‘Forerunners’ change command in Iraq

[thedrifter]

‘Forerunners’ change command in Iraq
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 20048711275
Story by Lance Cpl. Matthew Rainey



AL ASAD, Iraq (Aug. 06, 2004) -- Lt. Col. Peter L. Bowling, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, relinquished command of the “Forerunners” to Lt. Col. Lawrence S. Loch, in a change of command ceremony here July 31.

Bowling enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1976. Following an honorable discharge in August 1980, he obtained his bachelors degree in aviation maintenance and technology from Western Michigan University. Upon his graduation, he returned to the Marine Corps in December 1984, to become an officer. After serving in numerous leadership billets, he took command of MALS-16 June 11, 2002.

Bowling offered thanks to all the people who had contributed to his squadron in one-way or another.

“To the Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and civilians everywhere who supported the MALS’ never-ending requirements, my Marines and I are forever grateful for your hard work and dedication,” Bowling said.

“I also want to thank those who were a constant stumbling block to supporting the MALS’ mission,” he joked, not letting the seriousness of the moment overshadow his constant humor. “Your efforts, or lack thereof, were a constant source of irritation, but made for some great fodder and the creation of numerous ‘Bowlingisms’ during our morning meetings.”

Bowling said that it was now the time for him to say goodbye and go home.

“There comes a point in every Marine’s life when he finds out the right time to move on, and for me it’s that time,” said the 46-year-old from Bloomington Springs, Tenn. “There’s nothing more that I could have asked for. I wanted to go out on a high note, and I can’t think of a better way than this. I’ve got a little hunting, a little fishing and a little farm work to do in 180 acres of God’s country back home.”

Bowling used his final moments at the podium to poke fun at the former and future MALS-16 commanding officers.

“I will always find comfort in knowing that as long as the pictures of Lt. Col. (Gary D.) Weist and you are on either side of mine, I will always be known as that handsome guy in the middle,” he joked.

Loch enlisted in the Marine Corps in July 1975. After an honorable discharge in May 1980, he successfully attended the State University of New York until 1984. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in March 1985. He has since served in a variety of billets in multiple countries across the world.

Loch said that despite the big shoes his predecessor left for him to fill, he is ready to continue the squadron’s winning ways.

“(Bowling) was a professional whose results speak for themselves. Anyone who has successfully lead a unit leaves a challenge behind for the next guy,” said the 47-year-old from Kirkwood, N.Y. “I feel as ready as I am going to be. Anytime you step into something new, there is always anxiety. All the training and experience I have, I hope, have equipped me for success.”

Loch said he felt fortunate to have been selected for a commander billet.

“It’s a genuine privilege. It’s an honor,” he said. “There are so many deserving people and not enough billets. I feel lucky to now be the commanding officer.”

Loch said he now gathers inspiration from the Marines within his command.

“These Marines are heroes at home because they are taking a stand for good,” said Loch. “They are doing something bigger than them and they inspire me.”

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20048834046/$file/040731-M-9245L-001CoCLR.jpg

Lt. Col. Peter L. Bowling (right) relinquishes control of the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 colors to the incoming squadron commanding officer Lt. Col. Lawrence S. Loch. Bowling, from Bloomington Springs, Tenn., transferred authority to Loch, from Scranton, Pa., during the change of command ceremony, which took place at Al Asad, Iraq, July 31. MALS-16 is part of Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is currently in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Matthew Rainey

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/86C187F1BCAC193A85256EE90054E0D8?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

“Greyhawks” earn medium helicopter squadron of the year award
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 2004878549
Story by Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte



AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (Aug. 06, 2004) -- The Marine Corps Aviation Association recently named the “Greyhawks” of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing as the Edward C. Dyer Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron of the Year.

The award was established in memory of Brig. Gen. Dyer, who was a pioneer helicopter pilot.

The “Greyhawks” are no strangers to this award. In 2001, HMM-161 also earned the Marine Corps’ top spot as a CH-46E Sea Knight squadron in the annual aviation association awards.

The recognition of the award has been a huge morale boost, according to Maj. James R. Kennedy, executive officer, HMM-161.

“Winning the award is a source of great pride in the squadron,” Kennedy said. “ It makes it gratifying to get this award while still in combat.”

This fact may have been a contributing factor to the squadron’s success this year, the 38-year-old claimed.

“The thing that made us stand out is we began the period during (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and made a short turnaround, then ended it again in combat,” the Glendale, Ariz., native explained. “We were the only squadron to do that.”

The “Greyhawks” have been in Iraq since February providing casualty evacuation support to I Marine Expeditionary Force units in and around the area of Iraq known as the Sunni Triangle.

Although Lt. Col. David W. Coffman, commanding officer, HMM-161, will not accept the award formally until the awards banquet in September, the squadron’s Marines and Sailors have already been notified that they have earned the recognition. They were also all notified that they all did indeed help to earn the award, Kennedy assured.

Many facets of squadron operations are taken into consideration during for the award, such as flight exposure and operational achievements, Kennedy remarked.

“We submit a data sheet in all areas of the squadron that paints a picture of the overall squadron,” he said. “The board picks who they think excelled the most.”

There is a long list of people to thank, Kennedy claimed.

“This is all because of the guys in the ‘S’ shops in supporting roles and the guys turning wrenches. It was, no kidding, a total squadron effort,” he said. “Also, the (staff noncommissioned officers) make everything happen. Without their leadership, we couldn’t get these helicopters in the air.”

It is this leadership that the “Greyhawks” have built and filtered down to all their Marines, which has enabled them to excel, the major noted.

“From the commanding officer on down, we’ve fostered a command climate that focuses on the mission of firing and flying,” he said. “We focus on the Marines first, which has provided such a dynamic leadership and inspiration to the squadron.”

This has allowed the Marines to focus on the tasks at hand instead of non-mission related things, Kennedy revealed.

”The mission we have is an extremely important mission,” he explained. “It is one we’ve lived and breathed out here without a break. The Marines understand how important our casualty evacuation mission is and have responded magnificently.”

Although the squadron is thrilled about the award, and fully plans to take advantage of the “bragging rights” they’ve earned through the award, there is only one thing that could overshadow this achievement, Kennedy explained.

“We’ve not dropped on mission since the very first day we took it,” he said. “The success of the (casualty evacuation) mission means there are Marines walking around who wouldn’t be. It’s nice to be recognized, but pulling injured Marines out of a firefight is the ultimate recognition. Nothing is better than that.”

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004883148/$file/040717-M-9245L-003LR.jpg

A CH-46E Sea Knight from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, flies over a group of houses near Fallujah, Iraq, July 17, during a “very important person” flight. The “Greyhawks” perform this mission from time to time in addition to their normal mission of casualty evacuation. The squadron has recently been informed that they have won the Edward C. Dyer Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron of the year award. Photo by: Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/30A4D6159D4B7C1985256EE900427376?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq Reinstates Capital Punishment



BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq reinstated on Sunday its capital punishment law for people guilty of murder, endangering national security and distributing drugs, the government announced.

Capital punishment was suspended during the U.S. occupation by Iraq's then-U.S. administrator, L. Paul Bremer.

But with Saddam Hussein facing trial for a wide array of human rights abuses, the interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has been promising to reinstate it.

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The announcement came a day after the government offered an amnesty to Iraqis who committed minor crimes since the fall of Saddam's regime last year. The amnesty and the return of the death penalty were part of a carrot-and-stick approach by the government to try to put down the 15-month-old insurgency.

Under Saddam's regime, some 114 offenses could garner the death penalty. The new law was more restrictive than that had been.

"This is not an open door to execute anyone and everyone, or people whom the government dislikes. This is not Saddam's law," Minister of State Adnan al-Janabi said.




http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/08/08/ap/headlines/d84b1a180.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraqi government closes Al-Jazeera television station for a month

By: RAWYA RAGEH - Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Iraqi government closed the Iraqi offices of the Arab television station Al-Jazeera for 30 days, accusing it Saturday of inciting violence.

A spokesman for Al-Jazeera called the closure "unwise" and said it restrained freedom of the press.

"It is a regrettable decision, but Al-Jazeera will endeavor to cover the situation in Iraq as best as we can within the constraints," spokesman Jihad Ballout said.


Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said the government convened an independent commission a month ago to monitor Al-Jazeera's daily coverage "to see what kind of violence they are advocating, inciting hatred and problems and racial tension."

Based on the commission's finding, the National Security Committee ordered the monthlong closure, Allawi said.

Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said the closure was intended to give the station "a chance to readjust their policy against Iraq."

"They have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they transfer a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals to increase their activities," he said.

"We want to protect our people."

Senior U.S. officials also have criticized Al-Jazeera's coverage of the Iraq war, calling the network an outlet for the al-Qaida terror network, broadcasting videotapes and audiotapes purportedly from Osama bin Laden or his aides. Al-Jazeera denied the allegations.

Al-Jazeera's Ballout said the network was not given a reason for the closure. He said the closure inhibits the "right of the Arab people around the world to see a comprehensive picture about what's going on in an important region like Iraq."

The station has run into trouble before in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year.

The Iraqi Governing Council, in place during the U.S. occupation, banned the station's reporters from entering its offices or covering its new conferences for a month in January because it had reportedly shown disrespect toward prominent Iraqis.

That was the second such council ban on the station.

During a July 25 interview with Al-Jazeera in Moscow, interim Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari accused the channel of biased reporting and implied its journalists could be barred from the country.

"We do not tolerate those who exploit the freedom of the media," Zebari said then. "These channels have become channels for provocation against the interest, security and safety of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government will not be lenient toward such behavior."

Al-Jazeera occasionally has encountered problems with authorities in other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and the former Iraqi regime. Unlike Arab state-run media, the station often airs views of local opposition figures and their criticisms of their countries' rulers.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/08/08/military/17_33_058_7_04.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraqi government passes amnesty for those convicted of minor crimes

By: RAVI NESSMAN - Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi signed an amnesty Saturday intended to persuade militants fighting a 15-month-old insurgency to put down their weapons and join government efforts to rebuild the country.

But the law pardons only minor criminals, not killers or terrorists, and appeared unlikely to dampen the violence, as some insurgent leaders called it "insignificant."

Meanwhile, sporadic explosions and gunfire echoed through Najaf, south of the capital, as Shiite leaders appealed for a renewed cease-fire to end two days of bloody battles between insurgents and Iraqi and U.S. forces in several Shiite communities.


On Saturday night, at least 12 explosions rocked central Baghdad, apparently targeting the fortified Green Zone enclave housing the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi interim government buildings. The military said some of the explosions appeared to be mortars.

The Najaf fighting has threatened to revive a Shiite insurrection that broke out in April and was calmed only in a series of truces in June.

Five U.S. servicemembers have been killed in Najaf, including two Marines who died Friday, the military announced. The military says hundreds of militants have been killed, though the militiamen put the number far lower.

Also Friday, an insurgent fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. vehicle in Baghdad, killing one soldier. At least 925 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq in March 2003.

The Iraqi government also ordered the offices of the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera closed for 30 days, accusing it of inciting violence.

