AJC.com > Iraq coverage > Blog > Archives > 2005 > September > 18 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USSecurity hangs on the grapevine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Baghdad, Iraq — Capt. Michael Cannon leapt out of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and walked over to inspect the bomb damage by the side of the road.
The blast from a makeshift bomb, detonated in broad daylight the day before as 48th Brigade Combat Team soldiers were patrolling in southwest Baghdad, left a crater large enough to swallow a small car.
“I think it’s something homemade. I don’t see any shrapnel,” Cannon said.
No one was hurt in the incident, but Cannon was determined to find out who had planted the potentially deadly bomb.
After almost four months on the ground in Iraq, the 48th’s infantry soldiers have become intimately acquainted with the areas in which they operate. The soldiers who patrol the highways and villages west of the Baghdad airport know the more dangerous routes from the safer ones.
But geography is often not enough, given the random nature of the insurgency in Iraq.
Because there is little defense against some enemy tactics, the key, say soldiers, is to flush out insurgents before they can plant deadly bombs in roads, blow themselves up at checkpoints or launch rocket attacks and mortar rounds into U.S. camps.
Of the 18 brigade soldiers who have been killed in Iraq, 14 died in bombings that have become leading killers of American soldiers here.
After inspecting the damage, Cannon walked to a small shop at an intersection just a few feet away. He was certain the shopkeeper Najeeb, who lives nearby, would know something about the bomb.
At the shop, Cannon found a middle-aged man dressed in a traditional white dishdasha leaning on metal crutches. He knew nothing, he said, looking away from Cannon.
“Do you know where Najeeb is?” asked Cannon, commander of Alpha Company of the 121st Infantry Regiment’s 1st Battalion.
Silence fell over the simple shop, which had three outdoor bins filled with half-rotten potatoes, tomatoes and onions. A young boy pointed to the woman keeping the shop. “Najeeb is my father. He is not here,” he said. “That’s my mother.”
The woman’s name was Badriyah. She said she heard the loud noise from the explosion, but didn’t know anything else.
“I swear to God I don’t know anything,” she told Cannon through an interpreter. “I am sure they put the bomb in at night.”
Cannon was convinced that Badriyah and Najeeb were keeping secrets. “There’s no way someone could put something in the ground 20 meters from Najeeb’s store and [they] not know about it,” Cannon said.
The key to getting information, he added, is working with the Iraqi people. “But most people are scared that insurgents will kill them if they are seen talking to Americans.”
On a recent raid in Sadr Yusufiyah near the banks of the Euphrates River, 2nd Lt. Michael Persley faced the same frustrations as Cannon did at the roadside shop.
After a swift 10-minute ride from Camp Striker, a Black Hawk helicopter swooped down into a field behind a one-story house that had come under suspicion. Persley led soldiers of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, on house-to-house searches in the middle of the night.
No one confessed to knowing the man Persley was seeking. After several rounds of questioning, Persley decided to detain a man who knew a secondary suspect.
The cat-and-mouse game between American soldiers and insurgents in Iraq might seem old hat to Persley, who has been a police officer in Albany for 13 years. But nothing, not even his crime-fighting experience, can prepare a soldier for the violence in Iraq, he said.
“Yes, we know our area better. But people stay away from us,” Persley said. “We don’t really get to know them very well. We’re like the Goliath here. The insurgents consider themselves David.”
Persley said it would help to have more interaction with residents, just like police officers who hang out in their neighborhoods at home. But in this nation gripped with fear, no one trusts anyone any more.
“Back home, people may threaten you for talking to the police, but here, if you talk today to an American soldier, tomorrow, you might end up dead,” Persley said.
Cannon said, ultimately, building trust is essential for U.S. security efforts.
“Seeing people over and over again is crucial,” he said.
Cannon tries to meet with villagers when he is out on patrol.
In Al Radwaniyah, he sat down for tea with Abbas Hamza, a village elder.
Hamza gave Cannon his account of the situation in Iraq; that his nation needs a single governing entity, whether it be Sunni, Shiite or Kurd.
“It doesn’t matter who will be president of Iraq,” Hamza said, taking a long drag of his Miami cigarette. “The most important thing is for my people to feel safe. We can’t even go into Baghdad when we want because we don’t feel safe.”
Cannon had met twice before with Hamza. In this third, more revealing conversation, Hamza told Cannon about recent attacks in his village.
“I’m starting to develop a friendship with him,” Cannon said. “The past two times, he didn’t mention the anti-Iraqi forces. This time he began to open up.”
Cannon thought he was developing the same relationship with Najeeb, the store owner.
“I told him I held him responsible for that area,” Cannon said. “The first few times, he had remained silent. But now he’s started to divulge information.”
Cannon vowed to return to the shop to find Najeeb.
In the meantime, he left Najeeb’s wife with a stern warning.
“I find it hard to believe you were here and you didn’t notice anything,” Cannon told her. “If my men die and I think that Najeeb knows about it, I will bulldoze this store. One more bomb in this area, and your store is gone.”
