Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Friday, January 14, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq — Whether pulling over cars or searching houses, soldiers with the 278th Regimental Combat Team are emphasizing politeness to get the message out that the Iraqi government is calling the shots.

"We want the local Iraqis to understand we are here to do the will of their government, not to impose the will of our government," said Sgt. 1st Class Clay Rader, 44, of Loudon, Tenn. "We try to figure out the best way to phrase that."

In one 24-hour stretch this week, a platoon with First Squadron’s Deacon Company used translators to show the Iraqi people the kinder and gentler side of the U.S. Army.

When village elders in the town of Mandila this week complained about possible insurgents moving in from the more volatile city of Baqubah, Deacon Company sent 2nd Lt. Joseph Minarick’s platoon to investigate.

"Let’s get these guys and see if they need to be taken out of the equation for the elections," Lt. Minarick told his platoon as they mounted up in their Humvees.

The platoon stopped at the local police station to pick up Iraqi police officers to assist in the operation.

HOME SEARCHES

While previous U.S. troops may have knocked down doors on such inspections, Lt. Minarick gave clear orders to his soldiers that they will be knocking on doors and talking to the suspects before searching.

At the neighborhood of squat adobe houses, several soldiers dismounted to walk alongside the slow-moving Humvees. A crowd of all ages gathered in the rain to watch them.

Outside a suspect’s house, nine soldiers fanned out on either side of the door. Chickens, dogs and cows produced the only sounds as the soldiers and onlookers from the village waited.

Soon after the door knock, a suspect produced his one allowed family weapon, an AK-47 machine gun, and stepped aside for the soldiers, who first wiped the mud off their feet, to enter.

The soldiers found a family of seven whose living area is a dark, narrow walkway and two rooms on each side. The women and children remained huddled around the home’s single kerosene heater as the soldiers searched.

Thin mats covered the cold, dirt floor, and foam mattresses were the only furniture in the home’s two front rooms. Half-eaten food remained in the metal pots and pans in the tiny kitchen. Wires coiled around the low ceiling of the hallway before ending at the home’s single light bulb above the kitchen doorway.

As the soldiers searched his home, the Iraqi suspect said through a translator that he is a carpenter who fled here to spare his family from the violence of Baqubah. He said the last straw came after a rocket-propelled grenade launcher went off near his children.

"This area is quiet and doesn’t have any problems," he said through the translator.

The Iraqi man said he didn’t mind the search because it made him feel safer.

"This is the first time they have searched my house," he said. "It’s good for security."

The search turned up nothing, and Lt. Minarick decided the man posed no threat to the elections. Lt. Minarick thanked the man for his cooperation and apologized for any mud the soldiers tracked inside.

"Hopefully we won’t have to search again," said Lt. Minarick, from Oak Ridge, Tenn. "It is a pain for him and for us."

But the Iraqi said the soldiers were welcome to come again.

"I’ll never complain about where I live again," said Spc. Carlin Escue, 25, from Knoxville, as his Humvee pulled away from the village.

But Spc. Daniel Worsham, 23, of Hendersonville, Tenn., said it was one of the cleanest houses he had inspected after nearly a month in Iraq.

He said items commonly found in houses include bags of flour and sugar, empty seed bags and cardboard used on the floors for insulation, and lots of cologne.

"These people don’t get to take baths as much as we do, so they try to cover it up," said Spc. Worsham, a University of Tennessee student.

CURFEWS AND CAR CHECKS

Out on night patrol this week, the Deacon Company platoon also enforced an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by the Iraqi government in advance of the Jan. 30 elections.

Soldiers pulling over Iraqis first thanked the drivers for cooperating and then warned them arrests will be made for violators after Jan. 15.

The soldiers communicated through an interpreter, who wore a scarf over his head to protect his identify. Those Iraqis willing to work with U.S. forces commonly face threats to themselves and their families.

Iraqi insurgents have been known to place bombs in cars or to use disabled cars as decoys for an ambush. To guard against such attacks, whenever the platoon stopped a car, soldiers had the driver open his own hood and vehicle while the soldiers stood about 20 feet away.

Staff Sgt. David Hutchins, 34, of Knoxville, said it is nerve-wracking to approach an unknown vehicle, but the platoon has been lucky so far.

"When I do it, I put everything out of my mind and focus on my job," said Staff Sgt. Hutchins, who already has inspected close to 30 cars. "If you get nervous, you have the tendency to miss things. It is all about watching their eyes and their body language."

Headlights from the surrounding Humvees provided plenty of light for the searches. Staff Sgt. Hutchins said he has seen a lot of tools, car parts and fuel cans stashed inside the cars, mostly sedans from the early- to mid-1980s. Because Deacon Company oversees a rural area, many vehicle searches also have turned up syringes, which the farmers use to vaccinate their animals.

"It’s weird — a Tennessee boy over here in Iraq searching someone’s car," said Spc. Worsham.

Sometimes it is difficult to get Iraqi drivers to stop on roads that have no stop signs, speed limits or traffic signals.

"The best way to say ‘stop’ in Iraq is with an M-4 (rifle)," Staff Sgt. Hutchins said.

But on this night there would be no gunfire. After the inspections, the soldiers reminded the drivers to vote for "good Iraqi leaders during the election to make your country better."

After completing the inspection of their last car for the night, the 278th soldiers had to help the driver jump-start his car by pushing from the trunk. On the second attempt, the engine cranked. The driver thanked the soldiers in Arabic before ambling down a dirt side street toward the row of lights in the distance marking his home village.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

Staff Photo by Edward Lee Pitts - Soldiers with Deacon Company of the 278th Regimental Combat Team spread out on a side street in Mandila, Iraq, while preparing to search a home for any insurgent activity.

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