Posted on: Friday, March 28, 2003
Troops learn not to let guard down
Knight Ridder News Service
NEAR AN NAJAF, Iraq — Sgt. Tony Menendez spent the past three days in the Iraqi desert, fighting a hit-and-run battle that left hundreds of Iraqis dead and resulted in no U.S. casualties.
But Menendez, back in camp for his first shower in days, wasn't boastful. He was sad.
"Their technology is sad, so outdated," said Menendez, of Miami, an Abrams tank gunner. "I saw their faces, and I felt so bad for them."
Menendez and others of the 3rd Infantry Division who have been struggling for control of An Najaf, 80 miles south of Baghdad, have battled against Iraqi fighters armed with AK-47 rifles, grenade launchers, anti-tank rockets and mortars, as well as 30-year-old, Russian-built tanks. The Americans lost four tanks in the three-day battle, two apparently to laser-guided, Russian-made, anti-tank missiles. Two others ran off bridges into canals during sandstorms.
But what strikes the U.S. soldiers most is that Iraqis are coming to battle in civilian clothes and packed into pickup trucks, cargo trucks, taxis and buses with velvet curtains.
The Iraqis have armed apparently civilian vehicles — white vans — with rocket-propelled grenades. On Wednesday, one of them attacked, wounding an American. A hundred miles away along Highway 7, busloads of civilian-garbed, poorly armed and sometimes shoeless Iraqis have driven directly at American convoys. The outcome is always the same: U.S. forces pour fire from Humvee-mounted .50-caliber machine guns into the buses. Most of the Iraqis onboard die. The rest are taken prisoner.
"The Iraqis took it bad. It was suicide," said Pfc. Ionathan Simatos of Los Angeles, who drives a Bradley fighting vehicle.
Army intelligence officers say the attackers are "fedayeen," irregular militia members loyal to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, who are part of an Iraqi plan to catch U.S. troops off guard and take advantage of the Americans' unwillingness to harm civilians.
"The Iraqi military knows if they look like civilians they can fire first, and they do," said Capt. John Wilson of Army intelligence.
"The lesson is, never drop your guard," said Army Spec. Timmy Melia. "All it takes is one straggler. The straggler will get you killed."
Further complicating matters, a number of Iraqis have been caught with cell phones and hand-held global positioning locaters. Some had rolls of American and Iraqi money, suggesting that locating promising U.S. targets has become a lucrative business in Iraq.
But because so many Iraqi fighters lack uniforms and arms, and in some cases even shoes, American soldiers are having difficulty telling civilians from combatants — and friend from foe.
Elements of the 3rd Infantry Division began sweeping An Najaf's outskirts, including an air-defense compound, in an effort to stop Iraqi hit-and-run attacks that have disrupted the main supply route for U.S. forces advancing toward Baghdad.
The rules of engagement were clear: Don't shoot anyone who isn't armed, but if they're armed, shoot them.
"We're looking for black flags, black uniforms and people with weapons," one commander told his troops.
At one point during the sweep, soldiers rounded up 48 villagers, forced the men to lie face down in the sand and, in a violation of Islamic custom, patted down the women. They found no weapons on the civilians.
"This is about the oddest situation I've ever been through in my life," said Pfc. Matthew Pedone, 19, of Springdale, Ark., as he cradled a light machine gun across one knee. "Just look at the primitive living conditions. Some of them don't have shoes."
