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thedrifter
04-04-03, 05:37 AM
April 03, 2003

Locals seek Marine commander’s help in restoring order

By Ravi Nessman
Associated Press


NUMANIYAH, IRAQ — Nervous and angry, more than a dozen Iraqi officials met Thursday with the top Marine officer in this Tigris River town to ask for cooperation in re-establishing order a day after U.S. forces captured it.
The complaints came fast and furious: Looters have been targeting government buildings. The electricity has been cut. The hospital’s backup generator has failed.

“No police, no government, the essential services are gone now,” one of the leaders complained.

All 13 men gathered in the government office agreed: Since Numaniyah fell Wednesday afternoon, the city of about 80,000 has been in chaos.

None of them would give their names, saying they feared retribution for talking to American troops if the Iraqi regime somehow retook the city.

When a Marine demanded they remove a photo of Saddam Hussein from the wall before the meeting, they refused, also out of fear. They told the Marine he was free to take it down, but they could not. He did, and tossed it against a wall with a shatter of glass.

Lt. Col. Michael Belcher, commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, which controls the city, walked in, wearing green camouflage, a flak jacket and helmet.

The Iraqi men, in suits and slacks, sat in chairs arrayed around the office walls. A few smoked, and one clacked his worry beads together.

Through a translator, the men expressed fear that they no longer had a police force. City offices were being looted of furniture and vital government records as Marines watched, they said.

They were anxious that without weapons or police, the bank would be robbed.

“The security of the town is a common concern for both of us,” Belcher said. “It is our goal to get the police department up and running.”

The commanding officer agreed to their request to allow the town to re-establish its police force. Officers would mark their vehicles “Police” in English, so Marines could recognize them. They would be allowed to wear uniforms and carry pistols but not Kalashnikov rifles, which they had wanted.

Security around the town would be up to the Marines; security inside would be the responsibility of the police.

The leaders asked for Marines to be posted near the bank to discourage theft.

Belcher refused, explaining his troops were an infantry force not bank guards.

They asked for permission for local engineers to drive around and try to restore the town’s electricity, cut during the fighting.

Done, Belcher said.

They asked him to maintain a curfew but allow police, doctors and other authorized personnel to travel in emergencies.

He would look into it, Belcher said.

Hospital officials complained they had no electricity and their generator broke down last night.

Belcher promised to see about repairing it immediately.

They complained an ambulance was detained for two hours last night at the checkpoints.

“We will start opening the flow of traffic more easily when the situation dies down,” Belcher said.

The Marines have disrespected the Iraqi flag, pulling it off a school building, they said. The flag is not a sign of the regime, but of the Iraqi people and should be treated with respect, they said.

“We will honor the flag,” Belcher said.

Stores were closed today, because vegetable and meat dealers from the countryside were unable to enter the town, they said. Can they come tomorrow?

Yes, Belcher said, but they would be searched.

In return, Belcher asked for help uncovering any remaining weapons caches in the town. The officials said they did not believe there were any left, though the Marines continued discovering them all day.

“Any remaining army, Republican Guard ... need to be handed over,” Belcher said. “They will be treated fairly. They will be detained and they will be released after the war is over.”

Belcher promised to put a Marine in the police station as a liaison to deal with future problems.

“All the agreements we are making here today are contingent on the peace being kept. If there is sniping, people are shooting at us, we will have to go back to more draconian measures,” the officer said.

The men nodded.

“We know time for you is very important, and we thank you for your time,” one of the men said.

And the meeting adjourned.






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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.


Sempers,

Roger

firstsgtmike
04-04-03, 06:38 AM
"Belcher asked for help uncovering any remaining weapons caches in the town. The officials said they did not believe there were any left, though the Marines continued discovering them all day. "

Cooperation is a two way street. One way streets usually terminate in a dead end.