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Marines armed with chocolate find friends
Times Online ^ | March 26, 2003 | From Daniel McGrory in Umm Qasr

Posted on 03/25/2003 5:37:12 PM PST by yonif

A YOUNG Iraqi boy in a torn red T-shirt was the first to show his face yesterday. He peered out from behind a gate, unsure what to do as two Royal Marine commandos strode down the muddy street towards him.

Marine Andrew Chilvers dropped to one knee, rested his machinegun on the ground and beckoned the boy. He then held out a chocolate bar. The boy hungrily tore off the wrapper, calling for his brothers and sisters to join him. Soon the 21-year-old commando from Middlesbrough was surrounded by outstretched hands. “If only winning the rest of Iraq was this easy,” he smiled.

It took five days and nights of intermittent American airstrikes and artillery bombardments to subdue this scruffy little town of 4,000 people that sits at the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

About the only time the US Marines got out of their vehicles was to raise the Stars and Stripes on the very first day, a move they were hastily ordered to reverse as it smacked of occupation, not liberation.

Then on Monday morning the British took over. It took the men of 42 Commando barely 24 hours to win over the locals and by last night their commander, Brigadier Jim Dutton, was confident they had extinguished the last flickers of resistance from Saddam Hussein’s diehard Baath party loyalists.

One senior British officer said: “The Americans don’t care for going in on foot as we do to secure a town, whether it be Belfast or Umm Qasr. They prefer to try and flatten everything in front of them which we think only scares the living daylights out of the locals, not get them on your side.”

The Royal Marines had to insist that the Americans, who are under their command in southern Iraq, did not destroy the port as it is crucial to their humanitarian operation which is already behind schedule.

The Marines’ problems are still far from over. They are unsure who might be lurking inside the mud-brick houses that fringe this troublesome port.

Most of Umm Qasr’s residents are still too timid to venture far outside their front door. Three teenagers, one wearing a Manchester United football shirt, shuffled towards a Jeep full of Marines, waved, shouted a brief welcome in English and hurried on.

The influence of Saddam Hussein remains pervasive, with huge murals of the Iraqi President on every corner. The town suffered appallingly at his hands when the allied troops abruptly pulled out after the 1991 Gulf War, and it needs to be certain this will not happen again. “Uniforms usually mean bad news for these people, so it will take time for them to trust us and see we are genuinely here to help them, not conquer them,” Major Jeff Moulton said.

Nor, for the moment, do the Marines have much to give. Promised aid shipments cannot dock because navy divers are still searching the port and its navigational approaches for booby traps and mines.

“We were truly shocked just how poor these people are. They have absolutely nothing and yet this should be a busy port,” Major Moulton said.

The other difficulty is discovering who they have to deal with in Umm Qasr. The only people who have ever had influence in the town belong to Saddam’s Baath party. If the commandos do deal with these same apparatchiks, it will do little to persuade the locals this is true regime change.

The British made a point of ensuring that one of their first violent stops in Umm Qasr was the party headquarters, the hideout of the most lethal snipers. By the time that they got inside the militia had gone, leaving behind women and children in the building that US commanders had considered bombing when their men were shot at from there.

The question that has still to be answered is why it took the Americans so long to quell what one US Marine commander had described as a little local difficulty. The military high command in Qatar is desperate to avoid recriminations, but British commanders are critical that US forces did not search the town thoroughly but instead sat on the outskirts firing artillery.

“The people are not starving. Most locals have been asking us for cigarettes, bottles of water and shoes rather than food rations,” one Marine said.

What did encourage the Marines was that many women and children were beginning to approach them, though, as one said: “This wasn’t like Kosovo, where the people were exultant at our arrival. Here it is still very restrained, as though they are very nervous.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: chocolate; groundassault; iraqifreedom; kids; liberators; marines; royalmarines; thanksfriendblair; thankyouamerica; uk; usmc
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1 posted on 03/25/2003 5:37:12 PM PST by yonif
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To: yonif
I was just getting ready to post this one myself.

I know many in the UK don't love us, but I was disappointed to see this news outfit rip the USA in their subtle way. I thought the US and the UK were better friends than this.

It's really too bad they don't seem to be able to find anything good to say about our troops.

And I haven't heard of their guys leading the charge anywhere! It seems to me they are simply guarding what we've captured.

