person to sign up for the police force because they feared the terrorists," said Colonel Jim Pasquarette, who is spearheading the campaign to improve security in Tarmiya. "Since then over 2,000 people have volunteered." The U.S. effort to engage the population has already been costly for people who cooperated, like town Mayor Sheikh Saeed Jassim, whose son was killed by insurgents. He has also received death threats and the new Iraqi government's vow to crush insurgents offers him little comfort. "They have no idea what is going on here," he said of the new Shi'ite-led government. But despite talk from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraqi forces taking over next year, Bush insists there will be no timetable and withdrawal depends on Iraqis being prepared. In Tarmiya, an agricultural town 30 km (20 miles) north of Baghdad, that goal still seems some way off. The sole clinic for 40,000 people does not offer surgical or maternity services, forcing patients to brave roadside bombs and kidnappers on the road to the nearest Baghdad hospital. "The Iraqi forces have not improved security and if we have to rush to a Baghdad hospital we could get kidnapped or killed. There have been cases of women close to birth whose relatives were kidnapped as they were driven to Baghdad," said Abu Ahmed, a local government employee walking on Tarmiya's main street. But Pasquarette, a tall native of Philadelphia who is frank about difficulties on the ground, expresses cautious optimism. He notes progress since arriving with the daunting mission of rooting out al Qaeda militants, improving ties between Iraqi forces and the local population and building an effective police force from scratch. Pasquarette plans to keep about 100 U.S. troops and 200 Iraqi soldiers in the town as police recruits get training. The 20 policemen currently in Tarmiya are expected to grow into a force of 300 expected to take over security by September. Iraqi forces are also visibly involved in $4.5 million in projects including a new operating room and birthing room at the clinic, a youth centre and a fresh drinking water scheme in a bid to win over residents. The logic of the two-pronged strategy seemed to have limited appeal on Tarmiya's main street, where youths warily watched U.S. soldiers protect journalists walking through town on a military-organised trip. Outsiders cannot visit safely. Some locals, like shoe shop owner Othman Jawad, believed security would improve. "I am sure things will get better," he said with a smile, despite complaining of falling profits. Others disagreed, saying their fears extended to Baghdad where they feel threatened by pro-governent Shi'ite militias. "The violence is continuing here. There are explosions and kidnappings. A mortar landed here just before the Americans and the journalists came today," said Mahmoud. Iraqi soldiers of the 9th Division, Iraq's only mechanised military force, seemed mostly sceptical about the future. Coming largely from Shi'ite towns, several wore face-masks to hide their identity in a country ravaged by sectarian violence. "We need modern equipment to fight. We need more machineguns and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades)," said Hussein Shakir. "Our snipers don't have scopes for their weapons. They just use these simple AK-47s." Another, asked about the chances of stability in Tarmiya allowing him one day to remove his face mask, illustrated his possible future by crossing his finger across his neck. Pasquarette said bloodshed has fallen since his troops arrived a week after an insurgent sniper shot an Iraqi soldier in a police station and four other Iraqi forces were blown up. But he knows violence can erupt at any time and Iraqi forces will still need support from U.S. troops after any pullout. "Say some kind of a big bomb goes down or a key leader getting killed, those are the things we worry about every day. It would set us back," he said. "I am still optimistic but it's not like we will just leave and say good luck we have to go somewhere else." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |