Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Thursday, April 28, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

DISPATCH Iraq

‘Snatch and Grab’

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

AS SA’DIYAH, Iraq — When a 16-vehicle convoy of U.S troops rumbled down dark streets this week for a series of night raids, white trucks carrying Iraqi army soldiers and sedans with Iraqi police officers accompanied it.

The unusual hodgepodge of U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces returned to Forward Operating Base Cobra nearly two hours later with four handcuffed suspects and a deeper bond among the soldiers from the two nations.

"They took the bull by the horns, and they did it," said Sgt. James Abbott, 34, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. "It was a perfect training night."

The successful night "snatch and grab" operation represented a step forward in the realworld training of Iraqis by the Tennessee-based National Guard soldiers. Similar joint missions are occurring throughout the 278 th’s sector near the Iranian border.

The soldiers on the mission confiscated a box of anti-Iraqi pamphlets, a briefcase full of passports, magazines with pictures of Saddam Hussein, a laminating machine and $850 in U.S. cash — a small fortune in Iraq.

Soldiers believe the home- owner from whom the items were taken was providing false identifications, a lucrative business that allows terrorists to roam Iraq and clear security checkpoints, according to raid commander Capt. Matt Smith, of Nashville.

MISSION PREPARATION

The soldiers’ training began at 9 p.m. with a series of briefings in Forward Operating Base Cobra’s conference room. The space looked like a typical corporate boardroom in America. However, those sitting around a dry-erase board wore camouflaged uniforms and carried M-4 rifles or AK-47 machine guns, depending on their nationality, instead of suits and briefcases.

Breaking down the night’s mission, Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Escue, of Gallatin, Tenn., paused between every sentence so a translator could turn his words into Arabic.

He said the 278th and Iraqi army soldiers in the room would block roads and provide security for the raid, while a specially trained SWAT team of Iraqi police would handle the house arrests of individuals with suspected ties to what is called the Anti-Iraqi Forces.

The mission would serve as a test for the 10-member police special unit now being trained by two Tennessee police officers, including Sgt. Abbott.

"They can find stuff we cannot find," Capt. Smith said of the Iraqi forces. "They read Arabic and know where people hide stuff in Arabic homes."

Before departing, the 278 th trainers barked last-minute instructions to their charges, who as charter members of the special response team are on their second night raid.

"The minute you encounter people say, ‘Police. Get on the ground. Let me see your hands and no talking,’" said Sgt. Abbott, 34, an eight-year veteran of the Murfreesboro Police Department.

Staff Sgt. Melvin Brown, 48, a member of Nashville’s SWAT team for 17 years, told the troops that if a man in front of them falls under fire, "step over him and continue the fight or you will get shot, too."

Both instructors stressed weapons discipline to the Iraqi police, who are steeped in a culture in which it is fine to fire weapons on almost any occasion, such as wedding celebrations or silencing barking dogs at night.

"Restraint is kind of a new concept for them," Staff Sgt. Brown said. "There are concepts here of fairness and unfairness, but the country still is moving towards the rule of law."

With nearly 200 soldiers running around in the dark, officers reduced risks by handing out light sticks to be worn on the arms or body armor of each Iraqi and 278th soldier.

While this was considered an Iraqi mission, the 278 th soldiers did not remain on the sidelines. By design the 278 th police trainers served as point men and led two groups through the house after another 278th soldier took a battering ram to the door.

"You can only lead from the front," Staff Sgt. Brown said.

A CHANGE IN PLANS

But as is often the case during these night raids, improvisation became key after unforeseen circumstances forced a rapid change in plans. When about a half dozen men were found standing outside one target house, the police officers and 278 th trainers lost the element of surprise. But the police forced the suspects flat on the ground in seconds before leaving them in the hands of the Iraqi army and continuing on into the house after two fleeing suspects.

Within five minutes, the police officers appear from above on the roof giving the allclear sign, and the two men who sought shelter in the house are led back outside to join the other captured men.

Inside the raided seven-room house, 278th and Iraqi army soldiers conducted a systematic search of every closet, drawer, cabinet and shelf. The effort to uncover evidence turned the house inside out with pots, pans, clothes, and rugs soon piled in heaps in the center of each room.

The only sounds come from barking dogs outside and a 3-year-old boy carrying a toy gun who followed the soldiers around and asked questions in Arabic, including why the soldiers broke down his door. Eventually a 278th soldier traded the boy a chemical light for his toy gun. Later, soldiers brought a box of more toys, including Matchbox cars, to distract the boy, whose father remained handcuffed outside.

At one point the boy ran out, sat beside his handcuffed father and had to be carried back inside.

As more 278 th soldiers arrived to assist in the search, the mother of some of the captured men fell to her knees and clung to the boots of the nearest soldier in a plea for mercy. The translator, clearly used to such a display, explained to the mother that an investigation will be conducted and her sons will come home if found innocent.

"Take care of our men please," said a woman inside who claimed to be an English teacher. "There is nothing you should be afraid of. There is nothing here dangerous."

Lt. Steven Brock, a raid platoon commander, conducted impromptu interrogations of the captured men from the back of a pickup truck. As the men were brought forward one at a time, Lt. Brock, of Fairview, Tenn., put his hands on their shoulders and shined a white light into their faces as he asked questions through an interpreter.

Asked by Lt. Brock what soldiers would find if they searched his house, one detainee confessed to stealing a now-broken military radio when the Saddam Hussein regime fell more than two years ago.

Officers soon discovered that one of the men held face first to the ground was walking to a store with his son when the raid began. The boy squatted beside his prone father as soldiers with weapons poised stared down at them.

Sgt. Steve Johnson, of White Bluff, Tenn., gave the man a Sprite and his trembling son a doll before apologizing and letting them go. Sgt. Johnson also said he recognized a girl sleeping in the home that was being torn apart.

"She comes out and waves and talks to us," he said about his unit’s daily patrols. "I hate she has to get mixed up in this."

RAID AFTERMATH

Lt. Brock decided to release three men, and he ordered the other three suspects into the back of a truck. A simultaneous raid at another house netted one more suspect. Before the next day is over, two of the men are back home and the remaining two are awaiting extradition to Abu Ghraib prison.

Sgt. Abbott, who trains about 300 police officers from As Sa’diyah and Jalula, said the raid was an improvement over a previous mission when five or six officers tried to go into a door at the same time with their weapons dangling at their sides. But the unit still needs to be taken into the 21 st century, he said.

"The police force here is similar to the late 1800s in America," Sgt. Abbott said. "You talk about dusting for fingerprints and DNA to these guys and you get just a big blank look on their faces."

Pumped up after the raid, the Iraqi police team immediately responded to a domestic dispute shooting in another part of town. There they made an arrest after finding the gun and coaxing a confession out of the husband without resorting to the abuse commonly wielded by law enforcement under the previous regime, soldiers said.

Sgt. Abbott said the officers got a boost in confidence late Monday and into early Tuesday morning.

"They were all excited and wanted to keep going," he said. "But we told them it was time to go to bed."

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika - 278th Regimental Combat Team and Iraqi army soldiers surround handcuffed suspects during a raid Monday in As Sa’diyah.

U.S. Army Photo by Russell Lee Klika - Soldiers with the 278 th Regimental Combat Team and Iraqi army prepare for a night raid Monday in a briefing room at Forward Operating Base Cobra.

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