Posted on 03/31/2003 12:33:24 PM PST by COBOL2Java
A girl skips playfully in a yard. Herders tend to livestock. A police siren wails in the background.
But the illusion of normalcy never lasts for very long. Sporadic gunfire is commonplace, and sends residents scrambling into their homes. Artillery blasts are less frequent, but much more unnerving.
And full-blown firefights — including one Saturday involving this company of Marines from Task Force Tarawa — are still a daily event.
After five days here, these Marines are not quite sure what to make of the people of Nasiriyah.
In general, the Marines have compassion for the women, children and even the animals. The Iraqi men, who often greet Marines with a stiff wave when they roll through town, are another story.
Because most Iraqi soldiers fight in civilian clothes, the Marines view every man as a potential enemy. They suspect that men walking near Marine positions during the day could be scouting for nighttime sniper attacks.
The Iraqis seem surprisingly comfortable with the American military around. The Marines have a strong sense that the residents are not afraid of them, that they seem to know the Americans have good intentions.
On Saturday, an Iraqi man on a bike pedaled up to one Marine and asked to sample an MRE — a meal ready to eat. When his request was denied, he offered a taste of his own food to the Marine.
Friend, or foe? The Marines have no way of knowing.
One week after they crossed the Kuwait-Iraq border, the Marines of this lightarmored reconnaissance company finally got a good night’s sleep. After getting by on two to four hours a day, many of them woke up on Saturday morning with seven or eight hours of rest.
Daybreak on the banks of the Euphrates River featured a bizarre mix of animal and man-made sounds — rooster calls, birds singing, dogs barking and donkeys braying mingled with radio squawk, whopping helicopter blades and gunshots.
Saturday’s mission was to clear a large swatch of the city. On Friday night, that area had been ‘‘prepped’’ by airstrikes and artillery.
It was a productive mission — their second success in two days. Friday, the Marines found a large weapons cache that included mortars and anti-aircraft guns. Saturday’s take was even more valuable.
‘‘It was the mother lode of ‘intel,’ ’’ said company commander Capt. Greg Grunwald.
The find came in an Iraqi army command post surrounded by abandoned antiaircraft guns and deserted foxholes.
Inside the compound, the Marines discovered rocket-propelled grenades, launchers, hand grenades, bayonets, uniforms and — most important — maps and documents that provided key intelligence.
The ‘‘intel’’ is key, but weapons discoveries are important as well. Because suspected Iraqi soldiers are rarely detained — even when found carrying military identification — the Marines believe the best way to sap their fighting strength is by taking away their weapons.
There was little resistance to the morning sweep, and the remainder of the day was relatively quiet for the Marines — until about 5 p.m.
Shheww-shheww! Boomboom!
Two rocket-propelled grenades, launched from a building across the river, just missed Grunwald’s lightarmored vehicle before exploding in the treetops behind him.
Grunwald and the vehicle’s gunner, Sgt. James Curtis, spotted the enemy gunners’ positions and opened up on them with high-explosive rounds from the 25 mm cannon and with the turretmounted 7.62 mm machine gun. Others in the company also began firing.
Taking no chances, Grunwald called in an artillery strike on the enemy position while the company’s forward air controller, Maj. Marc ‘‘Vino’’ Weintraub, called in airstrikes by Harrier attack jets and Cobra gunships.
‘‘They wanted to sucker-punch us by firing a couple of RPGs,’’ Grunwald said. But the sucker punch missed, and the Iraqis paid for it. The windows from which they fired are framed now by scorch rings.
‘‘I bet whoever that was that just messed with us won’t be doing it again, because this company has got way too much firepower,’’ said Pvt. Christopher Daniels.
As night fell, the company was looking at chalking up another casualty-free day. But the Marines hardly feel safe here.
No one wants to stay in Nasiriyah. They talk often of getting out, and each night they think the next morning could bring a move.
They are growing impatient, and there is a general feeling that the U.S. command is going too slowly, that their company should be much closer to Baghdad. They are hopeful, though. Maybe it’ll be another good night’s sleep — and maybe they’ll move tomorrow.
Why? Gun control doesn't work in 8 Mile why would it work in Iraq?
Beats me. I found that statement puzzling myself...
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