Marines honor 'blood money' custom in Iraq

[thedrifter]

Marines honor 'blood money' custom in Iraq

Marines honor tribal custom of offering 'blood money' for those hurt or killed in coalition fighting

By Matthew McAllester
Staff Correspondent

July 14, 2004


AL-KARMAH, Iraq -- Capt. Jonathan Vaughn had 15 cases to go through and he was in no mood to take it slowly. He sat on a tattered armchair behind a squat, black desk in the local police station, a pile of files in front of him.

One by one, the complainants were led into the sweltering room and sat down meekly on a brown velour couch opposite the man who would tell them how much their dead or injured loved ones were worth in the view of the coalition forces.

Next to the desk sat a corporal, counting out hundred-dollar bills and handing them to Vaughn when the moment was right.

Vaughn rarely changed his script with the applicants.

"I understand your brother was killed in a recent gunfight between mujahideen and coalition forces," said Vaughn, a judge advocate with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, whose 200-member India Company is based in this hostile town in the restive Sunni center of Iraq. Vaughn's tone, by his own admission, lacked much warmth as he addressed the Iraqi man sitting silently on the couch. "We wish to offer something by way of sympathy and sorrow."

Vaughn explained that he had been authorized by his senior officer to offer $500.

"We understand it is not enough money and nothing can replace the loss," he continued, deadpan and businesslike as before. Then he stood up, offered the man his hand and gave him the money. Next.

It's not easy for the Marines to help the people of Al-Karmah. Reconstruction projects aren't really possible until the area is more secure, and training local security forces is hard, mainly because whenever the Marines leave their base in the town's schoolhouse there will be someone nearby who wants to kill them and may well try to do so. Any Iraqi seen talking with a Marine could be killed as a collaborator. But giving out compensation to local people who have suffered in the ebb and flow of war is one way the Marines can do something that accords with the tribal custom of paying "blood money" and perhaps helps temper some of the anger locals feel toward the U.S. troops in their midst.

Nothing in the new Iraq, however, is simple. A handout from a military lawyer such as Vaughn comes with its own set of problems.

Some of the quick meetings Vaughn held last week in the police station had the bitter taste of a victor's discretionary magnanimity to the Iraqis who came to sit on the couch. It was a one-size-fits-all form of justice - $500 per life, $250 per injured person that Vaughn said was limited because of the lack of funds now available to the military for compensation claims. Vaughn's steely front did soften once, for an injured child whose father went away with an extra $100.

There was also nothing to prevent the people who had received payment from leaving the building and joining or rejoining the town's insurgents - or from using their compensation money to buy weapons.

Each case before Vaughn was the result of an initial complaint filed by an Iraqi family who claimed a death or injury at the hands of coalition troops. Most of the cases arose from the fighting between the Marines and insurgents that began in April in the nearby city of Fallujah, he said. The families had worked through a local lawyer, Majid Hamid, who had worked with Vaughn and the local police to obtain death certificates and medical records that could help verify the claim.

Vaughn's decision is the key one, although his battalion commander authorizes the payments.

He said he insists on extra scrutiny of claimants who are of military age, in an attempt to avoid paying compensation to direct enemies. But verification of claims is extremely hard, he said, because of the violence faced every day in the region by the Marines.

Vaughn's suspicion of some of the claims oozed through his voice. And when asked about his tone after the meetings, he acknowledged that he hadn't been very warm and fuzzy for a reason - the lack of cooperation the Marines receive from the local community, especially in regard to gathering intelligence on the insurgents.

"There is a standoffishness, to be honest," he said. "Part of this is the dynamic that if you helped us out more this would be a much better experience."

But politics will influence the lawyer in Vaughn only so much. At one stage during the meeting, the commander of India Company, Capt. Brett Clark, showed up to ask whether Vaughn could pay special attention to the case of a powerful local tribal leader who was demanding compensation. In the constant struggle to make important friends in the neighborhood, India Company could do with the help of men like Sheik Abdel Salaam.

Vaughn listened to the man's claim of false imprisonment and property damage and said he would consider the case. The sheik did not look pleased.

"I'm not going to cut corners," Vaughn said after the sheik had left the room.

As he was winding down his business for the day, Vaughn was suddenly faced with another unsatisfied customer. Saif Taha Hamed and his uncle Hamed Ibrahim wanted a word with the man who had just given Hamed $500 for the death of his father and the destruction of livestock and other property.

It wasn't enough and he wanted more - or Vaughn could take it back, Hamed said through a translator.

