| Page 3 of 5 < > |
Resilient Sunni Stronghold Tests the Iraqi Army's Best
A Struggle for Stability
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Muhammed's war was over, for a while. In the furnace-like heat of southern Diyala, Iraqi and American soldiers rested for much of the afternoon. The Iraqi soldiers ate a spare lunch of rice, gravy, grapes and soft drinks inside destroyed houses. Some sang songs, seated on piles of toppled bricks. A handful mingled with U.S. soldiers nearby. Muhammed and his two proteges, Sgt. Ahmed Said, 28, and Sgt. Hassan Shegas, 31, washed clothes and relaxed by their green Humvee under a eucalyptus tree.
Muhammed, his face gleaming with sweat, fumed about being taken off the job. After more than a decade of experience defusing bombs with the Republican Guard, he was deeply resistant to change. "I don't think the Americans can see the wires on the ground. Only with eyes," he said, pointing at his own.
Although his pride was hurt, Muhammed said he needs the U.S. military for the bomb detectors and their batteries, bulbs, lights, cameras, handguns and, most important, explosives. "I haven't received any explosives from the Iraqi army," he said. "The Americans usually provide all our needs."
He and his men had to purchase their uniforms, like most Iraqi soldiers. They fondly recall 2004, when the U.S. military ran the 1st Division and even underwear and boots were provided.
What most concerns Muhammed is Iraq's neighbors, particularly Iran, which many Iraqi soldiers fear will invade after U.S. troops leave.
"Now, the Iraqi army cannot stand on their own," Muhammed said. "As long as we don't have an air force, we'll need the Americans forever. We've cleaned up Basra, Amarah, and now we are in Diyala. But what is the point if we don't have an army controlling our borders?"
The Iraqi army's ability to become a cohesive defense force will depend on Iraq's political situation, he said. He and his men are wary that many army divisions are manned largely by members of a single sect. They haven't forgotten how portions of the mostly Shiite 14th Division refused to fight the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in Basra during a March offensive.
"They delivered their weapons to the militias, despite being supplied and trained by Americans," said Said, a skinny former truck driver from Basra. "That's because they are from there. One driver exchanged his Humvee for a bicycle, and the militiamen painted it like a taxi."
Muhammed said that if the 1st Division had not intervened, "Basra would now be controlled by Iran."
"The Americans need to be here five to 10 years," said Shegas, a wiry former shopkeeper from Nasiriyah. "Things are still not stable."
At 3:53 p.m., a U.S. military tow truck pulled the bulldozer from the road. Five minutes later, American armored vehicles rolled toward the mined stretch of road. "I'll give a million dinars if they get through without me," said Muhammed, watching the convoy.
That evening he met with Brig. Gen. Adil Abbas Shimil, the division commander. Shimil told him he could not return to bomb-clearing on the road just yet. He wanted Muhammed to go in the morning to a village where insurgents had booby-trapped a school.
