DISPATCH Iraq

Story filed 01/30/2005

By Edward Lee Pitts
Military Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE COBRA, Iraq -- A deadly suicide bombing rocked a Kurdish town within the 278th Regimental Combat Team's sector early Saturday morning, culminating a week in which insurgents bent on disrupting today's elections ramped up hostilities aimed at the Tennessee-based unit.

The suicide bomber killed at least seven Iraqis and wounded eight others in the town of Khanaqin near the Iranian border. The attack occurred outside a downtown joint command center shared by the Iraqi security forces and elements of the 278th.

"Khanaqin is a typically safe area, and when something like this happens, that just shows you how volatile the elections are," said 278th spokesman Capt. Alan Mingledorff, who added three members of the Iraqi army and four civilians died.

Maj. Barry Roberson, the regiment's 3rd Squadron's operations officer, said 278th soldiers also spent Saturday on the offensive, conducting numerous raids, including one in Jalula where soldiers discovered 30 mortar rounds.

"We can sit and wait for them to come to us, which they will, or we can go out and find them and eliminate the threats before they get to the polling sites," said Maj. Roberson, of Nashville.

It was a day of little rest for the 278th. Some soldiers here spent Saturday handing out election leaflets to people on the streets of Iraq. Others conducted patrols or placed the final concrete security barriers around area polling sites.

Inside Forward Operating Base Cobra, the medical team put the finishing touches on an expanded mass casualty treatment center encompassing two tents and a new landing zone for receiving airlifted patients.

"We expect this to be a long two days," said Maj. Ted Leichner, the 3rd Squadron surgeon from Franklin, Tenn.

Whatever their duty was during the final 24 hours before election day, the soldiers with the 278th Regimental Combat Team said they hoped a successful vote today would establish the foundations of a free, democratic Iraq and put the Tennessee-based regiment one step closer to home.

"This is the decisive operation of our whole tour," said Maj. Eddie Robbins, 48, of Memphis, who is in charge of the elections for the 278th. "These elections will establish the groundwork for our entire rotation here."

Despite the increased violence in the week leading up to election day, many 278th soldiers have expressed excitement at being witnesses to a key moment in the history of Iraq and the entire Middle East. Numerous soldiers used examples from U.S. history as proof that massive change does not happen overnight.

"I always remind people it took the Americans after the Revolutionary War 10 years to get our constitution written," 278th commander Col. Dennis Adams said.

Maj. Robbins said no one in the 278th expects attacks to end overnight once today's voting ends.

"There will be a lot of pain and turmoil," he said. "And a lot of bumps down the road and a lot of sacrifice. This is just the first step in establishing a democratic country."

BACK-UP SECURITY

The regiment's soldiers will be out in full force today spread out around the 15 cities in the 278th's area of responsibility, which is roughly the size of Rhode Island. They will primarily be in small, quick-reaction forces designed to provide back-up firepower whenever Iraqi security forces run into trouble, Col. Adams said.

The soldiers will be prepared to handle attacks of homemade explosives at roadsides and polling sites set off by timing devices, inside parked cars or by suicide bombers. Officials have erected tall concrete barriers around polling sites, established a dusk-till-dawn curfew and closed the country's border.

But the Iraqi forces will be the first responders to any such voting day attacks and provide primary security at all the polling sites so officials cannot accuse the Americans of interfering it the voting process, Maj. Robbins said.

"If they call, we will come," he said of the Iraqi army and police forces.

However, elements of the 278th are sitting entirely on the election sidelines. Soldiers last week transported ballots from the provincial capital of Baqubah and this morning will escort the ballots and election observers to the polling sites around the regiment's three operating bases. The 278th soldiers also will provide security escorts for the ballots when they are taken to be counted after the voting, Maj. Robbins said.

ARREST COMPLAINTS

During several meetings in As Sa'diyah last week, Iraq sheiks complained to Abdulla Al-Jubori, governor of the Diyala province, and the 278th's 3rd Squadron commander, Lt. Col. Jeff Holmes, about the arrests and searches being conducted by U.S. forces. Others told the governor men had been beating on doors in the city demanding to know whom the citizens were voting for in today's elections.

Lt. Col. Holmes said he hopes Iraqis take their frustration to the voting booth. He said the 278th soldiers have a difficult job out on the streets dealing with the tensions between the Arabs and Muslims living in the sector. The juggling act requires making sure one group does not feel the Americans are favoring the rival group.

Lt. Col. Holmes said he hopes the elections will put area leaders one step closer to gaining control of their cities, including being able to root out the insurgents in their own sects.

By doing their own criminal investigations, the Iraqi leaders will take back some of the authority their followers may feel had been lost to the U.S. military.

"They come to us now and say, 'We want to bring these people to you,'" Lt. Col. Holmes said referring to the desire of tribal elders to show more responsibility for their communities. "We were discrediting their power."

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

Story Copyright to Chattanooga Times Free press