Vaughn tried to persuade him to keep the money. It would feed his children for months, he said. It would help the family rebuild.

"The terrorists who caused this problem are not here trying to help you at all," he reasoned.

"It's not going to do anything," Ibrahim said. "We have many children."

With most of his cases, Vaughn doesn't entertain discussion. His decision has already been made and there's nothing further to talk about. Nor was he about to change his mind on this case, even if it meant leaving a whole family uncompensated and perhaps with increased resentment toward the Americans.

Hamed handed back the five $100 bills and walked out of the room with his elderly uncle.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wocomp143892378jul14,0,2951560.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Gen. Hejlik takes command of 1st MEB
Submitted by: I Marine Expeditionary Force
Story Identification #: 200471393547
Story by Sgt. Colin Wyers



CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq(July 13, 2004) -- Brig. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik took command of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade in a change of command ceremony July 13 at the Camp Fallujah, Iraq chapel.

Hejlik, who also serves as the I Marine Expeditionary Force deputy commanding general, received the brigade's colors from Maj. Gen. Keith M. Stalder, who now commands the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

At the ceremony, Hejlik addressed Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, the commanding general of I MEF.

"General Conway, thank you for the trust and confidence and this opportunity to command the 1st MEB," said Hejlik, "It's a highlight for me, so thank you very much."

He also addressed members of the MEB he would now command.

"My fellow Marines and Sailors, I'll give you one-hundred-and-ten percent in leading this wonderful MEB," said Hejlik, whose previous assignment was director of the Center for Policy, Training and Readiness at U.S. Special Operations Command. "I'm both proud and honored to be here as a member of I MEF."

A Marine Expeditionary Brigade - which falls between a Marine Expeditionary Unit and a Marine Expeditionary Force in size - generally consists of a reinforced infantry regiment, combat service support battalion and composite Marine aircraft group. 1st MEB's command element is drawn from members of the I MEF command element, and can operate either as the lead element for a deployment of the MEF or as a stand-alone unit.

"The 1st MEB did a lot of the groundwork that was laid for what eventually became the I MEF effort over here in Iraq," said Stalder. "I was honored to have been a part of that initial planning and initial effort. I want to thank the MEF staff and those members of the MEB staff who helped me out and did so much work in those days early on in planning that transition to the MEF effort."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200471310135/$file/MEBCOC02lr.jpg

Brig. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade commanding general, shakes hands with Maj. Gen. James N. Mattis, the 1st Marine Division commanding general, after a change of command ceremony July 13, 2004 at the Camp Fallujah, Iraq, chapel. A Marine Expeditionary Brigade generally consists of a reinforced infantry regiment, combat service support battalion and composite Marine aircraft group and can operate either as the lead element for deployment of a Marine Expeditionary Force or as a stand-alone unit. Photo by: Sgt. Colin Wyers

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/5F05512B1A1D6B2A85256ED0004AB01B?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq Premier Expects Tough Weeks Ahead

By JAMIE TARABAY

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interim prime minister said Thursday he expects insurgents to strike harder in the coming weeks and announced the creation of an intelligence service designed to combat terrorism.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's comments to The Associated Press came amid a spate of new violence, including a car bomb Thursday that killed 10 people and wounded 40 others. Also, a decapitated body wearing an orange jumpsuit was found in the Tigris River, possibly that of a foreigner taken hostage.

Allawi said militants aiming to undermine Iraq's new government are determined not only to kill civilians and soldiers but also to destroy the nation's infrastructure in a campaign of sabotage.

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"Whether it's electricity, oil, water, hospitals, roads, bridges, this is a clear sign that the terrorists are so evil that they are not only satisfied by hitting the targets, and killing and inflicting loss of life, but also (causing) destruction," he said.

Iraq's new government has talked increasingly tough about cracking down on insurgents. It passed emergency laws giving Allawi broad powers to combat violence; police have conducted sweeps of terror suspects in Baghdad and other cities.

Those actions may have spurred militants to launch their series of attacks in recent days, Allawi said.

"They know that they should not give us a chance to rebuild our capabilities _ security, police and the army. So they want to undermine our efforts," he told AP, sitting in front of the red, green and white Iraqi flag.

They will "hit harder in the weeks ahead, and maybe even months ahead."

Scores of people have been killed in suicide bombings, shootings and roadside assaults since the transfer of sovereignty from U.S. occupation officials to the interim government June 28. At least 71 Iraqis and 38 U.S. troops have been killed since the handover.

