Posted on 04/03/2003 4:34:39 PM PST by Aerohawk
Iraqis sacrifice a man a night to pinpoint U.S. positions
By Gregg Zoroya USA Today
NAJAF, Iraq — The Battle of the Najaf Agricultural Institute has taken a horrifying turn. The institute, a large educational complex on this city’s southwest edge, is near what has become known as Checkpoint Charlie. Every night, Iraqi fighters sacrifice a man to get a fix on the Army position so they can strike with rockets or mortar shells.
The men of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division, believe it is some hapless innocent who is being forced to his death.
They see each victim walking toward their lines in the darkness, looking back over his shoulder at the Iraqis. “He’s probably just a Bedouin that they grab,” 1st Sgt. Jeffery Smith, 39, of Worthington, W.Va., said Wednesday.
“And, of course, we’ve got to terminate the poor guy,” he said.
He said the soldiers could never be certain whether the person is a threat to them or not. They believe that each man is meant to draw fire from the troopers, so that the Iraqi paramilitary fighters can get a bead on Bravo Company positions. “Probably, what they’re telling him is, ‘You walk out there. If you don’t, we’ll shoot you. If they (the Americans) don’t shoot you, maybe you’ll live,’ “ Smith said.
At Checkpoint Charlie, both times that a person has been sent out — once on Monday night and again on Tuesday night — a U.S. soldier has shot the man at a distance of several hundred yards.
Each time, a rocket round has followed from the Iraqi side.
The process has so infuriated the Americans — who captured the agricultural institute after blowing a hole in one its large structures Monday — that they are using some of the Iraqis’ captured weaponry to fight back.
“For every one (rocket-propelled grenade) they send over, we send seven,” Smith said. “It’s not personal. If they’d quit doing it, we’d quit doing it.”
When Bravo Company worked its way through the complex Monday, they found large caches of weapons and munitions. Smith said the soldiers are still uncovering weapons. They plan to blow them all up in a field out back.
Meanwhile, the men of Bravo Company set up headquarters on the grounds of the education institute. The soldiers took up residence in a series of stucco, modular homes along the south edge of the complex. Compared with when they were living in foxholes in the desert, the accommodations are dramatically improved.
They are staying in two-bedroom homes, neatly appointed, with Persian carpets on the floor, refrigerators, washer-dryers, running water and gas stoves, though there is no electricity.
The homes could have belonged to the institute’s instructors and their families.
For troopers who develop a second skin of dust in this desert country, the showers are a real coup. Smith said they are under orders not to damage or destroy the premises. He said he has even prepared a note for the owner, whenever that person returns.
“It says, ‘Thanks for letting us use your crib,’ “ Smith said.
My old Dad taught me that it is dangerous to scrounge ammo on a battlefield. It may be booby-trapped. As in intentionally-defective-blows-up-in-your-face booby-trapped.
By all means, shoot these cruel heartless war criminals, but do it with good reliable U.S. ordnance.
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