"They have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they (send) a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals to increase their activities," Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said.

An Al-Jazeera spokesman called the closure "unwise" and said it restrained freedom of the press.

The long-delayed amnesty, coupled with a tough emergency law passed last month, was supposed to help end the violence by coaxing nationalist guerrillas to the government's side.

The amnesty applies to minor crimes -- such as weapons possession, hiding intelligence about terror attacks or harboring terrorists -- and appears intended to persuade people with information on attacks to share it with police.

The amnesty forgives those who committed minor crimes between May 1, 2003, just after Saddam Hussein's regime fell, and Saturday, Allawi said.

"This amnesty is not for people ... who have killed. Those people will be brought to justice, starting from Zarqawi down to the person in the street," Allawi said, referring to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose followers have claimed responsibility for deadly suicide bombings.

Rape, kidnapping, looting and terror attacks also are excluded.

Iraqi officials earlier said the amnesty might extend to those who killed U.S. and other coalition troops. U.S. officials said an early draft was ambiguous on that issue, but later drafts ruled it out.

The amnesty was rejected immediately by militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia has been fighting coalition forces in the Shiite holy city of Najaf and elsewhere since Thursday.

"This is a trivial and insignificant statement," said al-Sadr aide Ahmed al-Shaibany. "Amnesties are for criminals, but resistance is legitimate and does not need an amnesty."

Those eligible would need to turn themselves in during the next 30 days and provide information on their crimes and other crimes they know about, Allawi said. The amnesty period could be extended.

"This order has been established to allow our citizens to rejoin civil society and participate in the reconstruction of their country and the improvement of their lives, instead of wasting their lives pointlessly toward a lost cause," he said.

Scattered fighting continued Saturday in Shiite areas of Iraq, as Shiite leaders appealed for a cease-fire to end the violence, which threatens to re-ignite a two-month Shiite insurrection that broke out in April.

Al-Sadr aides met in Baghdad with Iraqi dignitaries and U.N. official Jamal Benomar.

"We called for a more effective U.N. role, the end of military actions, respecting the truce and a political solution for this crisis," said Ali al-Yassiry, an al-Sadr aide.

The Shiite Political Council, an umbrella group representing 38 Shiite movements, said it would boycott a national conference this month if violence continued.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the United States for the fighting.

"The United States has reached a dead end in Iraq, like a trapped wolf, and it is trying to frighten people by roaring and clawing," state-run Tehran radio quoted him as saying.

Explosions and gunfire continued Saturday in Najaf but most streets appeared deserted. U.S. warplanes flew overhead and American armored vehicles and Humvees blocked main roads into the city.

Allawi said more than 1,200 people had been arrested during the clashes, including followers of Saddam's regime and common criminals released by Saddam.

"The Iraqi police, National Guard and the army will escalate their operations against the outlaw people. This should be clear," he said.

The U.S. military said it secured the cemetery where insurgents were hiding. Marines found weapons caches, including bomb-making materials, rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and ammunition.

However, the militants appeared to control Najaf's old city, with vehicles and gunmen spread throughout the streets.

Militia fighters also insisted they controlled the southern city of Amarah. Associated Press Television News footage showed them directing traffic and driving police cars in the city.

The insurgents have overrun small police stations in town and looted them, "but they haven't overtaken the whole town," said British military spokesman Maj. Ian Clooney.

In the southern city of Basra, gunmen attacked the governor's office at dawn with rifles and mortar rounds. Police returned fire, repelling the attack and killing one gunman, police Capt. Mustaq Talib said.

In other violence, a militant group said Saturday it had taken a Turkish truck driver hostage and threatened to behead him within 48 hours if his company did not leave Iraq. His company quickly announced it would withdraw.

Militants have taken scores of foreigners hostage in recent months, trying to drive coalition troops out of Iraq and hamper reconstruction efforts.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/08/08/military/17_32_528_7_04.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

War on terror veterans exhibiting post-traumatic stress

By: ANNE RILEY-KATZ - Staff Writer

The toll war takes on troops goes by many names. In World War I, it was battle fatigue. In the Second World War, it was shell shock. Today, it's post-traumatic stress syndrome.

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests the consequences of combat are not bypassing the men and women who are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Of 6,210 Marines and soldiers surveyed in the study, one in eight reported symptoms of the medically recognized mental condition, including withdrawal from friends and family, overanxiousness, nightmares, flashbacks and angry behavior.


Fewer than half said they will seek help, the study said.

The study, headed by Dr. Charles Hoge, chief of psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C., was conducted last year, a few months after the units returned from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Hoge suggested there was "significant risk" of mental problems among those studied and some big barriers to them receiving care.

Experts in treating battle-scarred troops suggested that the relative youth and inexperience of the troops and their uncertainty about their roles were among key reasons for their symptoms.

Dr. Paula Schnurr, deputy executive director for the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Vermont, said that troops' disillusionment with the U.S. role in Iraq may be significant.

"I think that people expected to be playing more of a peacekeeping role and are not," Schnurr said. "In fact, the situation is very dangerous. People not expecting to be in combat are."

Steve Ryan, an Oceanside therapist who has worked extensively with veterans, said combat troops often have a difficult time adjusting to a nonviolent setting.

"When the rah-rahs and congratulations die down, these guys are stuck with their wounds and their memories," Ryan said.

Ryan said he believed the study's statistics on the number of troops with symptoms to be lower than the number that will eventually be affected by the disorder.

"I suspect there is more (than the study indicates)," Ryan said. "The symptoms may not happen right away."

The survey

The journal said it surveyed four groups, including members of Marine battalions who served six months in Iraq, and members of Army brigades before they deployed and after they served six months in Afghanistan or eight months in Iraq.

The study showed that about 17 percent of the respondents reported suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or anxiety. The rate for those who served in Afghanistan was about 12 percent. Before deployment, the rate of such problems among those surveyed was 5 percent, about the same as the general U.S. population, according to the study.

The study asked soldiers about specific combat experiences; not surprisingly, the chief factor for those with stress disorders was having had to kill someone.

The study showed that 38 percent to 40 percent of troops who are suffering some form of mental trauma as a result of their combat experiences would seek treatment.

Officials at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base just north of Oceanside said they were working hard to make sure that the more than 14,000 Marines deployed to Iraq from Camp Pendleton, most with no previous combat experience, know that help is available.

"Because Iraq is the first extended ground combat since Vietnam, (post-traumatic stress syndrome) is new to some of the people," said Lt. Cmdr. Elizabeth Burns, who works with Camp Pendleton's counseling services. "I think there are very few active-duty troops who served in Vietnam, so we've got a whole new military culture that doesn't have that combat experience. Some reaction is certainly to be expected."

Burns said Marines feeling symptoms of stress are being encouraged at all levels to seek assistance.

"Returning troops need to know that it's not a sign of weakness to seek help, it's a sign of strength," Burns said.

Hard to compare

Though post-traumatic stress syndrome was not formalized as a medical condition until 1980, the disorder and other combat-related symptoms among military personnel are nothing new.

"Records show that soldiers as far back as the Civil War exhibited symptoms of what we now know as PTSD," Schnurr said.

Studies done years after the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars showed the rate of those with the syndrome at the time was 15 percent for Vietnam veterans and 2 percent to 10 percent for Gulf War veterans, Schnurr said.

Schnurr said that a 1997 study showed that 15 percent of Vietnam veterans still suffered some symptoms.

"(Post-traumatic stress disorder) in combat veterans can be very long lasting," Schnurr said. "The documented prevalence in older veterans groups tends to be lower, but they were not studied when they returned."

However, Hoge said that a lack of similar data made comparison with other war veterans difficult.

"The studies on earlier combat veterans were done years after they got home, even with Desert Storm veterans," Hoge said. "We don't have good data that can be directly compared with our data, which was collected three to four months after troops returned."

Who gets help?

Those troops who said they were unlikely to seek help cited concerns about their careers and peer perception, the journal reported.

"We know that women seek mental health services more readily than males do," study chief Hoge said in a telephone interview. "With the military being largely male, and young males in particular, it is not a culture of help-seeking. But that may be purely a demographic reflection."

Escondido resident Edward Wilus is one local Vietnam veteran who eventually had to get help. When he returned to the United States in 1967 after two years in Vietnam, he said he thought life would be business as usual.

"I just tried to forget about the war," Wilus said. "But in later times it started creeping up on me."

Wilus, who served in the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade, said he was short-tempered, had trouble sleeping and experienced frequent nightmares.

"I was an entirely different person when I came back," he said. "Making friends was much more difficult after I came back, because after the war you could emotionally not afford to have friends, because if you made friends (at war) and they got killed, a part of you died with them."

Treatment and prevention

Hoge said a variety of options exists for the treatment of post-traumatic stress, including prescribed medications and group or individual therapy. Success with treatment depends of the individual, but usually one or more options prove effective, Hoge said.

In addition to chaplains, who are often used as confidants and deployed with each unit, there is one psychiatrist and a handful of psychologists currently deployed to Iraq, Burns said.

For returning troops, Camp Pendleton offers several treatment options, including 12-week group counseling sessions and individual counseling sessions, Burns said.

"They need to know they are not alone, and this is not the end of their career," Burns said. "Combat stress is manageable and treatable and they can continue with their career."

Despite the options available, Ryan said the military needs to reassess the treatments available to combat veterans and returning troops.

"I think the way it's dealt with is getting better, though marginally so," Ryan said. "The system really needs to be looked at."

Hoge said one of the study's purposes was to increase awareness of and educate people about the disorder.

"With this study, what we hope to do is get the word out there that the earlier that you come in for treatment, the better off you'll be," Hoge said. "Hopefully, we can reduce the rate of chronic symptoms down the road."

Contact staff writer Anne Riley-Katz at (760) 731-5799 or ariley-katz@nctimes.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/08/08/military/15_46_338_7_04.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Civil affairs team in Mahmudiyah looks back on project successes
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20048844125
Story by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes



CAMP MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq (Aug. 6, 2004) -- Sgt. Daniel P. Carreon formed a bit of a spending habit in Iraq. His expenditures ran in the neighborhood of millions and Marines whom he works for couldn't be prouder.

Carreon spent the past six or so months cruising the streets of Mahmudiyah speaking with everyone from sheikhs to school teachers. He's been part of 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment's civil affairs detachment, dedicated to rebuilding Iraq.

His team's deployment is getting ready to wrap up and they're not leaving without having made lasting impacts.

"We've put over 5 million dollars into more than a hundred projects since we arrived in February," Carreon said. "We go everywhere the battalion does. When we're not working on a project we're doing raids and other operations."

The team's ability to be a combat power is due to what Carreon calls a very smart move for the battalion to make.

"We've received a lot of support from (the battalion) in the way of vehicles, heavy machine guns to mount on them and Marines attached to us for security," said Sgt. Jeremy E. Murray, a member of civil affairs team. "We're not dependant on someone else's ride to get our job done. We can go anywhere, anytime, whether we're working on a contract or helping the battalion with their operations."

Most of the CAG's day is spent out in the town traveling to where many Marines never go.