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By A Combat Soldier
September 19, 2005 06:47 AM | Link to this
Like the man says in your article, Moni, he could be killed for talking to American soldiers, SO DON’T PUBLISH HIS NAME! Operation Security (OPSEC) is a huge priority for us. Publicizing the names of people who talk to us is counter-productive.
By Bideesha
September 19, 2005 08:55 AM | Link to this
Dear Moni,
I think you are doing a great job reporting the situation in Iraq.My prayers are with you and am waiting for your safe return.
By Army Wife
September 19, 2005 01:00 PM | Link to this
I agree with “A Combat Soldier”. These stories are screened by the enemy, and that’s not just a conspiracy theory. Telling names in stories, even if they aren’t the names of our brave young men and women, could give a death sentence to these Iraqi people. I think there needs to be a little more OPSEC involved as well.
By NG Army Wife
September 19, 2005 02:47 PM | Link to this
It is great our guys are trying their best to building that trust which is essential for not only their safety but also for the safety of the Iraqis. By building that trust they can prevent IED from not only taking the lives of our men and women but the innocent bystanders the insurgents could care less about. Please take the time and consideration to think long and hard before publicizing the names of people who talk to our guys. Not only are you putting the safety of those who are brave enough to talk to our guys a risk but you are also putting the lives our brave men and women at even more risk because they will not talk to them giving them vital information that can save their lives.
By Ron Martz
September 19, 2005 04:32 PM | Link to this
Editor’s note:
This is in response to the readers’ comments about operational security. The following is from Moni Basu in Iraq in answer to those comments:
“When I interview Iraqi citizens, I ask them if they are comfortable having their identities in the paper. I ask them once before I begin questioning them and again before I leave. I always tell them their names will appear in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. If Iraqis do not want their identities revealed in the paper, we respect their wishes. “Since I am embedded with the 48th Brigade Combat Team, there are always soldiers around me when I speak to Iraqis. In this case, Capt. Michael Cannon was there when I asked for names and neither he nor any of the Iraqis voiced any concerns. “I understand OPSEC, but in this case I don’t believe there was any violation. Insurgents are well aware of activities in the southwest Baghdad area and have much more first-hand knowledge of the situation here than they could ever get from reading the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Villagers know the risks they are taking by speaking out to U.S. soldiers and the press. I have encountered people who shy away and others who tell me they are perfectly fine with the coverage. I usually gauge the impact and potential fallout on a case-by-case basis and in this instance neither the soldiers with me nor I felt there was a problem.”
Ron Martz AJC
By My Opinion
September 19, 2005 05:47 PM | Link to this
I also agree with A Combat Soldier. The first thought that went through my mind as I read this article is the danger the publishing of names can put these individuals in.
All reporters should remember - your freedom of press was won for you (you didn’t win it) on the blood, sweat and tears of others - those who fought for and those who protect all our freedoms. Freedom isn’t a right - it is a priviledge and with freedom comes RESPONSIBILITY to protect the security of this Nation and of all people in this Nation and those who are allied with us. If you were either of those two Iraqis identified in this article would you want your identity known? After all you may have signed their death sentences. Think about that.
No one’s safety should be placed in jeopardy for a story. Responsibility first begins with the individual.
God bless our Soldiers and those who help them prevail in their mission and stay safe.
By stephanie Hawkins
September 20, 2005 04:56 PM | Link to this
I would like to say thank you to Captain Michael Cannon for working so hard to protect the lives of the men who follow him. My brother is a member of the 48th Brigade currently serving in Iraq. Thank you Captain Cannon!
By JIM
September 25, 2005 03:19 AM | Link to this
THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, FREEDOM WAS A RIGHT. TO SAY IT’S A PRIVILEDGE COMPLETELY NEGATES THE REASON WE ARE IN IRAQ IN THE FIRST PLACE.
I WOULD THINK ABOUT WHAT I SAID BEFORE I POSTED A COMMENT. “IT IS BETTER TO BE THOUGHT A FOOL THAN TO SPEAK AND REMOVE ALL DOUBT”
By truer words
September 25, 2005 11:00 AM | Link to this
for JIM Yours is the best comment I’ve read in all these months. Truer words were never spoken.
By Marie
September 25, 2005 01:13 PM | Link to this
I have to say Jim is right… although I totally agree with everything else you said My Opinion …freedom is in fact a right not a privledge our Declaration of Independence states it clearly…it was the premise for the American Revolution and justification for Iraqi freedom….”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
By Rebuttal to Jim
September 25, 2005 04:10 PM | Link to this
Jim - don’t judge me by yourself - I am not a fool.
I DID read before posting and perhaps I should have entered - Freedom is not JUST a right - it is a privilege.
Keep up the good work, Jim.
By I say
September 26, 2005 01:20 PM | Link to this
Marie, truer words, Jim,
Read Rebuttal to Jim.
