Posted on 08/28/2003 6:41:39 AM PDT by Ex-Dem
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqis have joined 82nd Airborne Division soldiers in guarding the country's key places.
On Tuesday, Spc. Chad Gomez and Pfc. Luis Sanchez sat in a watchtower overlooking the Tigris River. With them providing security for the Al Dora power plant were Thair Fawzi Salim and Baha Mzid.
Salim and Mzid are members of the Facility Protection Service, the Iraqi security force that assists the paratroopers in protecting banks, the power plant and an oil refinery. Having them join Americans is part of the effort to relinquish control to the Iraqi people.
When the program started a few months ago, the paratroopers said, they kept their distance from the Iraqis. But familiarity has brought a degree of camaraderie.
"Now they know about our families," Gomez said. "We share water now. They are just one of us."
"It is easy to work with the soldiers. We are like family now," Salim said.
Al Dora oil refinery
Almost 500 guards are working in the area controlled by the 2nd Battalion of the 82nd's 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment in Baghdad. About 300 work as guards at the Al Dora oil refinery. The regiment's 3rd Battalion employs more than 570 guards in its sector, using them to secure schools, neighborhood council buildings and banks.
"They are doing everything they can to play their role in safeguarding Baghdad," Sgt. Maj. Dale Young said. He oversees the program in the 3rd Battalion's sector.
Freed up
Soldiers say having the Iraqi guards has freed them up for other tasks. "It makes our jobs easier," 1st Lt. Jason Crow said. "We can do more raids and other missions."
Crow is a platoon leader in the 2nd Battalion's Bravo Company. The platoon is based at the Al Dora facility and once helped staff checkpoints there.
First Lt. Don Bryant runs the program for 2nd Battalion. The former battalion chemical officer makes sure the guards are paid and have their uniforms - light blue shirts, dark blue pants and an armband that says FPS in English and Arabic. They are armed with captured Iraqi weapons.
Most of the Iraqi guards are former soldiers or had some military training, because almost all Iraqi men were forced to join the army during Saddam Hussein's reign.
Screening guards
All of the guards were screened to see if they had strong ties to Saddam's Baath Party before the war.
"Almost all of them were Baath Party, but you have to figure out what motivated them," Bryant said.
Being part of the Baath Party does not disqualify an Iraqi from joining the Facility Protection Service or working elsewhere with coalition forces.
Najeev Bahna is the head of the guards at Al Dora. He is a former Iraqi naval officer and Baath Party member. An upper level Baath Party official runs the refinery because he is the only one who knows how.
"Sometimes, even when we know they are bad, we have to keep them," Bryant said.
The guards are paid $32 a week in U.S. dollars.
"Before the war, we didn't have jobs," Thair Fawzi Salim said. "With the coalition, we have jobs and we can support our families."
The guards were given about a week of training. The training covered how to use their weapons, ethics and civil rights, and how to deal with different situations they could face while on duty. Most of the training came on the job working with the paratroopers.
Pfc. Brandon Hittson has worked with the guards at the oil refinery and said they do a good job. He felt safe working with them.
"Americans with Iraqis at a checkpoint are less likely to be attacked," he said.
"Now they know about our families," Gomez said. "We share water now. They are just one of us."
"It is easy to work with the soldiers. We are like family now," Salim said.
Winning hearts and minds, ping!
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A quagmire I tell ya! They all hate us and want us to leave. Can't you see that? This is all lies put out by the Bush cabal!!! No no no they hate us they hate us they hate us. < /sarcasm >
FN: Mike Tobin, w/ the 82nd Airborne:
The 82nd AB conducted a successful raid on a house where suspected Saddam loyalists were living.
They knocked, searched, found a uniform of Republican Guard, a certificate of achievement from the Ba'athist party w/ the picture of one of the members of the house on it, wads of cash. Remaining house members began giving questionable answers to questions. Residents were 'cuffed' and taken in for interrogation.
Get out...they had a Navy????
Has anyone noticed that more and more of these stories are playing on the news? At least FOX is showing more of them. I'm convinced it's because of the e-mail I sent them! </kidding
Thanks, tsmith. Keep up the good work. Yours might have been the letter that reached someone. (^;
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