Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | Hassan Bassil Abass, an Iraqi security volunteer in Baghdad's Adhamiyah District,...... read more read more
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By Staff Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – A volunteer helps someone or a group for the greater good. Each selfless act strengthens the volunteer's community.
The Iraqi people of the Adhamiyah community have strengthened their community within a few months.
"We're not going to get anywhere without the cooperation of the people," Staff Sgt. James Lesco, a squad leader with C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, from Colorado Springs, Colo., said earlier this year at the end of a long patrol one day. "They've got to stand up."
Lesco didn't know it at the time, but the people of Adhamiyah – as well as other neighborhoods in Baghdad and throughout Iraq – were on the verge of doing just that. Throughout the past several months, more than 70,000 Iraqi citizens took a stand to help protect their neighborhoods against insurgents by joining local security forces collectively known as Iraqi security volunteer groups.
The volunteers are a cross section of the neighborhood. They range in age from teenagers to senior citizens, with both genders represented. All share the same goal: keeping their streets safe.
"I am happy because now I am taking a part in protecting the community," said Mervat Hussein, one of the first female volunteers.
Since getting out on the streets in force, the volunteers have had an immediate impact. In November, ISV members either discovered or gave information that led to the discovery of 28 separate weapons caches, said Capt. Phillip Dow, a staff officer with the 3-7 Cav. That was a jump of almost 300 percent from the number of caches found in the previous months, Dow said.
The volunteers' intimate knowledge of the community has helped them spot things U.S. forces might have easily overlooked. In mid-November, an ISV member observed a strange funeral taking place at a local cemetery. A number of details about the funeral didn't add up, the man reported, including the fact that the coffins seemed far too heavy to be holding bodies. When the Iraqi army dug the caskets up later that night, they turned out to be full of hand grenades and machine guns bound for insurgents.
The result has been an unprecedented drop in violence throughout the country. In Adhamiyah, Iraqi security volunteers have worked together with U.S. and Iraqi security forces to drive out al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, helping to turn what was once one of the most violent and dangerous areas of Baghdad into a model of security.
"They're standing up to al-Qaida, they're standing up to anybody who wants to bring down their neighborhoods," said Columbia, Md., native Capt. Al Marckwardt, who commands a Troop of Soldiers from the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment based in Adhamiyah. "It's their efforts that turned all this around."
Slightly more than 1,000 men and women from Adhamiyah have applied to become Iraqi security volunteers since August. Of those, more than 800 have been screened and trained and are now on the job, manning checkpoints and guarding critical sites such as schools, government buildings and hospitals, said Homewood, Ill., native, 1st Lt. Brian C. Smith, the 3-7 Cav's Iraqi security forces liaison.
On Nov.14, ISV members spotted a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot. It turned out to be rigged with explosives. When U.S. Soldiers arrived to investigate, they found four more car bombs rigged to go off in the same lot.
Volunteer Ahmed Raja Al Assan said there is a simple reason why ISV members make good detectives.
"We know the area. We know who is good and who is bad," Assan said.
Because of the volunteers' local ties, Adhamiyah residents trust them more than they do the other security forces, said Staff Sgt. David Winkel, a section leader with C Troop from Champaigne, Ill.
"It makes Adhamiyah people feel more comfortable knowing they're being protected by someone who is from here," Winkel said.
Early fears that the creation of the ISV might undermine existing government security forces have so far proven groundless. The ISV, the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army have formed a strong relationship together, said Maj. Ike Sallee, the 3-7 Cav's operations officer. The ISV even has a liaison cell at the Adhamiyah District Joint Security Station, which houses elements from the Iraqi police, army and U.S. military.
The long term goal is to completely integrate the ISV into the Iraqi security forces, Smith said. That process is already underway. A Nov. 24 recruiting drive gave hundreds of security volunteers the chance to join the Iraqi police and be stationed in Adhamiyah after graduation from the police academy.
"(This will ensure) that the people of Adhamiyah are going to remain the ones protecting Adhamiyah," Smith said during the event.
But regardless of who cuts their checks or what uniform they wear in the future, the ISV has already had a major impact on the community, according to U.S. Soldiers in the area.
"I really think having the ISV out on the streets has helped a lot," Winkel said.
On a recent afternoon, Staff Sgt. Richard Cody was patrolling through the busy market area downtown, which had been deserted only a few months before. For Cody, a section leader with B Troop from Lacie, Wash., the signs of improvement since the ISV began operating in Adhamiyah are everywhere.
"There have been a lot more people out on the streets: a lot more shops open. It's just a much better feeling coming out here," Cody said.
"People have come up to us and expressed how much improvement there has been over the past six months and how much better it's going to be. They're seeing a brighter future for themselves," he said.
| Date Taken: | 12.17.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 12.17.2007 11:03 |
| Story ID: | 14733 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 333 |
| Downloads: | 295 |
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