JUNE 1, 2003 SUN
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IRAQ ONE MONTH AFTER

  • SECURITY
    A sensitive policing job for troops

    IT will be exactly one month tomorrow since US President George W. Bush declared victory in the war in Iraq. But the United States and its allies are still grappling with the monumental tasks of restoring peace and rebuilding the country. The past month has provided clear markers of the dangers ahead.

    HIT (Iraq) - Captain Andrew Watson removed his helmet and mopped the sweat off his head as he stood at the gate of his dusty encampment.

    The US soldier was puzzled over what had prompted the rioting, grenade throwing and arson on Wednesday in the little desert town that falls within his 'AO', or area of operations.

    An Iraqi policeman is assisted by US military police in arresting a man who shot into the air during a wedding in Baghdad. Another person was arrested and two assault rifles were seized from them on Tuesday. -- AP

    'We have taken great pains to be aware of cultural differences,' he said on Thursday . 'We do not want to be ugly Americans. We are here to be a friend.'

    But the US presence in Iraq has led to misunderstanding and violence in a country still nervous and restive after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

    The complexity of post-war Iraq has led American forces into law enforcement tasks for which they are not well prepared.

    They are still searching for Saddam and key members of his regime.

    They are fighting hardened criminals released from prison by an amnesty granted by Saddam late last year.

    The challenges facing the US occupation exploded here this week when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at one of Capt Watson's convoys on Tuesday in this town 145km from Baghdad.

    Soldiers responded by bringing local policemen into a neighbourhood and conducting house- to-house searches, according to residents and military officials.

    The residents say the soldiers kicked down doors and climbed over walls at other homes while an assault helicopter circled above.

    Word spread across the city that US soldiers had burst in on Muslim women in their homes, observing them in various states of immodest cover.

    'We are Muslims, and we don't allow people to trespass on our property and go into our houses and search our women,' said an angry resident.

    On Wednesday, US soldiers returned to the police station in Hit to meet local authorities and talk about security.

    A crowd gathered and pelted the station with stones. Then someone threw a hand grenade over the wall of the police compound.

    Two soldiers suffered minor wounds, and reinforcements were sent.

    The crowd grew. The soldiers formed a cordon with their guns aimed outwards as they evacuated their wounded, witnesses said. Warning shots rang out.

    When the troops retreated, the crowded rioted for hours, burning the municipal building and the police station in protest against what was viewed as the 'collaboration' of the police.

    It was one of a series of attacks this week in which six American soldiers have been killed and a dozen wounded.

    Similar confrontations occur regularly elsewhere in the country.

    Such incidents underscore the challenges US troops face as they take over many of the functions of a national police force in Iraq. -- New York Times, AP


  • Archived Stories
    May 31
    Resentment growing over 'occupiers'
    Big overhaul of system causing crisis
    Local firms eyeing Iraqi opportunities
    Islamic hardliners 'pouring into Iraq'

    May 30
    British, US claims on Iraq's WMD could be intelligence blunder
    Blair sets foot on post-war Iraq
    US can't reduce forces in Iraq yet
    Baghdad 'destroyed weapons before war'
    Another 'letter from Saddam' published


     

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