Militant groups also have taken several foreign contractors hostage, threatening to kill them if their governments did not withdraw troops or meet other demands. Several hostages have been beheaded, including U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg.

The headless body that Iraqi police found Thursday in northern Iraq had not been identified. U.S. and Bulgarian officials were investigating whether it belonged to a Bulgarian hostage that militants affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said they killed Wednesday.

Allawi accused insurgents of trying to push the international community out of Iraq and appealed to foreign governments to stand fast. Iraq's fledgling security force is deeply dependent on 160,000 U.S.-led multinational troops for help maintaining order.

"We hope and wish that all civilized countries and the international community, our neighbors and brothers in the Islamic world, close ranks really to fight terrorism, because God forbid any place they gain or they win is a disaster for the world on a global level," Allawi said.

He added that sabotage against oil installations and pipelines has cost Iraq $1 billion over 10 days, funds needed for rebuilding from the devastation of war and years of sanctions.

As he lashed out at insurgents, Allawi also mentioned his efforts to win over ordinary Iraqis. He said he met with tribes and resistance fighters from the restive city of Fallujah on several occasions.

"We spoke very openly to them, and we told them that there is one thing that is going to prevail in Iraq and that is the rule of law. And we are not going to tolerate any problem that is going to touch the lives of the Iraqi people," Allawi said, speaking English in the interview with Associated Press Television News.

About 150 militants fled Fallujah in recent days after people there let them know they were no longer welcome, he said. "We hope other people will do the same."

At a press conference earlier Thursday, Allawi announced the creation of a new intelligence service _ the General Security Directorate _ dedicated to defeating the insurgency.

It "will annihilate those terrorist groups, God willing," he said. Allawi provided few details but said the new service would not rely on "elements" of Saddam Hussein's feared intelligence agency. He left open the door to call on former officials not responsible for grievous crimes under Saddam.

The creation of such an intelligence unit was a logical step for the new government to succeed, said Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq expert with the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"If it cannot create such capabilities, it cannot act as a government," he said.

But Jeremy Binnie, Middle East editor for Jane's Sentinel Security Assessments magazine in London, dismissed Allawi's announcement as "rhetoric to boost his standing with Iraqis, and also the U.S. public, to demonstrate he is the right man for the job and he's the right man to stabilize Iraq."

Allawi said an expected amnesty for insurgents would be announced next week. He reiterated his government's plans to restore the death penalty _ suspended during the U.S. occupation _ to punish militants.

"We need some sanctions that are up to the scale of those crimes," Allawi said in his government's defense.

The prime minister also announced that he would make his first foreign tour as prime minister to nearby Arab countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Allawi spoke amid an intense wave of violence, some of it targeting his 17-day-old government.

A car bombing near police and government buildings in the western city of Haditha killed 10 people and wounded 40 Thursday morning. The attack came a day after a bombing in Baghdad near the area housing government offices and the U.S. Embassy killed at least 10 people.

Also Thursday, Gunmen opened fire on a car belonging to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, killing one official and wounding two others. Zebari was not in the vehicle. A day earlier, insurgents ambushed a convoy transporting provincial Gov. Osama Youssef Kashmoula, killing him and two guards.

Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib, with Allawi at the news conference, said the government had arrested terrorists and criminals in the cities of Mosul and Baghdad in recent days.

Iraq's sparsely patrolled borders, which foreign fighters are accused of exploiting to enter the country, have not yet been secured, but the government was working with the armed forces to change that, he said.

"We have organized crime and we have terrorism. We are working against the two," he said. "You will seem some great results soon."

Al-Naqib said at least 15 al-Qaida linked operatives had been arrested and were being questioned by police.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/07/16/ap/headlines/d83rotag0.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Families overjoyed as Marines return from Iraq

By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Lt. Christopher Ayres hobbled to the homecoming on crutches Thursday, still slowed by battle wounds now three months old. Ayres was there to welcome 600 of his comrades from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, which returned to Camp Pendleton after a seven-month deployment. The trip sent them into some of the most intense fighting in Iraq ---- fighting that claimed the lives of at least a dozen men in the unit.

After most of the returning Marines kissed their families, grabbed their bags and went home, Ayres remained at the parade deck at Camp Horno on the base. He wasn't quite done.

He wanted to talk to the men of his unit who "dragged his butt" to safety in Iraq, the men he left there more than two months ago after being wounded in battle.


"You train with these Marines. You grow bonds. It's like family," Ayres said. "Then you get plucked out, you get wounded."