Marie copied from the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ Where is Freedom spelled out as an inalienable right in the Declaration of Independence? Freedom of speechand of the press, is granted by Article I (Amendment I) of the Constitution of the United States. I firmly believe in ‘one Nation,Under God, with liberty (freedom?) and justice for all’.
The Declaration of Independence also says all MEN are created equal. In 1776 were all males recognized as men? Were women included in the phrase? Some things have changed in the last 229 years. Women’s rights - fought for and won. And men now includes males of all races.
A word or phrase was omitted in the original post - an error even in editing - seeing what was intended not what was typed - but then some people NEVER make a mistake, RIGHT?????????? I make errors and admit them. This faux pas has inspired me to re-study the Constitution.
Everyone keep up the good work. Some whine - others gripe about the whining and then there are some who wish to beat a dead horse with a switch. It takes all of us.
To all our 48th soldiers - God love you and bless you. I hope all of you return home safely. You are brave warriors. I am proud of each one. Now that is what this blog is all about!!
By Marie
September 27, 2005 09:51 AM | Link to this
I Say, I just want to point out that liberty as defined by “dictionary.com” is n. pl. lib·er·ties
The condition of being free from restriction or control. The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one’s own choosing. The condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor. See Synonyms at freedom. Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control. A right or immunity to engage in certain actions without control or interference: the liberties protected by the Bill of Rights.
so in fact I would submit that the first line of the Declaration of Independence does in fact guarantee Freedom if liberty is in fact defined as previously stated. Just my thought. Thanks to our Soldiers that are defending that principle with their lives !!! PS. I thought Jim was a bit harsh on My Opinion….no reason to be unkind…I think we all have said things that came out the wrong way at times.
By JIM
September 27, 2005 09:56 AM | Link to this
DEFINITION FROM AN ONLINE DICTIONARY.
Main Entry: lib·er·ty Pronunciation: ‘li-b&r-tE Function: noun
1 : the quality or state of being free: a : the power to do as one pleases b : freedom from physical restraint c : freedom from arbitrary or despotic control d : the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges e : the power of choice 2 a : a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant : PRIVILEGE b : permission especially to go freely within specified limits 3 : an action going beyond normal limits: as a : a breach of etiquette or propriety : FAMILIARITY b : RISK, CHANCE c : a violation of rules or a deviation from standard practice d : a distortion of fact 4 : a short authorized absence from naval duty usually for less than 48 hours this text will be bolded synonym: see FREEDOM
By Michael Wife
September 27, 2005 12:01 PM | Link to this
Jim, you can stop with the defining. We all have it now, thank you………some of us had your point from the first post.
By The End
September 27, 2005 12:57 PM | Link to this
Thanks, Jim - you are right - that word again. Isn’t Merriam Webster On Line wonderful? Liberty (Freedom) was granted to us by our ancestors. Yes, Liberty and Freedom are synonyms - your definitions also mention privelege. PRIVILEGE b : permission especially to go freely within specified limits. Notice the words specified limits. Freedom is a privilege as well as a right and while we do have the right of freedom we also have a RESPONSIBILITY for the consequences of our free actions. What will the effect of our free will, our choice of action, be on our Nation, our families, each other.
I knew that the words are synonymous but as one of my professors said - the semantics have made at least two or three of us study. Frankly, I have enjoyed the exercise and have renewed, and will continue to renew, my knowledge of the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, The Constitution and even the Magna Carta. Still working on that. Interesting exercise.
If the USA was not the great Nation it is then so many people from other countries would not come here to obtain and enjoy the PRIVELEGES of FREEDOM - LIBERTY that is our RIGHT in this land.
THERE IS RESPONSIBILITY ATTACHED TO FREEDOM AND EVERY ACTION TAKEN IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM. That message is what I intended to convey from the beginning. Sorry the semantics raised some hackles but reviewing the documents written in the 18th Century and later, that we cherish, is an ongoing pleasure for me.
Now Jim for the sake of closing this discussion - you are the one who is absolutely RIGHT since being absolutely right seems to mean a great deal to you. I conceded that you are the most intelligent among us. :) However, I will not concede that Freedom is not a Privilege but only a RIGHT nor that we do not have individual responsibilty for the consequences of our actions as a result of having the right of freedom. Conveying that was my intention at the beginning and remains my intention. I repeat: Everyone must take resposnsibiltiry for the results of their actions.
TO THE SOLDIERS who are fighting to preserve our Freedom that we are privileged to enjoy: I support you with prayers and wish I were still actively supporting you as I did for many years with the Army. God bless each one of you and bring you home safely. .
By JIM
September 28, 2005 06:51 AM | Link to this
I must say that I have enjoyed this mini-debate completly. At least it was something other than petty bickering. My only purpose was to have people think about what they say before it is put on the web for all to see. Thanks to all for the well wishes. I can’t wait to get back home to my lovely wife and joyous son. have a nice day and pray for all of your soldiers.