"When we go out, we're not just passing through on a patrol," Carreon said. We get out and talk to people to find out what their needs are."

Needs range from the basic to the frivolous, so Marines concentrate on what will produce immediate and concrete results for the people of their community.

"One of our best projects was repairing a water treatment facility in Zadan," Carreon said. "It was supposed to provide water to thousands of families, but didn't. We fixed it and then the smaller satellite water facilities in the area. That was a big impact for the community."

One of the most fulfilling types of projects the civil affairs team encounters is any project that involving children.

"We do everything from handing out Frisbees to rebuilding schools and I enjoy those more than anything," Carreon said. "You can see if we get the kids to like us then we can show them there is hope."

Carreon admits it is a slow, long process to getting Iraq built to an acceptable standard. By doing their part of help Iraq, civil affairs teams are helping the community move toward the goal of a new Iraq.

"You always see news about roadside bombs and firefights back home, but you don't see us giving backpacks and school supplies to these kids," Carreon said. "These are things they've never had in their lives. That is immediate impact on the community and the future of Iraq."

The addition of the civil affairs team has been nothing short of a force multiplier, according to Lt. Col. Giles Kyser, the battalion commander. The team allowed Marines to engage Iraqis on projects that were aimed at the common good between Marines and Iraqis, instead of constant gun battles.

"I can tell you I have never seen a team more effective than this one because they have the warrior mindset first," Kyser said. "The aggressive way they attack their operations ensures they receive the support they have from the battalion."

Kyser added that he believed his battalion was better for having the civil affairs team with them. They fit the bill when it came to linking Marines and Iraqis.

"Before I came on this deployment I was working as an office clerk for a law firm," said Sgt. Manuel A. Lopez, another civil affairs Marine. "I like being in the people-service business. That's why this works for me."

Lopez liked working for the people and plans on taking his skills here and transferring them to a job with law enforcement.

"I like doing something meaningful," he added. "We do more than just go out into the city, we're waving and developing that military-civilian relationship with Iraqis."

For some Marines with the civil affairs team here, they'll never be able to top the experiences of this deployment.

"It's still an experience, even though it's my second time here," Lopez said. "A month after I get back I'll miss Iraq. Nothing back home compares to this."

The team is scheduled to return to Camp Pendleton, Calif., later in the month.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004884517/$file/CAG1lr.jpg

Marines from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment depend on a select group of people to take charge in the rebuilding of Mahmudiyah. They are a detachment of six Marines from 4th Civil Affairs Group, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. These Marines are on the street seven days a week getting contracts and watching Iraq being rebuilt.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes) Photo by: Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/C1C872F00ECE066C85256EEA002FBCD6?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. marines and Iraqi militia clash for third day
Sat 7 August, 2004 07:05

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. marines clashed with Shi'ite militiamen in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf for a third day on Saturday, witnesses said.

They said the combatants exchanged machinegun fire, shells and mortars into the early hours of Saturday. By mid-morning the fighting died down but sporadic crackle of machinegun fire continued to echo in some parts of the city.

Hundreds of militiamen loyal to radical Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr roamed the streets around the city's holy shrines, ignoring an ultimatum by the U.S.-appointed governor to quit Najaf by the evening.

Shops and businesses remained closed as residents stayed indoors. Some of the few who ventured out were clearing rubble of badly damaged shops and buildings.

The U.S. marines said on Friday they had killed 300 fighters of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia in two days of fighting in Najaf. But a militia spokesman said only 36 militiamen had died in several Iraqi cities from clashes that have fuelled fears of a new rebellion of radical Shi'ites.

The fresh fighting marks a major challenge for U.S.-backed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and appears to have destroyed a two-month-old ceasefire between U.S. forces and Sadr's Mehdi militia.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=560889&section=news


Ellie

[thedrifter]

August 05, 2004, 8:04 a.m.
“Iraqis Want Us There”
U.S. Army commander says unbalanced news threatens troop morale.

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.

On the night of April 6, 2003, Lt. Col. Stephen M. Twitty called his subordinate commanders together a few miles south of Baghdad. "Guys, this is it," the black 39-year-old from Chesnee, South Carolina told his officers. "We're going to take the fight into Baghdad. Some of us in this room may die, and that's okay. Just know it's for a good cause." He then offered up a short prayer and dismissed his commanders.


The following morning, Twitty's unit, Task Force 3-15 (3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment) of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division began an epic eight-hour struggle to race up the primary highway into Baghdad, seize and hold three key intersections along the way, and then keep the road open for follow-on American forces.

"It was one hell of a fight," Twitty told National Review Online earlier this week. "A lot of people back here in the states seem to marvel at how Baghdad fell without putting up much of a fight. I don't get angry when I hear that, but it bothers me when I think of the soldiers killed and wounded and the work we did during that eight hours of continuous, high-intensity fighting to get that thing under control."

Intense indeed: The soldiers of Task Force 3-15 often found themselves outnumbered by enemy troops which included members of Saddam Hussein's vaunted Republican Guard, Fedayeen militia, and foreign fighters. The enemy was stubborn, often suicidal on the attack, and at various times during the fighting, the Americans found themselves to be perilously low on ammunition. Not that there wasn't enough ammunition to go around, but U.S. forces were advancing so fast and far beyond their supply lines that soldiers and ammo moving up from the rear were often slowed by running battles and rear-guard actions with enemy forces that had not yet been destroyed.

By day's end, two of Twitty's men were dead and 45 wounded out of his 600-man task force (1,000 men total, if counting the 400 troops who were battling enemy forces south of Baghdad).

"Isn't that a miracle?" he says. "I actually feared I was going to lose 90 percent of my lead company."

A miracle perhaps, but the low casualty numbers were also a result of overwhelming U.S. firepower, a determination to hold newly captured ground, and superior equipment and protective gear. "I had six or eight soldiers who were shot in the chest, but lived because of the new body armor we use," says Twitty. "Rounds [bullets] were literally stuck in the armor plating. Two soldiers were shot in the back and lived. One shot in the stomach and lived. Two shot in the head, but lived because of the design of the Kevlar helmet."

Oddly, many Americans back home were led to believe that enemy troops defending the Iraqi capital simply collapsed in the face of the American army. A great misconception, argues Twitty, who points to the watered-down version of the fight for Baghdad as an ironic result of the battle's ferocity.

"The battle was so intense, the reporters were all hunkered down behind vehicles," he says. "Reporters are usually out front trying to get the story, but the fighting was so hot, many of them were scrambling for cover."

Twitty adds that he has a great deal of respect for combat correspondents, and that much of the reporting during the offensive combat phase of the war was in fact solid, because embedded journalists were traveling with the troops, eating the same food, sleeping in the same holes, dodging the same bullets. "They saw the good and the bad and they usually reported both," says Twitty.

Today, with the occupation phase of the war being conducted, journalists are still near front-line units, but few are actually embedded with the troops. And according to Twitty, only select events are covered, and rarely are they the positive stories.

"The news lacks balance, because you have the media staying in comfortable places like the Palestine Hotel," says Twitty. "They're no longer ducking for cover. They're only coming out and getting snapshots of incidents. They rarely see and almost never report the good things. And there are American soldiers out there doing great things for the Iraqis, every single day. They are interacting with children, vaccinating people, delivering supplies, building hospitals, schools, and athletic fields. The Iraqi standard of living is rising, but the media doesn't report that. What they report are the suicide bombings, RPG attacks, and beheadings."

Twitty concedes it is not exciting to see a group of soldiers carrying textbooks into a school building, but it is exciting to see something blow-up. "Don't get me wrong, the ugly stuff needs to be reported, but so does the good," he says.

Unbalanced reporting, Twitty fears, may eventually begin to erode troop morale.

"Currently, morale among the troops is extremely high," he says. "A number of factors contribute to that, not the least of which is the progress they see being made everyday. What troubles the soldier is when he or she reads newspapers from home, and sees that only the bad news is being published. They see news that makes the situation look as if America is a hated, bungling occupier and the country is on the verge of collapse. That's just not so, and the soldiers on the ground know it's not so."

Asked if the Iraqis have welcomed the Americans with open arms, Twitty is quick to say, "without a doubt. The vast majority of the Iraqi people are glad we are there. They want to be safe and secure. When we go into an area, they are often all over us. It is only a minority — guerillas and foreign fighters — who do not want us there."

Is the war in Iraq part of the overall global war on terror, or a separate conflict? Twitty argues both are inextricably connected. "Look, I'm not a politician, but I know what I've seen," he says. "For me personally, regardless of whether or not Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, he did have plenty of torture chambers and mass gravesites. That's terrorism. The Iraqis are thankful we are there to eradicate it, and America and the world is safer for that."

Twitty is currently training at the National War College in Washington, D.C. Following graduation, he is slated to command a brigade and "probably return to Iraq," he says.

— A former U.S. Marine infantry leader and paratrooper, W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in a variety of national and international publications. His third book, Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to American Airborne Forces, has just been published.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/smith200408050804.asp


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraqis Tired of Attacks, Want Stability, General Says
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2004 -- Iraqi citizens are getting weary of the terrorist attacks that appear to be increasing and growing more lethal, a military spokesman said today from Baghdad.

During an interview with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service, Army Brig. Gen. Erv Lessel, deputy operations director for Multinational Force Iraq, said polls show Iraqis want the terrorism to end.

"They're tired of the killings, they're tired of the kidnappings and the bombings, and they want some stability," he said. "They want jobs, they want electricity; they want to return to a normal, peaceful life."

Lessel added that most Iraqis see the best chance for that way of life is putting "their hope and confidence in the Iraqi government and the Iraqi security forces."

He said the Iraqi people would much rather see Iraqi security forces on the streets than multinational forces. "They feel more comforted by those that can speak the same language and that can understand them," he explained, "and they are willing to provide them with more actionable intelligence that will actually help our efforts."

Lessel said the increase in the number and lethality of attacks means insurgents are making every attempt possible to bring down Iraq's new government. "Everyone needs to remember that these insurgents, really their No. 1 goal is to bring down and destroy the legitimate and sovereign government of Iraq," he said. "And to do that they want to destabilize the country by attacking the infrastructure, by attacking its security forces, and also by attacking the multinational forces."

The general said efforts to enable Iraq's security forces to counter those attacks are going well. Training and equipping of Iraq's security forces continues, and more Iraqis are being trained and sent to duty, he said. Iraq's security forces can expect a significant amount of new equipment over the next two months, he added.

Just today, Lessel said, the military announced a large shipment of equipment had arrived for Iraqi forces. The shipment includes pickup trucks, body armor, AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition. Such equipment, he added, will help Iraq's security forces continue to grow in strength and capacity and to become more capable.

Lessel said the Aug. 5 attack by some 100 militia members loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on an Iraqi police station in Najaf proved that capability.

He said Iraq's police force was able to fend off the attack without multinational force support. With the help of the Iraqi National Guard, he added, police were able later to fend off a second attack by more than 300 militia members. It was only with the chance of a third attack that multinational forces were called in, he said.

"This is a great example of how the Iraqi security forces are becoming more capable, and able to defend themselves," the general said.