It happened April 13. A rocket propelled grenade slammed into his amphibious assault vehicle ---- and maybe right into his leg. He's not quite sure. It's a bit fuzzy. But he remembers that Lance Cpl. Abraham McCarver was among those who tugged him into the nearby home, the closest shelter the Marines could find while being attacked.

Ayres said McCarver jumped on top of him to shield him when grenades hit the Iraqi home. McCarver said he pulled the officer from room to room to get away from leaking propane appliances that could have exploded with every shot fired.

Ayres' wounds sent him to the hospital for 74 days. On Thursday, the young McCarver shook hands with the man he saved and gave Ayres details of the story ---- the escape from the firefight ---- that Ayres hadn't before known.

When Ayres' wife met McCarver, she hugged him and thanked him for rescuing her husband.

Also spotting Ayres in the crowd was the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, who strode up to give the injured lieutenant a hardy handshake.

"God, it's good to see you," Byrne said. "It's good to see you in one piece."

The returning sailors and Marines spent most of the spring in and around Fallujah in the violence-ridden Al Anbar Province. The battalion had been diverted to the Middle East from Okinawa.

The battalion ranks were thinner by 12 men, according to Department of Defense casualty reports. Several Marines in the unit were killed in combat in March and April. The youngest of the fallen was 19. The oldest was 30.

Those who came home Thursday afternoon were met with smiles, kisses and tears. It was a long, hot wait for the families, but finally the units marched in, the Marines in desert camouflage.

Cheering families lined the parking lot in a makeshift parade route. One overjoyed mom spotted her son and ran alongside him as he marched with his unit.

Stone-faced Marines tried not to smile. Some peeked at the crowd, hoping to glimpse family. Applause and shrieks echoed.

"It makes you feel like a celebrity," 21-year-old Pfc. Steve Rodgers said.

Lance Cpl. Trevor Hunsucker said that when he saw the scene, "my heart went up into my throat."

Finally, the unit broke. Families darted to find the husbands, sons and brothers they missed.

Cpl. Dan Dietz melted into the arms of wife Kathy, the two of them sharing a kiss and tender, whispered words, oblivious to the throng around them.

Erik Krempien's mom, Jan, in from Wisconsin, clutched her son, breaking away only long enough to check and make sure he wasn't too thin.

In the middle of it all, Marine Geoffrey Gotsch spotted his wife Juliea about 30 feet away. The two rushed for each other, pushing through the crowd, dodging families as they scooped Marines into their arms.

The couple gripped each other and 7-year-old daughter Emerald Gotsch latched on. Then the beaming Marine took five-month-old Grace from his wife and introduced himself.

"Hi, honey," he said as he lifted the stars-and-stripes clad baby to his face. "I'm your daddy."

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-3517 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/07/16/news/top_stories/15_46_527_15_04.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Back From a Hot Spot, Marines Feel the Warmth

By Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer


CAMP PENDLETON — Marines who fought in Fallouja, the Sunni Triangle city that has become an intractable center of anti-American violence in Iraq, returned home Thursday to a cheering, flag-waving crowd of loved ones.

Lyla Nassar, 9, of Katy, Texas, waiting for her brother, Lance Cpl. Tony Leal, held a sign aloft: "Hey TJ, Texas Is Better Now That You're Home."

Natalie Howard, 20, hugged her husband, Lance Cpl. Ronald Howard, as he gazed on their 2-week-old son, Blaine. "This is fabulous," he said.

And Gloria Barrera of Victorville embraced her son, Lance Cpl. William Barrera, and offered thanks.

"God has answered my prayers and brought my son home safe," she said tearfully. "I'll never ask him for anything else."

A dozen buses brought more than 700 Marines from the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment of the 1st Marine Division to Camp Pendleton after they flew from Germany to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. The rest of the 1,200-Marine battalion is expected to arrive over the weekend.

The battalion was one of two that took the lead in an offensive against insurgents in Fallouja. The siege was ordered by the White House after four civilian contractors were killed March 31 and their burned bodies hanged on a bridge by a cheering mob.

Along with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, the Marines from the "one-five" circled the city of Fallouja just after midnight April 5 and began a month of sporadic clashes with heavily armed insurgents. For family members, it was a month of waiting and worrying.

"April was the worst month," said Donna Wheat of Merkel, Texas, mother of Lance Cpl. Michael Wheat. "We just watched Fox and CNN constantly and kept praying."

Every knock on the door caused dread for many family members.

"You knew that a phone call meant he was injured and a knock on the door meant he was gone," said Cheryl Kelley, of Rialto, mother of Navy medic David Kelley, who followed the Marines into combat. "It was a bad, bad month."

