thedrifter
03-15-07, 03:54 PM
From Monsters and Critics.com
Middle East Features
Iraqi heroes pay high price
By Pamela Hess
Mar 15, 2007, 20:30 GMT
HADITHA, Iraq (UPI) -- U.S. Marine Capt. Matt Tracy has no doubt about the importance of the U.S. armed forces` mission in Iraq: It is a struggle to protect innocent people from absolute evil.
Baby faced and chain-smoking cigarettes out of the corner of his mouth -- a habit that seems to have been picked up by much of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion/3rd Marine Regiment -- Tracy speaks quietly but passionately under the chatter of the police chief and the mayor, their assembled assistants and blaring Arabic music videos about the U.S. Marines who have been killed in Haditha.
'I talk to the families of the deceased Marines and they say they are so disappointed because it`s not worth it,' Tracy said, leaning across his chai tea. 'And I try to express this to them: I`ve looked into the face of real evil. Forget everything else about oil and WMD. Literally, I feel like every day I wake up and I dash across the street and we save some little girl from being hit by a bus. And we put her on the other side of the road.'
'It`s so worth it. And I`m breathtakingly appalled at the idea of leaving this town.'
Reminders of the particular brand of evil he is fighting are just an arm`s reach away. At one end of the small room is 25-year old Ayman. He wears a warm-up jacket, his right hand tucked in the pocket. His left hand cradles a 9mm pistol. Around his neck are silver dog tags and religious charms, talismans given to him by U.S. Marines. One is St. Michael, the patron saint of police and protection.
Across his chest is a holster with another pistol. In a country where a pistol is a status symbol, Ayman has two because he cannot reload quickly enough in a firefight. He was kidnapped in Ramadi in 2004 by men who held him for 89 days and then chopped off his right hand and his left leg.
'It`s not just me. I lost a lot of friends,' says Ayman, reluctantly recalling the experience. 'We`ve got a lot of people who lost a leg. They are in Haditha, (and in) al-Qaim.'
To Tracy`s right is Col. Faroq Tayeh Hardan, 37, the police chief. He has also paid a steep price for standing up.
Echo Company assumed responsibility for operations in Haditha on Sept. 24, 2006, the same day Col. Faroq`s brother and another policeman were kidnapped on the road to Bayji. The attackers cut off his brother`s head and put it on a stake in the middle of the traffic circle, a warning to Faroq and any others who would oppose them. The body of Faroq`s brother has never been recovered.
'I come out here and Faroq`s in tears, and tearing his hair out and saying `we`re all gonna quit. I can`t believe I cast my lot with the coalition!' Tracy said.
Tracy asked him what he wanted to do.
'He said, `Let`s go. I know where the number one al-Qaida guy is.` '
After months of attacks on his station and an ongoing firefight at his base Col. Faroq only had 10 officers left.
'I said I`ll follow you, let`s go. We go out the gate right here. We buttonhook into this house right here that shares a wall with us,' said Tracy, pointing to a concrete mansion that backs up to the American base in downtown Haditha.
'The number one al-Qaida guy! And I thought to myself, oh my God how wrong have we gone that this guy is our neighbor?'
Tracy made a snap decision night to trust Faroq to direct him into battle, a man he`d only met a few weeks prior.
'We took 41 casualties in the first 41 days. Wounded and killed,' said Tracy. 'I was thinking, man, there`s 180 days to go and I`ve only got 190 guys. We`re not gonna make it. So when you ask how do you take a chance on Col. Faroq? It`s because whatever else was going on wasn`t working.'
Col. Faroq had been a police officer in Haditha but fled his post like many in fall 2004. That was when the U.S. Marine battalion assigned to Haditha was pulled out to fight in Fallujah. Terrorists and insurgents launched a massive counterattack across Anbar and Ninevah provinces. They slaughtered nearly the entire Haditha police department; 10 who resisted were captured and publicly executed at the soccer stadium. Police were hunted down in their homes and beheaded on the bridge, Col. Faroq told UPI.
'All my relatives got killed,' he said in his office.
It was Ayman who convinced Faroq to return to Haditha in 2005. A year later, in the midst of the most brutal fighting Echo Co. had seen, Faroq called on Ayman for help. He told Tracy there was someone who could identify the insurgents living among them.
'So we walk right out the front gate here,' Tracy said, gesturing to another nearby house. 'We bang on this door. The police come out with this guy and he limps behind us as we walk through town.'
It was Tracy`s first introduction to Ayman, whose head was wrapped in a scarf to protect his identity.
'He points to a house. We go in. The guys have IED making material. He points to another house, same thing. We do this all night as he hobbles around behind us,' Tracy said.
'When we come back in the wire, he hesitates. He knows there`s no turning back now, even though his head was wrapped (to conceal his identity). Everyone knows who he is. He`s never been able to leave since then.'
Faroq is determined to defend the city. The unspoken codicil is he may die trying. Faroq`s home near Mosul -- protected by a phalanx of his officers -- was attacked in February by insurgents armed with mortars and AK-47s.
'People can`t understand their sacrifice,' Tracy said. 'Their country calls them out and they answer the call. They basically put all their chips - their children, their wives, their possessions, their lives - into a pot.'