Lessel expressed hope that the trend will continue, and that as Iraqi security forces begin to control their cities and towns, multinational forces can begin to withdraw.

"Our overarching goal is to try to get more of this localized control in all of the cities throughout the country over time," he said.

However, he added, the multinational force will stay in Iraq until Iraqi security forces can take care of the entire country and more support no longer is needed.

"At that point, when there is a stable environment and a legitimate government that is supported by the people, then at that time we can probably call this mission complete," he said.

Until that day, Lessel said, the multinational force will continue its mission of providing a secure and stable environment and to rebuild the country.

He said a "big focus" now has been on infrastructure security and that U.S. troops are working with Iraqi security forces to provide infrastructure protection throughout the country. He also noted that U.S. forces, along with other aid agencies, are making tremendous progress toward rebuilding the country -- "everything from health facilities, schools, power plants, to all the infrastructure projects across the country," he explained.

"We continue to make great progress, and that progress is accelerating," he said. "It's a long row to hoe, but we are making progress."

Related Site:
Multinational Force Iraq
The Pentagon Channel



Ellie

[thedrifter]

Back from Iraq, city Marine says 'thanks'



By BOB SHRALUKA


An American flag that flew in front of City Hall in Decatur, then in Iraq, was going back up at City Hall today (weather permitting), having been returned to the city Tuesday night by Marine Capt. Phillip J. Smith.



Smith turned over the flag at Tuesday night's city council meeting in City Hall and used the occasion to thank "the remarkable citizens of this town and country for their support during my two tours in Iraq."



The son of Decatur Fire Chief Jan and Susan Smith addressed council before television cameras and with friends and relatives on hand. At the conclusion, he drew warm applause and "thank yous." Before exiting the council chambers, Capt. Smith shook hands with members of the Isch Administration and all five members of council.



Before introducing Smith, a Bellmont grad, Mayor Fred Isch, a Korean War vet, said that several months ago he had taken a flag down from City Hall and it sent to the Marine captain in Iraq. Isch said he told few people because "I'm superstitious."



Smith said the Decatur flag flew over one of his HMMWVs in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on June 17 of this year.



At the outset of his address, Smith said he wanted to thank the people of Decatur. "To all that sent care packages, made phone calls, helped with sick family members, prayed, actively demonstrated or flew the symbol of this great nation, thank you. Words cannot describe the emotions that have dwelled in my mind over this past year with regards to the support shown those of us in uniform in harm's way."



Smith returned from Iraq, his second stint there, some four weeks ago. He was commanding officer for Lima Battery, Third Battalion, Twelfth Marines from 29 Palms, California. As the commanding officer, he was directly responsible for 138 Marines and sailors, "a privilage bestowed upon me by some of the most professional leaders that I have yet worked with in my nine years of active duty."



Smith was in an artillery battalion that had returned from Iraq in July of 2003. Later, his battalion was assigned duties as a provisional military police battalion and returned to Iraq approximately six months ago.



"In the nearly five months I was in Iraq during this tour, I can attest to the willpower, determination and general professionalism of the Marines and sailors of Lima Battery that represent a small yet significant slice of the daily price paid by your 1.3 million uniformed members that ensure our peace," Smith said.



He went on to note how, during a philosophical discussion with a platoon commander, Smith was asked if he thought his group was as combat proven as the Marines at Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sahn or Hue City. While the question remains with him, Smith said, "I can attest that the utter bravery demonstrated by the Marines of Lima Battery cannot be surpassed and must therefore be at least equal to the storied Marines of the historical battles just mentioned."



The Decatur native spoke of a member of his battalion, 20-year-old PFC Chance R. Phelps, who was killed in action.



"He was genuinely motivated to contribute to the war on terror," Smith told a hushed audience. "PFC Phelps understood that it was necessary to physically take the fight to the enemy. His motivation came from the love of his family, friends and community. Every day, every mission, I was honored to work with these types of men."



The kind of mentality he saw among his fellow Marines, Smith said, "comes from towns such as ours and begins with the leaders of our community demonstrating by example how to help one another in our community. That mentality, that stewardship, then culminates with either countless boxes of care packages being received from people that may or may not know you... If not for the support from generous Americans such as this community has to offer, our job would be made more difficult."




http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/articles/2004/08/04/news/news/news02.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

War's crash course

Lesson from Iraq: There's no place like home
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 8, 2004

These Marines from Camp Pendleton arrived in Fallujah bearing soccer balls and candy and the promise of more than $100 million to rebuild schools, clinics and sewer and water projects damaged by war.

They asked that the Iraqis help them cast out the insurgents and calm the nation so democracy might take root.

It has not been easy.

Marines have been killed and many more have been wounded.

It's the first time many of them have seen the ravages of war.

They have learned about bravery, self-confidence and loyalty. And they have discovered they will never again take the simple joys of home for granted.

The 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division entered Iraq in March as part of a 25,000-member Marine and Navy force to police the Anbar province and the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi.

Any hope the Marines could keep a lid on Fallujah were shattered with the death of a Marine and the killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors in early April.

During the ensuing battles, Marines killed perhaps thousands of insurgents. But an estimated 600 civilian deaths brought demands from the international community for the fighting to stop.

Marines took up positions in base camps outside Fallujah, which bristles with insurgents.

U.S. troops live 3 miles outside the city in "hootches" – military slang for their homes – complete with satellite TV, air conditioning and makeshift showers.

But they are randomly shelled. To venture outside the camp invites attack.

Often in the evenings, Marines sit on their stoops and listen to the distant exclamation points created by the 500-pound bombs dropped on the enemy.

The Marines know it will be their turn soon to come under attack.

Eleven of their comrades have been killed in battle and 160 have been wounded. Nearly every Marine has had at least one close call and most have had several.

They are to return home in October. For most, this is their second time in Iraq, having been deployed last year.

Most are thinking about what they've seen and done. And about home.

Meet five Marines stationed at Camp Baharia, the closest U.S. base to Fallujah and the outpost of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Union-Tribune staff writer Rick Rogers and staff photographer Nelvin Cepeda have been accompanying Camp Pendleton-based Marines in Iraq.

1st Lt. Carl Martinez

"The biggest thing that Iraq has done is make me appreciate not only the freedoms that the United States offers, but the quality of life we enjoy."

A native son of San Diego County is now the adopted son of a village outside Fallujah.

First Lt. Carl Martinez (above, center), a graduate of Mount Miguel High School, leads a Marine liaison unit that trains, equips and advises Iraqi police and national guardsmen in the settlement of Saqlawiyah.

The Spring Valley native has another job: to convince sheiks and religious leaders that it is in everyone's interest to pressure insurgent fighters to leave.

Marines in his unit have dubbed him the "Son of Saqlawiyah." It's an acknowledgment of the uncommon relationship he has forged with the Iraqis.

"The name is kind of an ongoing joke," Martinez, 29, said sheepishly. "Some of the town council members have taken to referring to me as a town son and the Marines, of course, picked up on that."

It's possible no other Marine gets kissed on the cheeks – a customary greeting between friends in the Arab world – as often as Martinez.

"I think they trust me," said Martinez, who enlisted in the Marines after high school in 1993 and received his commission in 2001 after graduating from The Citadel in South Carolina.

"One sheik said that I look a little Iraqi, so that might be part of it," he said. "Also, I've been patient with them even on bad days."

And there have been some bad days.

Recently, Martinez and his men were sweeping a highway for roadside bombs when they found one about a football field away from an Iraqi National Guard outpost in Saqlawiyah.

The explosive device was huge – three 155-mm artillery shells. It was found when a Marine kicked a small, plastic box and saw wires running from it into the ground.

Explosives experts figure it took an hour to plant the device that would have destroyed whatever vehicle ran over it.

It was the third roadside bomb the Marines found within sight of the guardsmen, who are supposed to be thwarting such threats. The Iraqi in charge of the outpost offered half-hearted explanations about why that keeps happening, including not having enough men.

"All it takes is one man. You can see both ways" down the road, Martinez told the officer.

Afterward, he explained to an observer that dealing with the Iraqi police and national guard can be frustrating, given "their level of experience, their willingness to cooperate and their level of courage."

Still, there are some encouraging signs in this community of 3,000 people in the outlying areas where 4,000 live.

"The Iraqi National Guard did get in a small firefight with insurgents for the first time in the Fallujah area," Martinez said. "It was a small win for them and for us."

More tangible strides are being made with civilian leaders.

"We've made tremendous progress in Saqlawiyah," he said. "When we first went there, the message from the mosque to the people was that Americans were monkeys and pigs and to not cooperate with us.

"Now, the message is to keep the foreign insurgents out and to support Iraqi police and the national guard so that Saqlawiyah does not become another Fallujah."

Saqlawiyah is three miles from Fallujah, where perhaps thousands of anti-U.S. guerrillas have the run of the city. Martinez's effort is part of a campaign to politically isolate Fallujah from its suburbs to prevent Islamic extremism from spreading.

The posting is as hot, dirty and dangerous as it is for the rest of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, stationed at Camp Baharia.

This tour, which ends when Martinez comes home in October, has reawakened his faith.

"There have been a few occasions when I have to say that the man upstairs has been looking out for me," said Martinez, pausing to listen to the fighting in Fallujah.

"I want to be a better Catholic, a better Christian and not just to talk to God when I need him the most.

"The biggest thing that Iraq has done is make me appreciate not only the freedoms that the United States offers, but the quality of life we enjoy," Martinez said.

"We spend a lot of time at schools here that are without windows, where it is 115 degrees in the summer and 5 degrees in the winter. We see 3-and 4-year-old kids by themselves on the street corners."

Seeing that, he said, "can't help but make you appreciate the United States."

"I'm a lifelong Padre fan and I've missed the whole season. I've missed the whole summer with my wife and son," said Martinez, who has been deployed for 14 months of his three-year marriage.

"I hope that when I start taking things for granted, I remember Iraq."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040808/images/2004-08-082004-08-082004-08-08nguyenfront.jpg

NELVIN CEPEDA / Union-Tribune
"I don't take things for granted anymore." LANCE CPL. AN NGUYEN



http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040808/images/2004-08-08martinez.jpg

Lance Cpl. An Nguyen

"I value, more than ever, friends and family and what I have."

In boot camp a year ago, An Nguyen yearned to see action.

Now, at 18, the youngest combat veteran in his company finds himself longing for peace.

At the same time he believes the war has blessed him, in a way.

"I don't take things for granted anymore," said Nguyen, who joined the Marines after graduating from Valley High School in Sacramento. "I value, more than ever, friends and family and what I have. I've grown up a lot."

Much of the growth took place in Fallujah, where Nguyen saw extensive action in April with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Nearly a third of the company was wounded during a three-week period and one Marine in his platoon was killed.

Those days were hell, Nguyen said. And yet, he added, they were his unit's finest hour.

"When we were fighting in the city and things were hitting the fan, everyone was doing what they were supposed to, helping the wounded, fighting," said the first-generation American whose mother emigrated from Vietnam in the 1970s.