Before the Marines encircled Fallouja, many kept in touch with families by e-mail or phone. But as they moved into combat positions, messages and calls became sporadic.

Olga Perez of Irvine remembers one call from her son, Cpl. Jason Lee, as the fighting raged.

"[While] we were talking, you could hear the gunfire," she said. "I said, 'What's that?' He said: 'It's nothing; they're just shooting at us.' He was cool about it, but I had to start taking heart medicine."

The battalion was in Iraq for four months. Nine of the Marines were killed; 129 were wounded.

"It's a bittersweet day for all of us," said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, battalion commanding officer. "We're home, but nine of us aren't here. They're not gone; they'll always be with us in spirit."

For many Marines, it was their second deployment to Iraq, and the battalion may be returning as early as next June.

"I'm not going to think about that; I'm going to stay positive," said Christina Haas, wife of Cpl. Zack Meyer. "I'm not thinking about the future, just about our new start, starting right now."

During the deployment, wives kept in constant touch, helping with myriad matters such as transportation for kids, broken appliances and the emotional ups and downs.

"You know how they say Marines are a special breed?" said Jennifer Hall, whose husband, Navy Lt. Wayne Hall, is the battalion chaplain. "Well, Marine wives are also special: tough, independent, resilient. They have to be."

For some of the Marines, the immediate future involves family reunions or trips to the mountains or the beach.

Aimee Kane, whose husband is Cpl. Justin Kane, said they had other plans: "We're just going to lock the door and not answer the phone."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-return16jul16,1,2824991.story


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Fallujah Dilemma



Without meaning to, the United States has converted Fallujah into a haven for insurgents and terrorists. A truce agreement negotiated after a six-week siege of the Sunni city of 285,000 handed control to a 1,200-strong force called the Fallujah Brigade, led by generals from Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard.


Surrounding U.S. Marines have been ordered to stay out and may not even shoot back when fired at. Members of Saddam's Baathist party are said to

be plotting a return to power over the entire country. In the meantime, terrorists reportedly are loading cars with explosives and sending them off to Baghdad, 45 miles to the east, for continuing suicide bomb attacks. These reports can't be confirmed, since news reporters have been forbidden to enter the city. But U.S. military leaders take them seriously.

Things could change, of course. The Financial Times said this week that the Fallujah Brigade was about to be merged with the new Iraqi army. But the information came from a moderate Islamic political leader who may not be able to speak for the hard-core insurgents still loyal to Saddam Hussein.

For the present, the situation is a totally unacceptable stalemate.

How did this mess come about? It started with the killing and mutilating of four American contract employees last April. U.S. Marines responded by invading the city in a furious battle. Inevitably, Arab television carried horror pictures of civilian casualties. The Marines were prevailing and believed they could bring the city under control in three to five days. But orders came from Washington to call off the offensive for fear of igniting fresh violence throughout the country and further inflaming the Arab world.

The New York Times quoted Iraq's director of National Intelligence, Mohammed Abdullah Shahwani, as saying that the Americans and the new Iraqi government could defeat the Fallujah insurgents, but only at great cost. He said, "We could take the city, but we would have to kill everyone in it."

The U.S. forces, barred from resuming their offensive, have resorted to frequent airstrikes against supposed safe houses for insurgency leaders. They are thought to include Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the mysterious strong man believed to be orchestrating the guerrilla attacks from a hideout in Fallujah. The new Iraqi army may eventually be able to settle the matter without U.S. help, but recruitment and training could take years

to reach that point.

Fallujah must not become a microcosm of all of Iraq. Yet what began as a seemingly simple deposing of a hated dictator and a reception by welcoming crowds has turned into a long struggle against a spreading guerrilla force. Military strikes create civilian casualties and help make new recruits for the insurgency. American soldiers on the ground naturally resent orders to back off. Political leaders are wary of further backlash from military action.

Any optimism must rely on the development of a stable, popular Iraqi government with the power and will to unify and rule the country. But that happy prospect, if achievable at all, lies far in the future. In the meantime, the war that was started based on flawed intelligence has saddled the United States with a military involvement that could last for years.

http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.cfm?ID=425734


Ellie

[thedrifter]

IN THE FIELD:
Marines face daily
struggle with militants
By MATTHEW McALLESTER
Newsday



AL-KARMAH, Iraq - It was silent on Chicago, apart from the rustle that the baked wind made in the bullrushes next to the road and the sound of one Marine's boots stepping carefully on the grit next to the asphalt. As he walked, pace by pace, Brandon Webb's ears were interested in hearing only one sound.

