Posted on 11/03/2003 10:43:14 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - Sgt. John Davies' face was soaked with sweat as he climbed aboard a truck Monday and poked the cargo of hay with a wooden stick. Iraqi women in full-length veils watched from atop the truck as he listened for the thunk of wood against a missile tube or the rattle of hidden assault rifles. Davies and his fellow soldiers from the 720th Military Police Battalion were searching for contraband weapons that could be used by guerrillas, a routine operation that has taken on added urgency since insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter with a missile, killing 16 soldiers and wounding 20 others. "We have had indication that more of stuff like this (missiles) is moving out there," Lt. Col. Dave Poirier, battalion commander of the 720th MPs, said at a checkpoint six miles north of Tikrit. "People know they are taking a big chance in transporting weapons ... and for some of these large weapons systems, you'd have to have a truck to transport it," he said. Poirier's troops, assisted by Iraqi police, set up the checkpoint Monday, stringing razor wire across the road and flagging down all trucks - from fuel tankers to pickups hauling furniture, as Apache attack helicopters flew overhead. The troops found no weapons during the day. But a week ago, a routine midnight search of a truck carrying hay on the road south to Samara uncovered about 700 rockets. "We want to send the message out that nobody is getting a free pass on these roadways. If they want to run weapons down these roads, they are going to end up paying the price," Poirier said. "Somehow, someday, they are going to get caught." Although no contraband was found, the Americans said the mission was useful as a training exercise for the Iraqi policemen who will someday assume full responsibility for security. "It's going to be a big step to see them in their own country taking responsibility for the security," said Spc. Jason Phillips of Los Angeles. Phillips' enthusiasm was apparently not shared by the Iraqi policemen, who seemed reluctant to jump on top of trucks and take closer looks at the cargo. They chatted eagerly with the truck drivers, and only a few seriously examined license cards. "I don't understand why the Americans are here. I am positive we can be in control of this," said Maj. Majeed Ahmed, the Iraqi platoon leader. The MPs said the Iraqis don't always seem to understand what they should be looking for and lack thoroughness when they search vehicles. "This is not a social visit, this is serious," Davis shouted to an Arabic translator known as Eddie. "Tell them they must look closely into the trucks." Spc. Andrew Fifield of San Antonio, Texas, jumped on top of a truck transporting pomegranates and picked through the fruit carefully. As he dug through dried manure atop a second truck, he motioned to Iraqi policemen to join him. None did. "A lot of them were not police as we'd know police back home to be," Poirier said. "Some of them were never policemen before this."
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