"No one was hiding out scared, everyone stepped up for each other," Nguyen said. "It was a feeling I can't describe. It was like we were all brothers. I want to remember everything. I want to remember the good and the bad. How everyone was a family."

After experiencing combat, Nguyen doesn't care to see it again. "But I'd do it again with everyone else if I had to," he said during a break at Camp Baharia between patrols.

Nguyen said he tried to distance himself from other Marines in his unit when it deployed in March, fearing emotional ties when death might visit. That feeling quickly faded.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040808/images/2004-08-08nguyen.jpg

continued....

[thedrifter]

"I kept telling myself that I didn't want to make good friends in case I lost them. But that changed," Nguyen said. "They take care of me and I take care of them. It's like having a company of brothers."

He said he ran with the wrong crowd in high school and joined the Corps to change his life. It has.

With the confidence he's gained, he plans to pursue a career in law enforcement, perhaps becoming a sheriff's deputy in Sacramento County.

First, he just wants to return to his family and to go wakeboarding at Lake San Antonio, like other teenagers.

After what he's seen and done, would he bless a future son's decision to enter the Marines in time of war?

Nguyen said he would.

"I'd let him go. I wouldn't stop him from learning what I went through. It is a good experience. And I think it is an honor to be a Marine."

Lance Cpl. Matt Cunningham

"Heck, I'm looking forward to just walking around without a flak jacket and helmet."

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, inspired Matt Cunningham to join the Marine Corps and add his name to the roster of family members in public service.

"When I saw how afraid everyone in my family was after Sept. 11, I wanted to do something to keep that from happening again," said Cunningham, a 19-year-old lance corporal whose grandfather was a police officer for 20 years and whose uncles are firefighters.

"I just wanted to get even for what (the terrorists) did," he said. "I wanted to see some action and do my part."

He has and he does.

"Our platoon has seen more action than any other platoon in the company," said Cunningham, a rifleman with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

"We've pretty much been in every big firefight."

One encounter took place June 24 when guerrillas attacked his unit along a highway into Fallujah.

During the day-and-night battle that left eight Marines wounded, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded an arm's length from Cunningham. The blast damaged his left ear, resulting in hearing loss that causes him to speak more loudly than normal.

The close call has done nothing to erode his sureness in combat.

"Before the first firefight, I thought about how I would react," Cunningham said. "But after the first one, I was pumped. I'd like to get some more action if I can.

"I believe as long as you believe that they can't kill you, they can''t kill you," he said, a plug of tobacco in his front lip. "As long as no Marines are dying, I'm having fun out here."

But Marines have died, including his friend, Lance Cpl. Philip E. Frank, from Elk Grove, Ill.

It happened April 8 while they were on patrol near a bridge across the Euphrates River.

"We thought it was just a gunshot wound to the shoulder and we heard he'd be fine," Cunningham said. "But the bullet bounced around. I think he died of blood loss and damage to his lung. He was 20. He was one of my good buddies."

Cunningham worries about fitting in to civilian life when he returns to Camp Pendleton and his home just outside Kansas City, Kan.

"I think combat makes you harder," he said. "I think the transition back to the States and dealing with civilians is going to be hard.

"My friends are going to complain about having to wake up at 8 a.m. to go to class after I've gone two days without sleeping, fighting for my life.

"You value your life a lot more when you almost lose it every day."

People "don't know how good (they) have it in America. Heck, I'm looking forward to just walking around without a flak jacket and helmet, without worrying about a roadside bomb."

Cunningham, who has three years left on his enlistment, figures that after serving his country overseas, he would "like to serve my country as a firefighter or a police officer because I still remember how scared everyone was after 9/11."


http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040808/images/2004-08-08cunningham.jpg


Cpl. Ben Ackerman

"Every single time I hear a door shut or a lid drop, I flinch."

He couldn't leave tiny Burlington, Wis., fast enough after graduation from high school to join the Marines and see the world.

"I got real sick of high school real quick," said Cpl. Ben Ackerman, a supply specialist for the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. "I joined because I was just looking to get out of town for a while.

"Now that I think about it, I didn't plan to be away for four years."

But after two tours in Iraq in a little more than a year, Ackerman, 21, has had a change of heart.

He might look the same to folks in Burlington, a town of 10,000 outside Milwaukee, but Burlington sure looks different to him now.

After what he's experienced in Iraq, simple pleasures have taken on new meaning.

"I miss sitting on the porch watching the rain. I miss the wide open fields," he said, perched on a packing crate in 125-degree heat at Camp Baharia. "The people there are nicer, a little more laid back than people on the East or West coasts."

It's easy to become nostalgic when insurgents lob mortar rounds and rockets over the wall several times a week and the only running water for showering comes from a hose connected to a drum on the roof.

"The big things, you get used to living without," Ackerman said. "It's going without the little things that's the real nuisance – no running water and having to walk to the shower."

Ackerman rarely leaves Camp Baharia, where the regiment is based during its seven-month tour.

"There really is no job in the field for supply. We need to be in the rear where we can stage stuff that the Marines need," said Ackerman, who tracks supplies and logs crucial missing, lost or destroyed items such as weapons and radios.

Not that the war is ever far away for any Marine at Camp Baharia, the closest U.S. base to Fallujah.

Ackerman was jogging with some other Marines recently when two enemy rockets screamed in. Nobody was wounded, but the attacks keep Marines on edge.

"Every single time I hear a door shut or a lid drop, I flinch," Ackerman said. "Every single time."

After he returns to Camp Pendleton, he plans to go home on leave, and when his tour as a Marine is finished, he intends to raise a family in Wisconsin.

For Ackerman, distance – and Iraq – have added perspective.

"Every little thing back home is gold to me now."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040808/images/2004-08-08ackerman.jpg

Staff Sgt. Willie Gresham

"You reach a place in your life where you think you know it all. Then you come here."

Willie Gresham joined the Marine Corps half out of envy and half out of spite.

"All my family had been in the Army and none of them liked the Marine Corps," said Gresham, 30, a staff sergeant for Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. "They all looked down on the Marine Corps and wanted me to go into the Army.

"Then my own parents said that they didn't think I could do it, that the Marine Corps would be too hard for me," said Gresham, who weighed perhaps 100 pounds when he graduated from Eau Claire High School in Columbia, S.C., in 1994.

"I saw it as a real challenge, like when they said that I was too small to play football. I said, 'Really?' and signed the papers behind their backs."

The lure of the Corps hooked Gresham early on and never let go. A mini Marine boot camp he attended in 11th grade sealed the deal.

"The way Marines, especially drill instructors, carried themselves, their pride, appearance and confidence was just so much more than the other services," Gresham said. "I just knew I wanted to be part of that."

After enlisting, he gained 50 pounds of muscle in real boot camp.

He fought with the 2nd Battalion during the Iraq war last year and is now back as a platoon sergeant, responsible for 40 Marines.

continued.........

[thedrifter]

He said waging peace is harder and more frustrating than waging war. Even so, Iraq turned out to be less dangerous than he first thought.

"We were all wound up, thinking Iraq was going to be Vietnam. But there isn't that much combat over here," said Gresham, who plans to make the Corps a career.

"It is not that dangerous. I mean, it is dangerous. There are mortars coming in. But we don't have Marines here who are losing sleep or anything."

He wants to remember the spirit of his men, how they are able to fight for their lives one minute and joke about it the next.

Although he sometimes downplays the danger, other times he dwells on more frightening thoughts.

"I want to forget the many moments of wondering who is going to get shot next. I want to forget the screams I heard after they got hit."

Two Marines in his platoon have been killed in action since the unit arrived at Camp Baharia in March.

The Corps' influence on Gresham's life and the current tour in Iraq has transformed him yet again.

"I think this deployment changed everyone who actually fought in Fallujah," he said.

"They know how quickly you can lose your life. You reach a place in your life where you think you know it all. Then you come here. It's humbled me. It's matured me."

Gresham has definite plans when he returns to his wife and four children.

"The first thing is to finish off a bottle of Crown and then to go on a honeymoon with my wife," Gresham said, sounding more humorous than crusty.

Then he turned reflective.

"I've had many close calls. I could've been gone. So when I get back, I'm not going to do foolish things. I want to enjoy the little things when I get back my family, running water, things like that."

Gresham also wants to attend drill instructor school at Parris Island, S.C.

Asked what he'd instill in his recruits, he said:

"In boot camp, they are at the top of their game, but sometimes when they come out here they slip a little. If I were to drive anything home, it would be to stay disciplined and to avoid complacency. It can get Marines killed."


http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040808/images/2004-08-08gresham.jpg


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040808-9999-lz1n8war.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

S.F. Man Fakes Own Decapitation in Video
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 8, 2004


Filed at 6:19 a.m. ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- An aspiring politician and video game designer who faked his own beheading by Iraqi militants awoke Saturday to learn that television stations around the world were showing his homemade video of the gruesome hoax.

Benjamin Vanderford, 22, said he posted the 55-second clip, which shows a knife sawing against his neck, on an online file-sharing network in May. It circulated in cyberspace before crossing over to major media, airing on Arab television.

``It was part of a stunt, but no one noticed it up until now,'' Vanderford told The Associated Press after being awoken at his San Francisco apartment early Saturday and informed that much of the world was suddenly under the impression he had been decapitated.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents interviewed Vanderford Saturday morning and an investigation has been opened, said FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy. She said the agency initially became involved while trying to verify whether anyone had, in fact, been beheaded.

``We are collecting all the facts at this point in this process and we will pursue any and all legal avenues,'' Quy said, adding that it would be up to the U.S. Attorney to determine what, if any, charges are filed.

Shrugging and taking a drink from a diet soda, Vanderford said he originally made the video as a way to draw attention to his campaign for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He filmed the footage at a friend's house, using fake blood.

When his political aspirations waned, he decided to distribute the footage on Kazaa, which is used to trade millions of audio, video and software files daily, ``to just make a statement on these type of videos and how easily they can be faked.''

Although the video went for months without drawing attention, it spread quickly after it was posted on a militant Islamic Web site that has previously carried claims of violent acts that eventually were verified.

The video was taken off the site Saturday after the hoax was discovered, and the organization that claimed to have posted it, the Islamic Global Media Center, said in a statement on the Web site that it had ``deleted the fake tape and there are others which we are now making sure if they are true or not before hosting it.''

The clip aired Saturday on the Arab television before Western news organizations, including The Associated Press and Reuters, published news of the unverified beheading.

On the tape, which carried an Arabic title that translates as ``Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Slaughters an American,'' Vanderford sits on a chair, his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth.

``We need to leave this country alone. We need to stop this occupation,'' he said on the video, adding that he had been offered for exchange with prisoners in Iraq. ``Everyone's going to be killed this way.''

The tape then shows a hand with a knife cutting at the motionless man's neck, but it did not show any militants.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a Jordanian militant whose group has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks across Iraq, including the beheadings of U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg, South Korean translator Kim Sun-il and Bulgarian truck driver Georgi Lazov.

Vanderford said the file-sharing network provided a free and convenient distribution channel for the clip. His only challenge was making it look authentic.