There it was. The whine of the metal detector. It was low and only he could hear it. The other Marines were keeping their distance, holding back the Iraqi trucks and cars, scanning the palm trees and cinderblock shacks for gunmen or, worse, triggermen. Those are the ones they feared, the ones who put positive to negative and send an electric signal to the roadside bombs at just the right moment. That left 21-year-old Cpl. Webb on his own, as usual. He had heard the high-pitched beep numerous times before and knew it was the sound that separated him and his fellow Marines from death and disfigurement. Below the dirt was a bomb.

"Oh God, I'm going to blow up," he thought to himself. "Oh God, please don't let it blow up."

When he joined the Marines, Webb wasn't planning on becoming an engineer. He trained as an electrician, but when a medic tested his eyesight and found he was partially color-blind, he switched to engineering. He's with the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion.

His hearing was just fine, though. So the metal detector, much the same as those used by treasure hunters on beaches, became his constant companion.

Webb stopped walking next to the road that the Marines have renamed after the Midwestern city and wafted the green sensor over the ground. Then, with his sand-colored boot, he scraped some dirt away. Metal appeared. Even if there was a triggerman sitting out there with his hand on a remote control, there would be no point in Webb running. He could never make it away in time and besides, running away is not part of his job description.

Bending down, he brushed aside a lot more of the topsoil with his hands and exposed the body of a 155-mm shell. He found an empty water bottle, filled it with sand and placed it next to the shell to mark it.

The 200 men of India Company of the 3rd Battalion, First Marines, call this stretch of Chicago IED Alley. IEDs are improvised explosive devices, roadside bombs that erupt and kill passing American and coalition soldiers all over Iraq. IED Alley is just north of the schoolhouse that India Company calls home. The company's First Platoon had only driven a few hundred yards up Chicago on Tuesday afternoon when they stopped to check for freshly laid IEDs.

Twenty-five yards up the road, in the patched-up crater of an earlier roadside bomb, Webb found another one. His detector squealed again, he scuffed away the dirt with the sole of his boot and, once more, he scraped the rest away with his hands to reveal another 155 mm, at least two feet long. This time, he used an empty Pepsi can to mark the spot.

Then he came back down the road to explain the way things stood to Lt. Tim Strabbing, commander of the first of India Company's four platoons. Webb looked down with modesty and described how he had exposed the bombs.

"You're crazy, man," said Strabbing, 25, who has a master's degree in Russian and Eastern European studies from Oxford University and is unusual among Marines in his disinclination to punctuate nearly every sentence with obscenities. "I hope you have nine lives."

Strabbing smiled and shook his head as he walked beside the engineer back down Chicago to wait for the bomb disposal squad.

On Friday afternoon, three days later, Webb lay in his hospital bed in Baghdad, a hole an inch wide in the back of his skull, a piece of metal buried in his neck, probably forever.

"I wanna go home and be able to move around better by myself," he told a reporter, deliberately and quietly. "I wanna be normal again."

Webb's chest, on which his dog tags lay and dotted with sensors attached to beeping monitors, began to heave. His face crumpled and he started to cry.

Next to his bed, in a transparent bag, were the pieces of paper he had scribbled on when he first came to the hospital, when he found it hard to speak.

"An I Okay?" he had written, misspelling in a child's handwriting.

"Terminal damage" was another message to the doctors attending him. No question mark, but there was no doubt that it was a question.

"Thank You!" he had written.

And the name of his wife. "Erin."

Al-Karmah is a town of about 100,000 people in the Sunni Triangle, a few miles to the northwest of the troubled town of Fallujah. It's a frontier post for the Marines, who constitute the coalition presence between Fallujah and Baghdad, probably the most dangerous part of Iraq. The battle of Fallujah that waged between the Marines and insurgents in April is long over and, by agreement with Fallujah's elders, the town is a no-go area for coalition forces. But the towns and roads around and beyond the city are the scene of an ongoing, daily war between insurgents and Marines. Al-Karmah erupted in violence around the same time as Fallujah, and officers know the town is full of weapons and men willing to use them.

This low-level conflict doesn't grab the headlines much these days, given the recent handover of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government and the appearance in court of former president Saddam Hussein, but the loss of life to Marines and Iraqis continues.

There are the occasional gun battles captured by TV journalists, but the daily military struggle in places like Al-Karmah is messier, and yet simple. It goes like this: The Marines of India Company go out on patrol to find improvised explosive devices and the men who set them. The insurgents set the devices and try to blow up the Marines when they're out on patrol.

