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Leaving Najaf, One Step at a Time
U.S. troops inspect the site of an attack on a U.S. military convoy near Najaf on Wednesday. Iraqi forces have largely assumed responsibility for security in the area. "We are now just oversight and support," Lt. Col. Jim Oliver said.
(By Ali Abu Shish -- Reuters)
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Fighting erupted this August between Sadr's followers and rival Shiite fighters, and at least six people were reported killed. But, said Oliver, "The good news was that we didn't get involved in that at all. The local government handled it."
In September, the Mississippi guardsmen handed over responsibility for security in Najaf and the neighboring holy city of Karbala to Iraqi forces and relinquished control of Camp Hotel, their large base just outside Najaf. The Iraqi army renamed the base and has painted the high, concrete walls with colorful murals of stallions and camels.
"There is freedom in Najaf that there isn't in Baghdad," said Asaad Abu Gelal, the governor of Najaf province. "The Americans are out of Najaf. They are far off."
The arrangement has permitted Oliver and his troops to concentrate on more than $50 million worth of reconstruction projects in the area. They have expanded a local hospital, built schools, rehabilitated the sewage treatment system and opened a sparkling soccer stadium with towering lights for night games.
Oliver led reporters on a tour of a green-tiled riverside pavilion being completed at Kufa, on the edge of Najaf, a popular gathering spot and traditional destination for brides on their wedding day.
"It is a PR project," Oliver acknowledged. "We saw the positive feedback we were getting from the soccer stadium, and we wanted a big impact to turn some of the sentiment and sympathies of the town to us."
Oliver said he saw his job as a battle to win over Iraqi sympathies, in competition with Sadr, a fierce critic of the Americans. At present, Oliver is working to dispel rumors that Americans deliberately killed and tried to behead a suspected bomb maker. He said the man had been killed by Iraqi police.
But the real success, Oliver said, is that Iraqi troops, rather than Americans, are now on call to defuse roadside bombs when they are found. Iraqi police are first responders to calls reporting trouble in the city.
"We are now just oversight and support," he said. "We really try to stay in the background."
That worries some Iraqis. "Some of the Iraqi forces have militia in them," said Ahmed Noori, an engineer and secular candidate in the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. "The problem is their loyalty. Are they loyal to the military and police or to a religious party?"
The governor, Gelal, whose administration has been controversial because of his ties to an Islamic party with a militia, denied that the security police had been infiltrated. "There is no militia in Najaf," he said. "The Iraqi army and police are working fairly. There is no militia."
Human rights activists in Najaf have reported allegations of torture of prisoners by the security forces and suspicious killings.
Ahmed Fatlawi, one of the activists, said such torture could increase with an early U.S. withdrawal.
"It's a big gamble for the U.S. forces to leave at this time," he said.
