Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Saturday, February 26, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

DISPATCH Iraq

Troops warn townspeople that thieves, insurgents threaten their homes.

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

BALAD RUZ, Iraq — A little after 3 a.m., the day’s first Apache Troop mission rolled out of Camp Caldwell’s gates and headed into this city of nearly 80,000.

The 24-hour patrol earlier this week by the 278th Regimental Combat Team unit included night operations designed to discourage insurgents from setting roadside bombs under cover of darkness.

Since taking over responsibility here in December, the Cleveland, Tenn.-based Apache Troop has toured the town using tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, armored personal carriers, armored Humvees and old-fashioned shoe leather.

The reason for the heavy presence of Tennessee National Guard soldiers became evident to both soldiers and locals on Feb. 11 when a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into an Iraqi army truck. The attack, along the city’s main market street, killed 14 and wounded more than 24 civilians. Since then more locals are coming forward with information on illegal activities, according to Capt. Dale Bradley, Apache Troop’s commander. He said the residents agreed that if "A li Baba," the common name for a thief here, invaded their houses, they would stop at nothing to kill the intruder.

"Well," Capt. Bradley told townspeople, "Ali Baba is invading your house of Balad Ruz."

TENSIONS HIGH

During two days of steady activity this week, some Apache troops walked several miles through the town’s canal-edged streets, while others attended meetings with new city leaders. On a Wednesday morning patrol just after dawn, Lt. Mark Ogilvy’s Apache platoon wandered through streets alongside about a dozen free-roaming cows until stray dogs chased the cattle away.

Local children on their way to school said "good morning" in crisp English as they passed the soldiers. The patrol passed neighborhoods where open sewers created streams through the streets.

With the devastation of the suicide bombing less than two weeks old, the patrol looked into the windows of passing cars. Tensions already were high. Shrapnel from an early morning rifle-propelled grenade attack cracked Spc. Robert Wog’s ballistic protection glasses and left a cut below the gunner’s eye.

Spc. Wog, 36, of Lebanon, Tenn., answered the fire with his own .50-caliber machine gun, but the attackers did not wait around for a gunfight.

During Lt. Ogilvy’s foot patrol a few hours later, the Iraqi army soldiers walking the streets with their U.S. Army counterparts wore black masks to hide their identities from locals willing to turn their names over to insurgents in exchange for cash.

Lt. Ogilvy gave a few of these Iraqi soldiers on-the-job lessons in muzzle discipline after catching the Iraqis swinging their AK-47 assault rifles recklessly.

The 278th soldiers uttered the Arabic words for "How’s it going?" and "Everything’s cool" as they passed Iraqis of all ages. The Apache platoon drew a crowd as the men walked the streets. Young children hoping for a pencil or a piece of candy followed close by, while men and women stood outside their homes or storefronts.

After navigating a date palm grove, the foot patrol turned onto the city’s outdoor market, where traffic police handled a steady stream of cars, trucks, military convoys, bicycles and pedestrians. Some Iraqis crossed the road while balancing stuffed bags and loaded baskets on their heads.

In the market the soldiers passed endless stalls flashing rainbows of color from the meats, fruits, vegetables and grain for sale. The skinned carcasses of goats and sheep hung upside down over several stalls with the animals’ still-bloody severed heads lying on the ground directly below. Two Iraqis skinned a rabbit that soon would join those of the other animals on display.

SIGNS OF RECOVERY

Just moments after Lt. Ogilvy’s platoon ended its day, Capt. Bradley walked into Balad Ruz’s city hall meeting where about a dozen council members sat facing each other and sipped hot tea in a room lined with couches. The council members complained about a lack of fuel, water and electricity.

Capt. Bradley listed projects such as a possible orphanage and renovations to the city hall building then told the council members to be patient.

"Things take time and money," he said.

Teaching the city officials to take initiative had been a challenge, Capt. Bradley said later. When Apache soldiers hauled out concrete barriers and wire for local officials to use, the materials remained unmoved for a few weeks until Balad Ruz officials asked the Americans when they were going to put the barriers in place.

"I said they could hire somebody to put them up," Capt. Bradley said.

Staff Sgt. Blake Baxter, of Ooltewah, said the city struggles because it is under a new administration after decades of micromanagement by the Saddam Hussein-led Baath Party. The town’s current mayor spent time in prison during the ousted dictator’s reign, Staff Sgt. Baxter said.

"They need to learn how to run things," he said.

Apache’s 1 st Sgt. Steve Johnson said he has struggled with convincing the local fire department that items no longer will just show up as they did under Saddam Hussein. Once the unit received four 2000 model Mercedes firetrucks even though the department has just one driver, he said.

But Balad Ruz, literally translated as city of rice, is showing signs of recovery, according to its mayor, Mohamed Maroof Hussein. The date palms, cut down years ago by Saddam Hussein as punishment for the city’s perceived lack of loyalty to his regime, are beginning to grow back. And the city’s biggest industry, its brick factory, once more is sending out trucks loaded with bricks to other towns.

The mayor said an 87 percent voter turnout in last month’s elections proved the overwhelming majority of city residents, who are about 40 percent Kurdish, 40 percent Shiite Arab and 20 percent Sunni Arab, is ready to move forward.

Still, the mayor said any progress in the immediate future must include the Americans.

"We want to explain to the people that coalition forces are here, they have plenty of money, and they are willing to spend the money to develop the city and change the old things here," the mayor said.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika - Spc. Daniel Hendy, of Cleveland, Tenn., stands in the market at Balad Ruz, Iraq.

U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika - Cpl. Gill Barrett, 39, of Cleveland, Tenn., patrols the marketplace in Balad Ruz, Iraq, accompanied by an Iraqi child.

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