The Marines move in large, slow and often stationary convoys. Or they hike along roads and through unfamiliar fields, weighed down by up to 80 pounds of gear, sometimes vomiting through dehydration and heat exhaustion, sometimes needing intravenous drips strapped to their helmets and leading to their arms.

The insurgents have lived with the land and the weather all their lives and they travel light. They strike from a distance with their remote controls, mortars or rocket-propelled grenade launchers and disappear before the Marines can begin to look for them.

India Company has been in Al-Karmah since June 26. So far, they say they have not killed or injured a single insurgent. Three of their men, plus two attached engineers, have been hospitalized.

Statistically, the insurgents of Al-Karmah are winning against India Company, five to nothing.

"Let them celebrate," said Capt. Brett Clark, 31, the company's commanding officer. "They still can't face us ... It's just a matter of time before we catch them in the act and kill them."

Clark stood in what was probably the main hall of the schoolhouse. It's the largest, tallest building in town and allows the guards on the roof a view over Al-Karmah's rooftops, minarets and fields. That doesn't stop insurgents from firing rockets at the building, though. So far, only one has hit and, fortunately, struck a balcony, injuring no one.

The Marines sleep on fold-up khaki cots in classrooms without air conditioners or, for the most part, fans. Even at night, sweat pours off their bodies. Water is as key to survival in Al-Karmah in the summer as weaponry, vigilance and luck.

There is no fresh food, just boxes and boxes of Meals, Ready-to-Eat - or MREs - that fill the stomach but leave the Marines lusting for flavor. There are mountains of water bottles and a freezer whose contents are strictly reserved for returning patrols in need of cold water. Electricity in the schoolhouse, as in the rest of town, is intermittent.

Entertainment comes in the form of DVDs played on a television screen in the main hall, or books. Among the thrillers and combat novels lying around the hall last week was Joseph Heller's classic antiwar novel, "Catch-22."

There is a touch of literature elsewhere in the building, too. Written on a piece of cardboard taped to a wall is a soliloquy from "Henry V." "Whoever does not have the stomach for this fight, let him depart," it begins.

continued.........

[thedrifter]

While Webb, Strabbing and the rest of the First Platoon waited for the bomb disposal unit to show up from battalion headquarters, they went looking for the triggerman. Two bombs buried in the side of...

[thedrifter]

"I don't wanna come over and do combat no more," he said.

Another memory appeared randomly: the orange juice served by the Iraqi family with the Mercedes. "Yeah, it was good juice. And it was cold."

He had two wishes. He wanted to be back home in time for his second wedding anniversary this month. And he wants to be at the Marine ball in November at Camp Pendleton in California.

The neurosurgeon who operated on him stood next to his bed last Friday afternoon, only hours before Webb began his journey back to California via a military hospital in Germany. Webb will be fine in a month, said the doctor, Maj. Richard Gullick. Denton will also make a full recovery, he said, although the sergeant could be at risk of developing a seizure disorder. Another medical staff member said she believed that Stedman, whom the Marines in Al-Karmah had heard might lose an eye, was also going to be fine. Rios and Everett were expected back on duty soon.

A metal fragment had sliced through Webb's skin and muscle, Gullick said, hitting his skull before deflecting down about an inch and a half into his neck muscles, where it will stay unless it bothers him. The shrapnel punched a hole in the skull and sent pieces of bone three-quarters of an inch to a little more than an inch into Webb's brain. Gullick took them out in surgery.

Webb will be able to attend the ball, he said.

"They might make fun of the little scar in the back of your head," he told the Marine.

In a quiet, drained voice, without turning to look at the doctor, Webb said, "I'll knock 'em out if they make fun of me."

Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service


http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=40818


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Untold Stories of our Fighting Men <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
Commentary by Thomas D. Segel <br />
July 15, 2004 <br />
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Their names are Mark E....

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Storied '1/5' adds to battalion lore <br />
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Battle-tested Marines step off bus into waiting arms <br />
By Gregory Alan Gross <br />
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER <br />
July 16, 2004

[thedrifter]

Senior Sunni cleric calls for holy war against US forces in Iraq

RAMADI, Iraq (AFP) - A senior Sunni cleric called on his followers to launch a holy war against the US forces in Iraq (news - web sites) and threatened to turn the hotspot city of Ramadi into a "graveyard" for American troops.


"I ask US President (George W.) Bush to withdraw from Iraq or else Ramadi will become a graveyard for US soldiers," declared Sheikh Akram Ubayed Furaih at weekly prayers in the city, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad.


