|
KHADRA, Iraq (February 6, 2008) - Multinational Division Baghdad
soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, wiped
the sleep out of their eyes at 4:30 a.m. Jan. 27. They donned their
nearly dry uniforms and looked out of their sand-bagged windows,
hoping to find that it stopped raining sometime during the
night.
They were not necessarily looking forward to spending the next
48 hours standing in the rain. As luck would have it, not a drop
could be seen falling through the dim light provided by the joint
security station lights as they flickered on and off. All the
soldiers could hope for was that the rain stayed away for at least
the next couple of days.
At 6 a.m., they began combined traffic-control-point operations
with citizens helping local security efforts and their counterparts
of 1st Battalion, 6th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police
Division.
The operation was simple in its tasking, but the purpose had a
more complicated goal. As several tons of concrete continue to be
placed around Khadra as a security measure, access points had to be
manned, and vehicles entering the area had to be searched, or the
concrete barriers became nothing more than an almost $1 million
eyesore.
The purpose of the operation is to bolster security at these
access points to deter enemy logistical movement and indentify
possible weaknesses in the wall. To do so, the soldiers spent the
next 48 hours searching vehicles with their Iraqi counterparts.
"It got a little backed up this morning, and we were surprised
to see the local Iraqi police working the checkpoint with us
without even being asked," said Army Staff Sgt. Thomas Taylor,
platoon sergeant for Company C's 2nd Platoon. "Without their help
this morning, we would have had a line of cars backed up a
mile."
The people of Khadra, although hesitant at first, have made it a
point to voice their appreciation for the wall that now surrounds
their city, Taylor said. As they weigh the inconvenience against
the increased security the wall has provided, the majority of
Khadra citizens have come to appreciate the barriers, he said.
At 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, almost 30 hours into the mission, a
local citizen walked up to the checkpoint with a camera man. Army
1st Lt. James Gallagher, platoon leader for 2nd Platoon, found out
the men were a news team with "Out There News" working for Channel
4, a British network.
The reporter introduced himself as simply "Osama" and spent the
next hour talking with coalition forces, Iraqi security forces and
local citizens about security in Khadra. The response Osama
received from the people he interviewed mirrored what the soldiers
have said throughout the operation.
"The checkpoints make this (area) crowded, but they are worth
it," said Omhar, a local man waiting in line to have his vehicle
searched. "Before three months, I wouldn't let my children walk to
school, but the security has gotten much better, and my children
are able to walk to and from school without my supervision."
The local Iraqis are aware that coalition forces are profiling
taxis moving into and out of the city, but it has not slowed down
the influx of taxi traffic they continue to see at the
checkpoints.
"Two months ago, I wouldn't even come into Khadra; lately
though, business has been good. and the checkpoints are only a
slight inconvenience. They are actually the reason it is now safe
for me to come into Khadra," said Ali, a taxi driver from Dora.
During a neighborhood advisory council meeting a month ago,
representatives presented a plan to the chairman to produce memos
for local bus drivers to come in and out of the city to carry
children to and from schools in Khadra. Students from throughout
Mansour district attend Khadra's 14 schools.
Although the barriers have hindered daily activities in the
neighborhood, the people of Khadra continue to develop plans to
help streamline and support the project.
"The process is getting easier," said Marian, a bus driver
waiting in line at the checkpoint with a van full of children who
apparently were late getting to the Khadra girls secondary school
to take their semester exams. "Two months ago, we couldn't even
find drivers willing to do this job."
"You can't be late if you're all late together," Gallagher
assured the driver and her charges.
|