``We had to make it more lower quality to make it more realistic,'' said Vanderford, who works at a bank when he's not performing in a rap group and designing video games. ``That was another experiment that was part of this to see how quickly that system will spread news.''

He said he spliced the video with images of mutilated bodies taken from a Web site operated by Hamas, a terrorist group responsible for suicide bombings in Israel.

Vanderford, who opposes the U.S.-led war in Iraq, said he understood if relatives of those killed there thought his stunt was misguided, but he offered no apologies for the hoax.

``I see how it could be considered disrespectful. But I think people, if they look at it, will understand two other big issues it brings up,'' he said. ``A small group of disgruntled people in Iraq or Saudi Arabia could just get more attention just by easily releasing something like I did on the Internet.''

The Web site on which the hoax footage appeared has previously carried numerous seemingly legitimate claims, including an extremist group's admission it conducted the July 30 suicide bombings in Uzbekistan, plus a video showing al-Zarqawi's supporters shooting dead a Turkish contractor.

But many Internet-posted and TV-broadcasted claims are difficult to authenticate, particularly because of doubts over their sources or if those making the claims have any ability to carry them out.

A statement posted on the Internet in early July in the name of an Iraqi guerrilla group, Ansar al-Sunna Army, claimed it had beheaded Lebanese-born U.S. Marines Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, who had been kidnapped in Iraq. But the group itself posted a statement on its own Web site denying it had killed Hassoun, who is now in the United States.

An al-Qaida-linked group, The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade, this month posted a statement denying a threat issued in its name demanding Italian troops leave Iraq within 15 days. The group said it had never issued such an ultimatum.



http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-American-Beheaded-Hoax.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: August 09, 2004

No easy task to keep rebels off the streets
Evidence often too weak to put insurgents away

By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer


RAMADI, Iraq — Last fall, military units arrested an Iraqi man suspected of contributing to the bloody insurgency here. They had to let him go in February.
Troops picked him up again in April and, again, the man was set free in June.

Now, leathernecks from Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, have to find the man a third time. And they’re frustrated.

Not only are they loathe to put a suspected insurgent back on the streets. But every time the Marines are sent out on these missions, they brave rocket-propelled grenades, improvised explosives and small-arms fire — all for a guy who will probably be back out on the streets in a matter of weeks.

It’s the grunt version of a “catch-and-release” program.

“You feel like you’re chasing your tail,” said 1st Lt. Dan Crawford, 27, a platoon commander with Weapons Company. Platoons such as Crawford’s have been conducting raids to haul in Iraqis and foreign fighters suspected of attacking American forces.

They’re taken to a detention facility here, where they’re strip-searched and interrogated. But often they’re released when there isn’t enough evidence to support holding them.

Weapons Company leathernecks battled about 40 men in downtown Ramadi in early July. They killed 21 fighters during the skirmish and detained about 20 more.

But their victory was muted about a week later when the unit learned that all of the men they captured had been released.

One platoon sergeant was so bitter about the matter that he would not comment. “You don’t want to talk to me about that,” he said.

Crawford has his own frustrations. His platoon is the one that recently received the “target folder” showing that, once more, the man who’s been freed twice already needs to be brought in for questioning.

“We’ve done two raids at his home to try to get him, but he hasn’t been home,” Crawford said during an interview in late July at Camp Hurricane Point in Ramadi. The wanted man’s brother has already been captured and was taken to Abu Ghraib prison. Typically, it takes solid evidence to send a man to Abu Ghraib. Crawford suspects that if the brother of the man he’s still after is at Abu Ghraib, the wanted man is probably a bona fide insurgent.

Tough burden of proof

But assembling the kind of evidence needed to get suspected insurgents to Abu Ghraib is hard.

Most of the evidence they collect is circumstantial and may not stand up to the strict legal standards being applied here. But to the Marines who have to go find the men, some of whom may be responsible for killing their own, those high standards spell frustration and anxiety.

“One of our biggest strengths, which is one of our biggest weaknesses, is our integrity,” said Capt. Robert Weiler, 31, from Woodbridge, Va. Weiler estimates that half of detainees are ultimately released, though battalion officials said the number was closer to one-third.

The reason the men are let go is simple, said Maj. Thomas McCann, a lawyer for 1st Marine Division. “The bottom line is evidence, and is there enough to hold the person,” McCann said.

The enemy may not follow Geneva Convention guidelines for prisoners, but U.S. forces do, he said. “If you’re going to deprive people of their freedom, you better have proof that they did something to forfeit that freedom,” he said.

When men are detained after raids or firefights, Marines often make identifying marks on the backs of detainees’ shirts. Information about where they were found and what they were doing is logged to help lawyers and interrogators “exploit” the detainee for more information. The units also must fill out forms that provide evidence that the person being dropped off is guilty. A military lawyer reviews the case within 72 hours of detention and decides whether the detainee stays or goes.

Division-level officials said they understand the Marines’ frustrations. But nothing about this insurgency is black and white, McCann said.

And as frustrating as it can be for the grunts who apprehend these people, erring on the safe side sends the right message to the Iraqi people as they set up their own government and legal system, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rodney Gauthier, 40, division corrections officer.

“If we’re not modeling the correct system for them, how is it going to look?” he asked. “They’re looking to us as an example.”

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-MARINEPAPER-281554.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

The coolest posting in a hot war zone
For Marines guarding key dam, lakeside quarters take edge off perilBy Doug Struck


HADITHA DAM, Iraq - "Welcome to this dam place," said Maj. Mark Winn. He couldn't resist. "Take all the dam pictures you want."

Some 130 miles northwest of Baghdad, Winn and about 400 other U.S. Marines live inside a dam. It is an incongruous assignment in a country that conjures images of blowing sand and hot desert. But here they are, bunked in the former offices of a massive, Russian-built hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates River.

When the U.S. military planned its invasion of Iraq, strategists pondered the Haditha Dam, recalling oil wells set ablaze by then-President Saddam Hussein in his scorched-earth retreat from Kuwaiti during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Sabotage to this dam could unleash walls of water from Lake Qadisiya on towns and villages for hundreds of miles. It would cripple the country's electricity supply. It would destroy vast fields of irrigated farmland.

So Army Rangers were dropped in early in the war, and they seized the dam April 1, 2003, eight days before the fall of Baghdad. It has been in U.S. hands ever since. The 1st Battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment is the latest outfit assigned to guard it, arriving here about one month ago from Camp Lejeune, N.C. They share duties with 150 Azerbaijani troops, part of the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq.

"It's the nicest place in Iraq," said Winn, 41, a 16-year Marine Corps veteran with a ready smile. "It's 10 degrees cooler than anyplace else. We don't get the dust here. And from the top of the dam, we have the best view in the country."

From there, 10 stories above the water, Marines watch the Euphrates weave its serpentine course through dusty desert ridges. On its way, the river nourishes periodic explosions of green abundance, oases of date palms, grass and vegetable gardens.

The dam constantly vibrates with the low rumble of turbines, giving the place the feel of a ship. The Marines' bunks are jammed into linoleum-floored rooms rigged with fluorescent lights. They trudge up and down the 286 stairs, hang their wash on the building's terraced levels and watch huge carp feed in the froth of the spillway discharge. Terns and gulls swoop in the air currents.

"I never thought I'd be on a boat in Iraq," said Sgt. Joseph Wright, 24, from Standish, Me., as he cruised Lake Qadisiya late one night. In the cockpit of a patrol boat bristling with armament, Wright throttled up the twin 300-horsepower jet motors, making the boat rear on its stern and sending up a roostertail wake.

"It can get a little repetitious," he said of the patrol, as he watched for boats approaching the dam. "But we are happy to do it. For a group of people who are intent on destabilizing Iraq, all it would take is a boat loaded with explosives."

Key dam
The dam was completed in 1987 atop a small island that was home to Hassan Yahier Hassan, now the dam manager. Hassan said his father was heartbroken when his land was taken, and "even today," he added, "we are sad to recall our good life there, when we could just take whatever fruit and fish we wanted."

But Hassan, 53, recognizes the importance of the dam. It is the second-largest of eight hydroelectric dams in Iraq. Its output — 670 megawatts when the water flow is strong — serves to stabilize the entire Iraqi power grid, increasing output when needed, reducing it when not. And irrigation canals that feed a wide swath of rice fields south of the dam depend on a steady flow of water, held in the big lake during winter and spring when snows melt in the Turkish mountains.

The Marines patrol not only the lake and river but also the long desert highways, searching for roadside bombs. A contingent patrols an ammunition dump. Another group lives with and trains the Iraqi National Guard in the town of Haditha, 10 miles south of the dam. With all the duties, sleep is often forgone. The Marines don't complain much, except about the chow.

"I volunteered to be in the Marine Corps," said 1st Lt. James Haigh, 26, of Kankakee, Ill. "I never expected to be on a dam in Iraq watching green trees, but I think it's important. What we are doing is helping out the people in Iraq."

That feeling is not always reciprocated. Last month, two suicide car bombs were set off at the Haditha police station and the National Guard post shared by the Marines. Ten Iraqis were killed. Predictably in this land of conspiracy theories, the Americans were blamed. The town leaders regularly meet with Winn to ask him when he will leave. Roadside bombs are a constant threat. Even Hassan, the dam manager, wants the Americans to go.

'We need our freedom'
Hassan was at the dam last year when U.S. bombs destroyed the Iraqi army tanks and antiaircraft units nearby and cut the transmission lines for the second time in 12 years. Army Rangers came by helicopter and Humvee early that morning. Hassan gathered his 25 engineers and technicians on the second floor and listened in fear as the U.S. soldiers advanced from the top, breaking and exploding doors as they came. When they reached his group, Hassan nervously stepped into the hall and explained, in proper English learned in his engineering studies, that they were civilians.

The Americans were cautious, suspecting the dam might be rigged with explosives, but Hassan had an urgent task. If the pumps were not restarted, the whole building would be flooded in four hours, he explained. For two sleepless days, a CIA operative watched every move made by Hassan and his engineers as they nursed emergency generators to operate the pumps, he said.

With Iraqi spare parts and American help, most of the transmission lines were repaired. A Colorado company won a $10 million contract to help replace a broken turbine blade, catch up on a decade of maintenance and install modern switches. But Hassan says he is still fed up with his uninvited guests and with the restrictions imposed on his 200 Iraqi employees.

"We need our freedom," he said. "We have been in this power station for 18 years, and now I cannot even walk around my own plant."

"I understand his point of view," said Winn. But, he said, "this is a sensitive infrastructure. Without the electricity this dam provides, the quality of life for Iraqis would be substantially reduced."

It is also, Winn admits, a point of control for the military, being located near two major highways. Not long ago, the Marines say, a raid on suspected insurgents turned up a map of the dam marked with the locations of the American and Azerbaijani sentries and even the commander's room. They stepped up patrols and continued their raids.

Two hours before dawn one day last month, a force of Marines gathered for a raid in the delicious nighttime cool on the top of the dam. A full moon worked alchemy on the Euphrates, turning the water to quicksilver. Downriver, Haditha glittered with lights left on all night, one benefit of being home to a hydroelectric plant.