"I call upon my brothers the Shiites and on all other religious groups to embark on a Jihad (holy war) against the US military to force them out of Iraq," said the cleric, who spent three months in a prison after being arrested by the US military and whose home was also raided last week.


"I urge all the Iraqi people to fight a holy war against the Americans," said the cleric, among the most respected figures in this Sunni rebel bastion.


Using slightly more moderate tones, two other Sunni clerics from the Muslim Scholars' Association spoke out against conditions in military detention centres run by the US-led coalition.


"We have received messages from inmates at Um Qasr (detention centre on the border with Kuwait) describing their suffering during this hot weather," said Ahmed Abdel Gafur Samarrai, addressing a crowd at the Um al-Qura mosque in Baghdad.


He called on the United Nations (news - web sites) to intervene on behalf of the detainees.


"The United Nations must do something because it granted a legitimacy to the occupation, but this legitimacy has been lost due to the actions that have taken place," said Samarrai, referring to the thousands of Iraqis locked up on suspicion of involvement in the persistent insurgency that has dogged the 14-month US-led occupation.


Among Iraq's majority Shiite community there also came condemnation of the interim Iraqi government and fresh demands for the death of jailed dictator Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).


"We refuse to submit to terrorists and the occupiers are the worst of all the terrorists ... We denounce anything that is named by the occupier," said Sheikh Jaber al-Kafaji, speaking in the name of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, in reference to the new administration.


Kafaji said he suspected the United States of wanting to release Saddam Hussein.


Washington "has started to prepare this by saying that he had no weapons of mass destruction and nothing to do with what took place in the United States," Kafaji said, referring to the terrorist attacks there on September 11, 2001.


In the holy city of Karbala, a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani launched a harsh attack against Arab lawyers who have offered to represent the ex-president.


"It sickens us to see them rushing to defend this fallen man taking the dollars of his wife (Sajida Saddam Hussein). You have to cut off his head and this is the minimum that we want," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040716/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_sunni_040716173131


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq's 'True Heroes'

By Steve Danyluk
Friday, July 16, 2004; Page A21


CENTRAL SOUTH AREA OF OPERATIONS, Iraq -- I'm serving outside the Iraqi town of Hilla, in the central South, with a small detachment of U.S. Marines. A couple of days ago we drove up to Baghdad on the main supply route, "MSR Tampa" -- basically a six-lane highway. Since April it's been closed to civilian traffic because a half-dozen bridges were blown up along the route. Driving on it you feel as if you're a cast member in a remake of "Mad Max" -- "Where are all the people?"



On the way we came across a semi-trailer that about 50 Iraqis were in the process of looting. As they saw us approach they scattered. I told the sergeant driving me that by the time we drove by later in the day the semi would be nothing more than a shell. I'd seen this often.

Four hours later we drove by and the site was secured by the Iraqi National Guard; no looters were in sight. Apparently the guard was even involved in a firefight protecting the property. Maybe the Iraqis are getting fed up with the lawlessness and the anarchy and are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Still, it will take time. Some units in the guard are good, some not so good. Standardization is a problem across the board, but the biggest obstacle to overcome will be that of the traumatized mind-set of the Iraqi people.

For 30 years Iraqis were brutalized by a tyrant. The collective psyche of the Iraqi people is akin to that of a battered wife whose oppressor has finally been removed from the household. They're far better off with the batterer gone, but they're scared, confused and lacking the confidence to go it on their own just yet. It will take continuous mentoring, counseling and a lot of time. Our Marines are doing these things with great skill and patience. The sooner we fix it the sooner we can come home.

I've become friends with a lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi National Guard here. Real bright guy, speaks good English, lived in Europe for five years. He makes $250 a month, doesn't own a car, rides a bus for two hours to get to work and lives in constant fear that his family will be targeted because he is in the guard. "Why do you do it," I asked him, knowing he could make five times that amount as a translator or a contractor here on the base. His response was that doing nothing is not an option. If you ask me, guys like him are the true heroes over here. "Is there hope for this place?" I asked. "No, there is no hope," he responded sardonically. Again, "Why do you do it," and again the answer: You can't just do nothing.

Our Marines are getting so much support from back home and so many "care packages" that I've decided to start asking people to send those packages instead to my Iraqi friend, packages that he can then hand out and distribute to his troops and their families. We have so much, and they have so little.

The writer is a major in the U.S. Marine Corps. His e-mail address is lukerval@hotmail.com.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53582-2004Jul15.html


Ellie