2 posted on 03/25/2003 5:39:55 PM PST by siliconpatriot
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To: yonif
Notice how all but one of the British Marines making comment conveniently lack names in the report. I'd say this is about 99% B.S. combined with the usual leftist media spin.
3 posted on 03/25/2003 5:44:01 PM PST by TADSLOS (Sua Sponte)
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To: yonif
rested his machinegun on the ground

Would a Marine do that?

4 posted on 03/25/2003 5:45:08 PM PST by lsee
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To: siliconpatriot
They prefer to try and flatten everything in front of them which we think only scares the living daylights out of the locals, not get them on your side.”

Works for me. I took it as a compliment.

5 posted on 03/25/2003 5:50:47 PM PST by MattinNJ
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To: yonif
Nice picture, Yoni! I remember seeing similar pix when I was a grammer schooler and we were in Viet Nam.
6 posted on 03/25/2003 5:54:57 PM PST by annyokie (provacative yet educational reading alert)
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To: annyokie
Kindness and goodies for the kids may pay dividends in 20 years. We should be shipping all the candy over for them that we can.
7 posted on 03/25/2003 5:57:40 PM PST by holyscroller (Why are Liberal female media types always ugly to boot?)
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To: holyscroller
I'm for the candy or anything else that smoothes relations and is easy to offer. But the way that article was written stinks. The writer must be part french.
8 posted on 03/25/2003 5:59:49 PM PST by siliconpatriot
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To: yonif
I would hope that our dear brothers-in-arms would understand that we are there to go and kill the hydra, while they are there to take off the other heads.

Bravo to the HM Fighting men for winning the hearts of the locals. Bravo!
9 posted on 03/25/2003 6:00:00 PM PST by Maigrey (Member of the Dose's Jesus Freaks, and Gonzo News Service)
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To: holyscroller
I was just thinking that I would like to send goodies to our boys and girls in combat. Does any one have an address?
10 posted on 03/25/2003 6:02:49 PM PST by annyokie (provacative yet educational reading alert)
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To: annyokie
http://www.uso.com/pubs/8_20_1395.cfm
11 posted on 03/25/2003 6:04:51 PM PST by siliconpatriot
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To: siliconpatriot
Sounds like the spirit of Monty lives on. The American's took the beating and Montgomery took the credit. But the German's knew better: "Patton, he was your best."

The headline should read "A Peace of Chocolate"...something the French, Belgians and Germans could support.
12 posted on 03/25/2003 6:04:51 PM PST by WestTexasWend
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To: siliconpatriot
Thank you, Sir!
13 posted on 03/25/2003 6:06:42 PM PST by annyokie (provacative yet educational reading alert)
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To: yonif
What a comtemptible piece of offal this article is.
14 posted on 03/25/2003 6:07:53 PM PST by denydenydeny
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To: holyscroller
Send them the most famous consumer items America has to offer. They've undoubetedly heard of Coca Cola, Mc Donalds, Levi's and things like that, so send it over by the boatload, or drop it on Baghdad.
15 posted on 03/25/2003 6:07:53 PM PST by THE Aardvark
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To: annyokie
To find a serviceman who would like mail or a package, go to www.operationmilitarysupport.com As soon as you sign up, they will send you the name and address of a serviceman. I've sent 7 boxes so far. (You fill a shoebox with stuff, that's the biggest they can get.) If you need the list of what they need and want, let me know and I'll post the list. I have tio go out for about 3-1/2 hours, so check back later.
16 posted on 03/25/2003 6:08:14 PM PST by holyscroller (Why are Liberal female media types always ugly to boot?)
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To: WestTexasWend
It's more reason why Bush should ignore Blair when he comes this week looking to get the UN involved in the post-war management of Iraq.

Anyone paying attention to the Pentagon briefings can see we are being more careful than we really need to be. And our guys are taking huge risks to do so. If it wasn't for the USA this whole mission would not be happening. And all the good stuff to come from it would still be in a bottle.
17 posted on 03/25/2003 6:08:29 PM PST by siliconpatriot
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To: THE Aardvark
My church sponsored many boat people from Viet Nam and Cambodia. They were the most grateful and gracious people. Be nice.
18 posted on 03/25/2003 6:10:24 PM PST by annyokie (provacative yet educational reading alert)
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To: All

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19 posted on 03/25/2003 6:10:37 PM PST by Bob J
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To: yonif
Like the picture, love our guys, don't appreciate the diss. Why should our troops want to go into the middle of a town that is unsecured?
20 posted on 03/25/2003 6:10:44 PM PST by Libertina (God Bless our Commander In Chief and our Troops!)
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