U.S. infantry soldiers raided one last house Friday as they ended a yearlong deployment in Saddam Hussein's now largely tamed hometown, one of the fiercest battlegrounds in postwar Iraq. The 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division, based in Fort Hood, Texas, is being relieved by the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, attached to the Germany-based 1st Infantry Division. The official transfer is Saturday.
The departing soldiers, commanded by Lt. Col. Steve Russell, took over Tikrit on April 19, shortly after Saddam was deposed. The town was still teeming with support for the dictator, who was captured nearby on Dec. 13. Through Iraq's scorching summer, Russell's roughly 700 soldiers patrolled the area's meanest streets, confronting, killing and capturing insurgents while losing nine of their own. During the summer, U.S. forces here were attacked about 20 times daily. Now, clashes are infrequent. Russell, 40, of Del City, Okla., said the local insurgency was dealt a major blow by the capture of Saddam and the July 22 deaths of his two sons, Odai and Qusai. "Saddam's supporters started to realize that the old regime wasn't coming back," Russell told The Associated Press at a farmhouse near Uja, the former dictator's birthplace, during Friday's raid. Two wanted weapons dealers were captured in the operation, the first conducted by the incoming regiment, led by Lt. Col. Jeff Sinclair, 40, of Grafton, W.Va. "It is a good feeling to take over command," Sinclair said.
Russell's soldiers have arrested several of the 55 most wanted Iraqis and rounded up hundreds of people suspected of attacking U.S. troops and other anti-coalition activities. They also helped supporters of the U.S.-led occupation form a regional government and establish Iraqi police and civil defense forces. "But to those who hung on to Saddam's ruthless regime, we were swift, violent and deadly," Russell said Russell. Some of the "controversial" tactics his forces used included ringing Uja in razor-sharp barbed wire to prevent insurgents entering or leaving, shooting Iraqis dead in the street if they carried a weapon, and strictly enforcing the area's 11 p.m. curfew. Russell said his Baptist faith has helped him operate under hostile fire and reconcile killing others. "We must see it (killing someone) in terms of for good to happen, evil must be removed," he said. |