An arms dealer was believed to be stashing weapons on a tiny island six miles south of the dam. The Marines were ready for the raid, ready to show the land-to-water assault skills that makes the corps distinct.

Nine Humvees, towing two Zodiac rubber boats, slipped through the darkened countryside. When they turned on a palm-lined path toward the river, a barking dog and two braying donkeys announced their arrival, but if there was anyone on the island, it was too late. Five of the vehicles lined the riverbank, cutting off escape routes. Two Cobra and Huey attack helicopters appeared, circling the small island.

Nothing went quite according to plan — it never does, the Marines grunted. They struggled to carry the Zodiacs down to the water, slipping on dried palm fronds and the slick riverbank. Four men plunged into the water, cursing at the muck and rocks, to mount the heavy outboard motors. The 55-horsepower engines were cold and would not start. Once going, the craft struck rocks in the shallow river. Eventually the first boatload of Marines had to wade waist-deep to the island.

The island was fiercely defended by bugs and briar bushes. The Marines pushed through, guns at the ready, to a clearing. It had once been farmed, judging by the furrows. The soldiers poked through the underbrush. Nothing. They waded around the perimeter, startling crabs. They used metal detectors to search for a weapons cache. Nothing. The island was swarming only with ants, inch-long creatures that scurried up pants and soon had to be brushed off faces.

"Sometimes it's a dry hole, sometimes it's not," the commander of the raid, 1st Lt. Christopher Dellow, 26, of Binghamton, N.Y., said with a shrug.

Sgt. Erik Lowe, 23, from Lapeer, Mich., was glum at the prospect of paperwork. "I get to go back and fill out reports saying there are lots of ants here," he said.

Staff Sgt. Eric Hodge, 31, a veteran from Port Huron, Mich., was even more disgruntled. The launch and the withdrawal from the island were sloppy, he told the tired Marines at the end of the morning.

continued......

[thedrifter]

"I'm not going to chew you out," he promised, then proceeded to do just that. No Marine sergeant's lecture would be complete without some old standards: "You girls looked like a bunch of Girl Scouts out there today," he barked. There would be more drills on the rafts, he promised.

Dismissed, the weary Marines headed to their bunks. Hodge permitted himself a wry smile. They didn't do that badly, he confided.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5637694/


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq leader asks Najaf militants to stop fighting
By ABDUL HUSSEIN AL-OBEIDI
Associated Press

NAJAF, Iraq -- Protected by 100 guards, Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi visited the war-shattered city of Najaf today, calling on Shiite militants to lay down their weapons after days of fierce clashes with U.S. forces.

But even as Allawi met with Najaf's governor, police and the Mahdi Army militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr battled nearby. Gunfire and explosions could be heard as U.S. helicopter gunships circled overhead. Two Iraqi national guardsmen were killed, and 13 people wounded.

"We think that those armed should leave the holy sites and the (Imam Ali Shrine compound) as well as leave their weapons and abide by the law," Allawi said during a one-hour visit for talks with Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi.

Clashes continued in other Shiite communities for the fourth straight day. In Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City, four people were killed, and three U.S. soldiers were wounded in fighting today and a U.S. observation helicopter came under fire and had to make an emergency landing, though the crew was unharmed.

Allawi's government also announced the reinstatement of the death penalty, part of a new approach for putting down the 15-month insurgency in Iraq. Capital punishment would be allowed for those convicted of murder, endangering national security and distributing drugs.

"The tough task in front of us in this country is maintaining security and stability, combatting terror and organized crime," Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin said as he and the justice minister announced the decision.

Capital punishment was suspended during the U.S. occupation. The reinstatement came a day after the government announced an amnesty for those playing minor roles in the insurgency -- though not for anyone who has killed.

A series of explosions boomed across central Baghdad today, sending plumes of smoke into the air. One of the blasts hit a bank of the Tigris River, while a second hit in downtown Baghdad, sending up billows of black smoke. The cause of explosions was not immediately clear.

Also today, militants said they took a top Iranian diplomat hostage, according to video shown on the Arab-language Al-Arabiya television station. The tape showed a bearded man identified as Faridoun Jihani speaking to the camera, though his voice was not audible. The video also showed his identification, passport and a business card identifying him as the "consul for the Islamic Republic of Iran in Karbala," a southern Iraqi city.

The kidnappers, calling themselves the "Islamic Army in Iraq," accused Jihani of provoking sectarian war in Iraq and warned Iran not to interfere in Iraq's affairs, according to Al-Arabiya.

The kidnappers made no demands, the report said.

Militants -- mainly thought to be Sunni Muslim insurgents -- have taken scores of foreigners hostage in recent months, trying to drive coalition troops out of Iraq and hamper reconstruction efforts.

With Allawi's government still fighting Sunni guerrillas elsewhere in the country, the fierce battles in Najaf have raised fears of the revival of an insurrection among Iraq's Shiite majority. Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army revolted in April and fought for two months until a series of truces calmed the violence.

After heavy fights in Najaf on Thursday and Friday, Shiite leaders have been trying to restore the truce, and clashes have eased Saturday and Sunday -- but not stopped.

On Saturday, national guard troops chased al-Sadr militiamen who had attacked a police patrol to the cleric's house. The guardsmen raided the house and detained the attackers who had taken refuge there, said Lt. Aqil Khalil, a guardsman. Al-Sadr was not present at the time.

The Najaf fighting today also slightly wounded Mou'ayad Mohsen, an editor working for Al-Arabiya, according to station official.

Allawi arrived in Najaf backed by a tough security contingent, made up of U.S. forces, foreign security contractors, Iraqi National Guard troops and Iraqi police. Allawi and his delegation -- including his interior and defense ministers and national security adviser -- did not meet with al-Sadr or any of his aides.

Allawi said there were no plans to arrest al-Sadr, but he said there would be no negotiations until al-Sadr's militia laid down its arms. He was optimistic the violence would cease.

"There are some elements who have broken the law and hurt this city," Allawi said. "The situation will be defused soon."

A government deadline for militants to withdraw from Najaf expired Saturday, but Mahdi Army fighters maintained a heavy presence in the old city, where masked men carrying automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers searched cars at checkpoints. The Mahdi Army controls the Imam Ali Shrine compound in the old city, one of Shia Islam's holiest sites.

"We are trying to defend our country. We are not going to leave Najaf or any other city," said Abu Thar al-Kinani, an al-Sadr aide in Baghdad. "The occupiers are the ones who should leave Najaf and the rest of Iraq."

In Baghdad, Mahdi Army militia attacked a district council building in Sadr City, O'Malley said. Three U.S. soldiers working there as advisers were wounded, and Iraqi security forces repelled the attack, he said. The Health Ministry said four people were killed and seven wounded Sunday in Sadr city.

In Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, about 2,000 protesters marched through the streets to protest the U.S. military operations in Najaf and demanded Najaf's governor and the interior minister resign.

In Amarah, 110 miles southeast of Baghdad, al-Sadr militants clashed with police in a gunbattle that killed four Iraqis and wounded 23 others, the Health Ministry said.

Shiite insurgents ambushed a patrol of Danish troops in Qurnah, about 235 miles southeast of Baghdad, Danish military spokesman Jan Brink said in Denmark. The Danes, who have 496 soldiers in Iraq, returned fire, suffering no casualties. At least two militants were killed and seven were wounded in the fight, said Karim Sadkhan, a police colonel in Basra.

The U.S. military said it was investigating the death of an American soldier in "a non-combat related incident." The soldier died Saturday in Baghdad, the military said, giving no other details.

In other violence:

-- Insurgents attacked a U.S. patrol in Muqdadiyah, north of Baghdad, wounding one U.S. soldier Sunday, said Maj. Neal O'Brien, a military spokesman. One militant was killed, and three captured. Also iN Muqdadiyah, masked gunmen attacked police in a separate incident, killing one policeman and three civilians in a two-hour gunfight, said local police chief Col. Amer Kamel.

-- U.S. soldiers shot dead two people and wounded a third as they were trying to plant a roadside bomb on a highway near Samarra, north of Baghdad, early today.

-- A roadside bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk killed a woman, police said. A bomb in Baqouba killed an Iraqi National Guard soldier.

-- A bus laden with explosives blew up in Baghdad late Saturday, killing four men who were apparently transporting the material for an attack, the Interior Ministry said.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/2724777


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Lesson from Iraq: There's no place like home
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Rick Rogers
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
August 8, 2004

These Marines from Camp Pendleton arrived in Fallujah bearing soccer balls and candy and the promise of more than $100 million to rebuild schools, clinics and sewer and water projects damaged by war.

They asked that the Iraqis help them cast out the insurgents and calm the nation so democracy might take root.

It has not been easy.

Marines have been killed and many more have been wounded.

It's the first time many of them have seen the ravages of war.

They have learned about bravery, self-confidence and loyalty. And they have discovered they will never again take the simple joys of home for granted.

The 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division entered Iraq in March as part of a 25,000-member Marine and Navy force to police the Anbar province and the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi.

Any hope the Marines could keep a lid on Fallujah were shattered with the death of a Marine and the killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors in early April.

During the ensuing battles, Marines killed perhaps thousands of insurgents. But an estimated 600 civilian deaths brought demands from the international community for the fighting to stop.

Marines took up positions in base camps outside Fallujah, which bristles with insurgents.

U.S. troops live 3 miles outside the city in "hootches" – military slang for their homes – complete with satellite TV, air conditioning and makeshift showers.

But they are randomly shelled. To venture outside the camp invites attack.

Often in the evenings, Marines sit on their stoops and listen to the distant exclamation points created by the 500-pound bombs dropped on the enemy.

The Marines know it will be their turn soon to come under attack.

Eleven of their comrades have been killed in battle and 160 have been wounded. Nearly every Marine has had at least one close call and most have had several.

They are to return home in October. For most, this is their second time in Iraq, having been deployed last year.

Most are thinking about what they've seen and done. And about home.

Meet five Marines stationed at Camp Baharia, the closest U.S. base to Fallujah and the outpost of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Union-Tribune staff writer Rick Rogers and staff photographer Nelvin Cepeda have been accompanying Camp Pendleton-based Marines in Iraq.

1stLt Carl Martinez

"The biggest thing that Iraq has done is make me appreciate not only the freedoms that the United States offers, but the quality of life we enjoy."

A native son of San Diego County is now the adopted son of a village outside Fallujah.

First Lt. Carl Martinez (above, center), a graduate of Mount Miguel High School, leads a Marine liaison unit that trains, equips and advises Iraqi police and national guardsmen in the settlement of Saqlawiyah.

The Spring Valley native has another job: to convince sheiks and religious leaders that it is in everyone's interest to pressure insurgent fighters to leave.

Marines in his unit have dubbed him the "Son of Saqlawiyah." It's an acknowledgment of the uncommon relationship he has forged with the Iraqis.

"The name is kind of an ongoing joke," Martinez, 29, said sheepishly. "Some of the town council members have taken to referring to me as a town son and the Marines, of course, picked up on that."

It's possible no other Marine gets kissed on the cheeks – a customary greeting between friends in the Arab world – as often as Martinez.

