Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Thursday, January 20, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

DISPATCH Iraq

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

MUNTHERIA, Iraq — Iraqi provincial political and security leaders on Wednesday asked 278 th Regimental Combat Team officers for manpower, vehicles and communication systems to guard against disruptions during the upcoming national elections.

The mayors and police chiefs from nearly a dozen towns in the Eastern Diyala province said they eagerly await the Jan. 30 elections, but infrastructure needs may be a hurdle for successful voting.

During the two-hour meeting at a heavily guarded building within sight of the Iranian border, the Iraqi men spoke through translators about their election concerns.

Mohammed Amed Hassan, mayor of Khanaqin, said his town is 80 percent secure, but its police force needs more cars to monitor the city’s 11 voting centers. Anwar Michaez, the mayor of Jalula, said the town has three patrol cars for 10 polling sites.

The Iraqis said they would like to have eight to 10 members of the Iraqi army aiding the police at each designated ballot center. They also requested concrete barriers and road checkpoints for all roads into and out of their cities.

Underscoring the violence threatening the elections, Mr. Michaez blamed his late arrival to the meeting on the assassina- tions of two pro-election men from Jalula.

"This is a warning, a danger sign," he said. "If we are not careful in our steps, probably 40 to 50 people will be killed in the streets."

Col. Dennis Adams, the Tennessee-based 278th commander, said the regiment would step up efforts to corral insurgents leading up to the elections. He said the 278 th conducted its 1,000 th patrol Tuesday night.

Most officials attending Wednesday’s workshop arrived with an entourage of security.

Before the meeting began, dozens of armed Iraqis and Americans surrounded the building and blocked roads. Snipers peered from nearby rooftops. At least one official asked the U.S. soldiers for money to hire more bodyguards.

"We will stand beside anybody willing to fight terrorism from any political party down to the poorest farmer," Lt. Col. Jeff Holmes, the commander of the regiment’s 3 rd Squadron, told the Iraqi leaders.

The Iraqi officials asked the Americans for items ranging from high-tech night vision goggles to tents and blankets for the Iraqi police serving as the front lines during the elections.

Araf Idiz, the mayor of Jabarra, echoed many of his colleagues’ statements when he said his town lacked the communication and infrastructure needed to handle a catastrophic event. He said Jabarra police have no phones, and the city lacks both ambulances and firetrucks.

Col. Adams said the regiment has kept some election equipment hidden in reserve so the insurgents would be unable to devise ways to disrupt the voting process.

"We will get them what they need, even if we have to use our own vehicles," he said. "If I have to park my Bradley (Fighting Vehicle) in the middle of a town square, I will be there to help them."

Col. Adams said the Iraqi police, army and border patrol groups will conduct rehearsals leading up to the Jan. 30 elections to work out issues and coordinate efforts.

Lt. Col. Holmes said most of the Iraqi needs stem from a lack of both dependable electricity and steady gasoline. He said U.S. forces are working on those problems, but it will take longer than the Jan. 30 election date to fix them.

Sherman Grandy, a U.S. State Department official, said he would take the concerns he heard from the mayors and police chiefs to a meeting with more officials today in Baqubah, seat of the provincial government.

"I expect security will not be a problem in the Diyala province," he said. "The bigger question will be, ‘Will the people come out and vote?’"

The meeting peacefully brought together historically hostile factions of Iraqi Arabs and Kurds. The only mention of past ethnic tensions occurred when Mr. Hassan, the mayor of Khanaqin, a traditionally Kurdish town, spoke about the voting rights of displaced Kurds. Those returning home after fleeing under Saddam Hussein’s rule are concerned the votes of the more than 50,000 Arabs brought to the city by the ousted government will not give the Kurds equal representation.

"It is true they are Iraqis and have the right to vote," Mr. Hassan said of the Arabs. "But they should go back to their native places to vote — not here."

Gen. Nazim Sharif Mohammed, head of the area border police, said such tribal competitions in various towns are hampering election efforts.

"We need to be fair with all national groups and religious groups," he said through a translator. "We need to make no difference between ethnic groups, or we will be the same as Saddam Hussein."

Extending his own olive branch, Sadiq Sajid, the mayor of Kifri, offered to lend some of his security forces to towns in greater need. He also talked about educating schoolchildren about the elections so they can tell their families how to vote.

The Iraqi officials began their statements Wednesday by praising the elections and the help of the U.S. forces. Many said the Iraqi people long have dreamed about such freedom, and the leaders present vowed to work together like brothers to pull off the vote.

Col. Adams said such sentiments prove the Iraqis understand what it takes to give birth to a democracy. He said watching the men discuss their views in an open forum gave him a sense of what America’s Founding Fathers went through during their revolution.

"I know what it must have been like to sit around a table 200 years ago in America trying to take an idea and turn it into a reality," Col. Adams said as several members of his staff fielded questions from about a dozen members of the Iraqi media.

After the meeting the parties shared a meal inside the Iraqi general’s headquarters. The men ate rice mixed with raisins, lamb broth and tea as one of the Iraqi translators sang traditional Arabic songs.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

U.S Army Photo by Capt. Alan Mingledorff - Iraqi television reporters on Wednesday interview Lt. Col. Jeff Holmes, commander of the 278 th Regimental Combat Team’s 3 rd Squadron, after a meeting with Iraqi provincial political and security leaders.

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