Ellie
Middle East Features
Iraqi heroes pay high price
By Pamela Hess
Mar 15, 2007, 20:30 GMT
HADITHA, Iraq (UPI) -- U.S. Marine Capt. Matt Tracy has no doubt about the importance of the U.S. armed forces` mission in Iraq: It is a struggle to protect innocent people from absolute evil.
Baby faced and chain-smoking cigarettes out of the corner of his mouth -- a habit that seems to have been picked up by much of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion/3rd Marine Regiment -- Tracy speaks quietly but passionately under the chatter of the police chief and the mayor, their assembled assistants and blaring Arabic music videos about the U.S. Marines who have been killed in Haditha.
'I talk to the families of the deceased Marines and they say they are so disappointed because it`s not worth it,' Tracy said, leaning across his chai tea. 'And I try to express this to them: I`ve looked into the face of real evil. Forget everything else about oil and WMD. Literally, I feel like every day I wake up and I dash across the street and we save some little girl from being hit by a bus. And we put her on the other side of the road.'
'It`s so worth it. And I`m breathtakingly appalled at the idea of leaving this town.'
Reminders of the particular brand of evil he is fighting are just an arm`s reach away. At one end of the small room is 25-year old Ayman. He wears a warm-up jacket, his right hand tucked in the pocket. His left hand cradles a 9mm pistol. Around his neck are silver dog tags and religious charms, talismans given to him by U.S. Marines. One is St. Michael, the patron saint of police and protection.
Across his chest is a holster with another pistol. In a country where a pistol is a status symbol, Ayman has two because he cannot reload quickly enough in a firefight. He was kidnapped in Ramadi in 2004 by men who held him for 89 days and then chopped off his right hand and his left leg.
'It`s not just me. I lost a lot of friends,' says Ayman, reluctantly recalling the experience. 'We`ve got a lot of people who lost a leg. They are in Haditha, (and in) al-Qaim.'
To Tracy`s right is Col. Faroq Tayeh Hardan, 37, the police chief. He has also paid a steep price for standing up.
Echo Company assumed responsibility for operations in Haditha on Sept. 24, 2006, the same day Col. Faroq`s brother and another policeman were kidnapped on the road to Bayji. The attackers cut off his brother`s head and put it on a stake in the middle of the traffic circle, a warning to Faroq and any others who would oppose them. The body of Faroq`s brother has never been recovered.
'I come out here and Faroq`s in tears, and tearing his hair out and saying `we`re all gonna quit. I can`t believe I cast my lot with the coalition!' Tracy said.
Tracy asked him what he wanted to do.
'He said, `Let`s go. I know where the number one al-Qaida guy is.` '
After months of attacks on his station and an ongoing firefight at his base Col. Faroq only had 10 officers left.
'I said I`ll follow you, let`s go. We go out the gate right here. We buttonhook into this house right here that shares a wall with us,' said Tracy, pointing to a concrete mansion that backs up to the American base in downtown Haditha.
'The number one al-Qaida guy! And I thought to myself, oh my God how wrong have we gone that this guy is our neighbor?'
Tracy made a snap decision night to trust Faroq to direct him into battle, a man he`d only met a few weeks prior.
'We took 41 casualties in the first 41 days. Wounded and killed,' said Tracy. 'I was thinking, man, there`s 180 days to go and I`ve only got 190 guys. We`re not gonna make it. So when you ask how do you take a chance on Col. Faroq? It`s because whatever else was going on wasn`t working.'
Col. Faroq had been a police officer in Haditha but fled his post like many in fall 2004. That was when the U.S. Marine battalion assigned to Haditha was pulled out to fight in Fallujah. Terrorists and insurgents launched a massive counterattack across Anbar and Ninevah provinces. They slaughtered nearly the entire Haditha police department; 10 who resisted were captured and publicly executed at the soccer stadium. Police were hunted down in their homes and beheaded on the bridge, Col. Faroq told UPI.
'All my relatives got killed,' he said in his office.
It was Ayman who convinced Faroq to return to Haditha in 2005. A year later, in the midst of the most brutal fighting Echo Co. had seen, Faroq called on Ayman for help. He told Tracy there was someone who could identify the insurgents living among them.
'So we walk right out the front gate here,' Tracy said, gesturing to another nearby house. 'We bang on this door. The police come out with this guy and he limps behind us as we walk through town.'
It was Tracy`s first introduction to Ayman, whose head was wrapped in a scarf to protect his identity.
'He points to a house. We go in. The guys have IED making material. He points to another house, same thing. We do this all night as he hobbles around behind us,' Tracy said.
'When we come back in the wire, he hesitates. He knows there`s no turning back now, even though his head was wrapped (to conceal his identity). Everyone knows who he is. He`s never been able to leave since then.'
Faroq is determined to defend the city. The unspoken codicil is he may die trying. Faroq`s home near Mosul -- protected by a phalanx of his officers -- was attacked in February by insurgents armed with mortars and AK-47s.
'People can`t understand their sacrifice,' Tracy said. 'Their country calls them out and they answer the call. They basically put all their chips - their children, their wives, their possessions, their lives - into a pot.'
Ellie