"I think they trust me," said Martinez, who enlisted in the Marines after high school in 1993 and received his commission in 2001 after graduating from The Citadel in South Carolina.

"One sheik said that I look a little Iraqi, so that might be part of it," he said. "Also, I've been patient with them even on bad days."

And there have been some bad days.

Recently, Martinez and his men were sweeping a highway for roadside bombs when they found one about a football field away from an Iraqi National Guard outpost in Saqlawiyah.

The explosive device was huge – three 155-mm artillery shells. It was found when a Marine kicked a small, plastic box and saw wires running from it into the ground.

Explosives experts figure it took an hour to plant the device that would have destroyed whatever vehicle ran over it.

It was the third roadside bomb the Marines found within sight of the guardsmen, who are supposed to be thwarting such threats. The Iraqi in charge of the outpost offered half-hearted explanations about why that keeps happening, including not having enough men.

"All it takes is one man. You can see both ways" down the road, Martinez told the officer.

Afterward, he explained to an observer that dealing with the Iraqi police and national guard can be frustrating, given "their level of experience, their willingness to cooperate and their level of courage."

Still, there are some encouraging signs in this community of 3,000 people in the outlying areas where 4,000 live.

"The Iraqi National Guard did get in a small firefight with insurgents for the first time in the Fallujah area," Martinez said. "It was a small win for them and for us."

More tangible strides are being made with civilian leaders.

"We've made tremendous progress in Saqlawiyah," he said. "When we first went there, the message from the mosque to the people was that Americans were monkeys and pigs and to not cooperate with us.

"Now, the message is to keep the foreign insurgents out and to support Iraqi police and the national guard so that Saqlawiyah does not become another Fallujah."

Saqlawiyah is three miles from Fallujah, where perhaps thousands of anti-U.S. guerrillas have the run of the city. Martinez's effort is part of a campaign to politically isolate Fallujah from its suburbs to prevent Islamic extremism from spreading.

The posting is as hot, dirty and dangerous as it is for the rest of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, stationed at Camp Baharia.

This tour, which ends when Martinez comes home in October, has reawakened his faith.

"There have been a few occasions when I have to say that the man upstairs has been looking out for me," said Martinez, pausing to listen to the fighting in Fallujah.

"I want to be a better Catholic, a better Christian and not just to talk to God when I need him the most.

"The biggest thing that Iraq has done is make me appreciate not only the freedoms that the United States offers, but the quality of life we enjoy," Martinez said.

"We spend a lot of time at schools here that are without windows, where it is 115 degrees in the summer and 5 degrees in the winter. We see 3-and 4-year-old kids by themselves on the street corners."

Seeing that, he said, "can't help but make you appreciate the United States."

"I'm a lifelong Padre fan and I've missed the whole season. I've missed the whole summer with my wife and son," said Martinez, who has been deployed for 14 months of his three-year marriage.

"I hope that when I start taking things for granted, I remember Iraq."

LCpl An Nguyen

"I value, more than ever, friends and family and what I have."

In boot camp a year ago, An Nguyen yearned to see action.

Now, at 18, the youngest combat veteran in his company finds himself longing for peace.

At the same time he believes the war has blessed him, in a way.

"I don't take things for granted anymore," said Nguyen, who joined the Marines after graduating from Valley High School in Sacramento. "I value, more than ever, friends and family and what I have. I've grown up a lot."

Much of the growth took place in Fallujah, where Nguyen saw extensive action in April with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Nearly a third of the company was wounded during a three-week period and one Marine in his platoon was killed.

Those days were hell, Nguyen said. And yet, he added, they were his unit's finest hour.

"When we were fighting in the city and things were hitting the fan, everyone was doing what they were supposed to, helping the wounded, fighting," said the first-generation American whose mother emigrated from Vietnam in the 1970s.

"No one was hiding out scared, everyone stepped up for each other," Nguyen said. "It was a feeling I can't describe. It was like we were all brothers. I want to remember everything. I want to remember the good and the bad. How everyone was a family."

After experiencing combat, Nguyen doesn't care to see it again. "But I'd do it again with everyone else if I had to," he said during a break at Camp Baharia between patrols.

Nguyen said he tried to distance himself from other Marines in his unit when it deployed in March, fearing emotional ties when death might visit. That feeling quickly faded.

"I kept telling myself that I didn't want to make good friends in case I lost them. But that changed," Nguyen said. "They take care of me and I take care of them. It's like having a company of brothers."

He said he ran with the wrong crowd in high school and joined the Corps to change his life. It has.

With the confidence he's gained, he plans to pursue a career in law enforcement, perhaps becoming a sheriff's deputy in Sacramento County.

First, he just wants to return to his family and to go wakeboarding at Lake San Antonio, like other teenagers.

After what he's seen and done, would he bless a future son's decision to enter the Marines in time of war?

Nguyen said he would.

"I'd let him go. I wouldn't stop him from learning what I went through. It is a good experience. And I think it is an honor to be a Marine."

LCpl Matt Cunningham

"Heck, I'm looking forward to just walking around without a flak jacket and helmet."

continued

[thedrifter]

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, inspired Matt Cunningham to join the Marine Corps and add his name to the roster of family members in public service.

"When I saw how afraid everyone in my family was after Sept. 11, I wanted to do something to keep that from happening again," said Cunningham, a 19-year-old lance corporal whose grandfather was a police officer for 20 years and whose uncles are firefighters.

"I just wanted to get even for what (the terrorists) did," he said. "I wanted to see some action and do my part."

He has and he does.

"Our platoon has seen more action than any other platoon in the company," said Cunningham, a rifleman with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

"We've pretty much been in every big firefight."

One encounter took place June 24 when guerrillas attacked his unit along a highway into Fallujah.

During the day-and-night battle that left eight Marines wounded, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded an arm's length from Cunningham. The blast damaged his left ear, resulting in hearing loss that causes him to speak more loudly than normal.

The close call has done nothing to erode his sureness in combat.

"Before the first firefight, I thought about how I would react," Cunningham said. "But after the first one, I was pumped. I'd like to get some more action if I can.

"I believe as long as you believe that they can't kill you, they can''t kill you," he said, a plug of tobacco in his front lip. "As long as no Marines are dying, I'm having fun out here."

But Marines have died, including his friend, Lance Cpl. Philip E. Frank, from Elk Grove, Ill.

It happened April 8 while they were on patrol near a bridge across the Euphrates River.

"We thought it was just a gunshot wound to the shoulder and we heard he'd be fine," Cunningham said. "But the bullet bounced around. I think he died of blood loss and damage to his lung. He was 20. He was one of my good buddies."

Cunningham worries about fitting in to civilian life when he returns to Camp Pendleton and his home just outside Kansas City, Kan.

"I think combat makes you harder," he said. "I think the transition back to the States and dealing with civilians is going to be hard.

"My friends are going to complain about having to wake up at 8 a.m. to go to class after I've gone two days without sleeping, fighting for my life.

"You value your life a lot more when you almost lose it every day."

People "don't know how good (they) have it in America. Heck, I'm looking forward to just walking around without a flak jacket and helmet, without worrying about a roadside bomb."

Cunningham, who has three years left on his enlistment, figures that after serving his country overseas, he would "like to serve my country as a firefighter or a police officer because I still remember how scared everyone was after 9/11."

Cpl Ben Ackerman

"Every single time I hear a door shut or a lid drop, I flinch."

He couldn't leave tiny Burlington, Wis., fast enough after graduation from high school to join the Marines and see the world.

"I got real sick of high school real quick," said Cpl. Ben Ackerman, a supply specialist for the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. "I joined because I was just looking to get out of town for a while.

"Now that I think about it, I didn't plan to be away for four years."

But after two tours in Iraq in a little more than a year, Ackerman, 21, has had a change of heart.

He might look the same to folks in Burlington, a town of 10,000 outside Milwaukee, but Burlington sure looks different to him now.

After what he's experienced in Iraq, simple pleasures have taken on new meaning.

"I miss sitting on the porch watching the rain. I miss the wide open fields," he said, perched on a packing crate in 125-degree heat at Camp Baharia. "The people there are nicer, a little more laid back than people on the East or West coasts."

It's easy to become nostalgic when insurgents lob mortar rounds and rockets over the wall several times a week and the only running water for showering comes from a hose connected to a drum on the roof.

"The big things, you get used to living without," Ackerman said. "It's going without the little things that's the real nuisance – no running water and having to walk to the shower."

Ackerman rarely leaves Camp Baharia, where the regiment is based during its seven-month tour.

"There really is no job in the field for supply. We need to be in the rear where we can stage stuff that the Marines need," said Ackerman, who tracks supplies and logs crucial missing, lost or destroyed items such as weapons and radios.

Not that the war is ever far away for any Marine at Camp Baharia, the closest U.S. base to Fallujah.

Ackerman was jogging with some other Marines recently when two enemy rockets screamed in. Nobody was wounded, but the attacks keep Marines on edge.

"Every single time I hear a door shut or a lid drop, I flinch," Ackerman said. "Every single time."

After he returns to Camp Pendleton, he plans to go home on leave, and when his tour as a Marine is finished, he intends to raise a family in Wisconsin.

For Ackerman, distance – and Iraq – have added perspective.

"Every little thing back home is gold to me now."

Staff Sgt. Willie Gresham

"You reach a place in your life where you think you know it all. Then you come here."

Willie Gresham joined the Marine Corps half out of envy and half out of spite.

"All my family had been in the Army and none of them liked the Marine Corps," said Gresham, 30, a staff sergeant for Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. "They all looked down on the Marine Corps and wanted me to go into the Army.

"Then my own parents said that they didn't think I could do it, that the Marine Corps would be too hard for me," said Gresham, who weighed perhaps 100 pounds when he graduated from Eau Claire High School in Columbia, S.C., in 1994.

"I saw it as a real challenge, like when they said that I was too small to play football. I said, 'Really?' and signed the papers behind their backs."

The lure of the Corps hooked Gresham early on and never let go. A mini Marine boot camp he attended in 11th grade sealed the deal.

"The way Marines, especially drill instructors, carried themselves, their pride, appearance and confidence was just so much more than the other services," Gresham said. "I just knew I wanted to be part of that."

After enlisting, he gained 50 pounds of muscle in real boot camp.

He fought with the 2nd Battalion during the Iraq war last year and is now back as a platoon sergeant, responsible for 40 Marines.

He said waging peace is harder and more frustrating than waging war. Even so, Iraq turned out to be less dangerous than he first thought.

"We were all wound up, thinking Iraq was going to be Vietnam. But there isn't that much combat over here," said Gresham, who plans to make the Corps a career.

"It is not that dangerous. I mean, it is dangerous. There are mortars coming in. But we don't have Marines here who are losing sleep or anything."

He wants to remember the spirit of his men, how they are able to fight for their lives one minute and joke about it the next.

Although he sometimes downplays the danger, other times he dwells on more frightening thoughts.

"I want to forget the many moments of wondering who is going to get shot next. I want to forget the screams I heard after they got hit."

Two Marines in his pl