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thedrifter
11-02-05, 02:54 PM
Marines try to coax desert town into coalition camp
AFP

For people in the desert town of Saada, near the Iraqi border with Syria, the choice is stark and, for some, very unwelcome -- Sunni fundamentalists known as Salafists or troops of the US Marine Corps.

Perched on a US vehicle, an Iraqi soldier tells residents: "The government has decided, along with the help of the Iraqi army and the marines, to give you some medical assistance and a food distribution."

A civil affairs unit from the marine regiment stands by to help.

"We have been without help for almost five months," says local mayor Mohammed Badawi. "The clinic is closed and we can't leave the village.

"When the routes are not blocked by military checkpoints, bandits rule. So I asked the marines for help."

One elderly man complains querously: "We haven't received our pensions for months. You have to go to Husayba where we might be killed because our tribe has been accused of collaborating with the Americans."

For some, the American help is at best a mixed blessing.

As they open up the clinic, one of the women arriving with a child to be treated, says: "I don't have any choice, I am forced to have my girl treated by those who arrested my husband."

Another, with a baby in her arms, asks the Americans to free her husband who has been detained for nine months.

"He did not see his daughter born, he is innocent," she pleads.

Ahlam Abed, whose face is tattooed, welcomes the US presence: "The Salafists kidnapped my cousin, a police officer, a week ago. We pray they don't cut off his head," she said.

"These are not Iraqi methods, they are foreigners who bring fatwas (religious edicts) giving them the right to massacre people and behead them."

But another woman chimes in: "The Americans kill too. They kill women and children."

More women arrive with small children, some in their arms, others hiding in their skirts. Disabled and sick men also arrive, and curious adolescents join the crowd.

Iraqi soldiers check everyone with metal detectors and the men get a body pat-down as well.

The US troops treat 65 people in four hours in their mission to win over the people, overlooked by the grim graffiti warning on the normally-unused clinic wall: "No to apostates, yes to Salafists".

Sergeant Shawn Lawson vaccinates children and Captain Philip Geiger examines infants, watched by waiting women covered from head to toe.

Geiger said he could treat only simple illnesses and give vaccinations and advice. Those who needed blood tests or more advanced treatment would have to go elsewhere.

Outside, one person needed a miracle.

A deaf mute tried to make a soldier understand that he wanted to see the doctor.

"He hopes the healers will help him recover his senses," said a white-bearded man, leaning on a cane with a keffiyeh covering his head.

As the medics pursue their work, a woman in her fifties is wheeled in by two young people. "She had a stroke when her son joined the Salafists," one person whispers.

Further on, a US soldier hands out radios that have been set to Radio Peace, which is financed by Washington. "That will allow them to listen to free speech," a psy-ops (psychological operations) major named Hurley claims.

But one young man promptly tunes in to a religious programme broadcast by Syrian state radio, prompting Hurley to ask his interpreter: "Was that the correct channel?"

Meanwhile, kids pester the marines, calling: "Mister, mister, food, mister" until finally three distribution centres are supplied with sacks of lentils, and cartons of pasta, vegetable oil, tomato sauce, juice and flour.

Ellie