Photo By Master Sgt. Jerry Saslav | A Sadr City resident reads some informational flyers passed out by Iraqi army troops...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Jerry Saslav
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
JAMILLA, Iraq – Iraqi army soldiers took to Sadr City's streets Oct. 3, 2008 to distribute handbills, which bore the faces of criminals operating in the northeastern Baghdad enclave, to encourage residents to provide information about Special Groups activity there.
The soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division, gathered at Joint Security Station Thawra 2 to make final preparations before beginning the mission.
Iraqi army Lt. Jaber Fadhel, the acting commander of 3rd Company, 3rd Bn., 42nd Bde., 11th IA Div., approached his men carrying a large stack of papers. The papers were flyers offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a Special Groups-backed criminal. Additional flyers also pointed out the improvements the government has made since the Special Groups fled Sadr City in the spring.
The IA soldiers are hoping the residents will provide them information; the residents have not always been friendly in this restive part of Iraq's capital city.
After loading the flyers into military vehicles, Fadhel and his men drove to their assigned neighborhoods. There, they linked up with their American counterparts, the Soldiers from Company C, Task Force 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, which is currently attached to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. The MND-B Soldiers are experienced in these operations and will provide assistance to Fadhel and his men as they conduct the operation.
After a brief discussion, the IA soldiers started off down the street, followed by Sgt. 1st Class Fred Hampton and a few of his men. Hampton is the platoon sergeant for second platoon, Co. C, Task Force 1st Bn., 6th Inf. Regt.
Fadhel approached a door, knocked, announced his presence and waited for the occupants to open the door. There was no bashing down doors. Their mission is not to intimidate the residents but to seek their cooperation and information.
With a "saalam alaikum," Fadhel greets each resident with the traditional Arabic phrase as he explains what they are doing. While speaking with the residents, he asks if they have any information as he and his men pass out the flyers, bid the resident goodbye and move on to the next door.
Occasionally, Hampton is called forward by Fadhel. Most of the time however he hangs back and listens.
An illegally owned AK-47 was found at one house, which was confiscated by the IA soldiers and turned over to their accompanying MND-B counterparts. Hampton and his men secured any confiscated items, which provided the IA soldiers the opportunity to concentrate on the mission.
One house was different when the resident greeted Fadhel and told him that he had some information he wanted to share. He invited him and some of his men inside and Fadhel called for Hampton to join him.
The resident proceeded to tell the leaders what he knew. The information appeared to be useful; so Hampton asked the man if he had any information on a suspect the Iraqi security forces and MND-B are seeking. The man indicated he had information on the suspect as well and provided them with a tip.
"We've just located [an individual we were targeting]. We've confiscated one AK-47, and we've only been conducting ops for 15 minutes," said Hampton, a native of Lexington, Ky.
The concerned citizen said militants in the area had hurt and killed a lot of people – including his family members, one of whom was working in the ISF and was killed because of it.
"Thank God, the people are cooperating with us," said Fadhel. "The people are very good to us. They've given us more information than we could imagine.
"Most of the gangsters, the targets, the people that we are looking for, are not working for [the militia]. They are just using that name as a cover. Most of the [militia] quit; that's what the people are telling me."
The troops kept knocking on doors.
"These guys [Special Groups militants] are not hardcore ideologues. These are just criminals," said Brig. Gen. William Grimsley, deputy commanding general of MND-B and 4th Inf. Div.
Many of the residents appeared to be quite happy to see the Iraqi troops. In fact, some even offered the Soldiers water.
"We are very happy to see the Iraqi army here because of our safety, because some wrong men in this city," said the man, with a sigh of relief. "Catch wrong men, thieves, wrong Muslims- everybody who work in wrong way."
The combined efforts of the IA and MND-B Soldiers are clearly evident in the area.
"It's great cooperation between the Iraqi army and the U.S. Army out here. We were getting shot at out here every minute of every day four months ago. Now you've got kids out here playing, the adults engaging the Iraqi soldiers. So it's a big shift – a giant change," said Grimsley, a Charleston, S.C., native.
After hours of knocking on doors, Fadhel and the Soldiers gathered what he called very good information and found and confiscated three illegally owned AK-47s.
"It's more important to me for the local people to support the Iraqi forces than it is to support the Americans," said Lt. Col. Brian Eifler, a native of Farmington Hills, Mich., who commands Task Force 1st Bn., 6th Inf. Regt. "That's part of the way to transition and complete the mission over here."
| Date Taken: | 10.06.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.06.2008 00:15 |
| Story ID: | 24547 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 245 |
| Downloads: | 234 |
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