DISPATCHES FROM IRAQ
Hawai'i-based troops mount 'Operation Aloha'
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
KIRKUK, Iraq — When a 173rd Airborne "safe house" was hit by gunfire in a drive-by shooting, a U.S. soldier on the rooftop let loose with a belt-fed light machine gun.
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"You know how in the movies cars blow up, but everybody thinks in real life that doesn't happen? Well, it does," said 1st Sgt. Richard Weik.
Col. Lloyd Miles, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, places his hand on his chest, an Arab gesture of sincerity, after a meeting with the mayor of Riyadh, a town about 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk, Iraq.
The charred wreck was towed back to the troop quarters, where it was left out front to send a message: Don't try it again.
It also set the tone for how the Italy-based brigade, like many other U.S. forces here, operated early in the war.
An aggressive use of force was standard operating procedure; attacks on American troops were met with withering return fire.
A year later, and with insurgency replacing full-scale war, the 25th Infantry Division (Light) is trying a new approach.
Col. Lloyd Miles, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in northern Iraq, told Sunni Arabs in Riyadh about 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk that his soldiers would seek interviews with local residents through community leaders, rather than busting down doors to find them.
In Kirkuk, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, mounted "Operation Aloha," where it was "knock and search" — knock on the door and ask if a brief search could be conducted.
Not that soldiers would be deterred much if somebody said no, but the approach represents a philosophical shift in how the 25th goes about the business of stabilization and reconstruction in Iraq.
"We want to do things a little more focused — so you are not just going in every house, kicking in every door. ... There are some places where we will have to use a more aggressive approach," Miles said. "But I've told my leaders, we can always turn it off. You don't have to do that every time."
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During one of the "Operation Aloha" searches, one woman alone with her daughters asked soldiers to wait until a male was present before they came in. Schofield soldiers complied.
Cups of Chai tea in hand, Arab leaders from Riyadh listen to Col. Lloyd Miles, the Schofield-based brigade commander, offer a new working relationship with the former Baath party figures.
Miles said greater diplomacy is being used throughout Iraq.
"Maybe we're doing more of it now because the situation is a little bit different where we can be a little more focused in our approach than they (previous units) might have been able to do early on," Miles said. "I really couldn't tell you what they were faced with then."
Capt. Bill Venable, Charlie Company's commander, said his infantry platoons no longer conduct raids based on single sources of information.
Family squabbles, neighbor feuds and old grudges sometimes led to houses being searched needlessly.
"We're waiting for actionable intelligence and verifying information," Venable said. "The result is a better quality of intelligence that leads us to a target more often and dry holes less often."
Venable said the approach has been well received in his sector of Kirkuk, a city of nearly 1 million with a mix of Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs.
It may not be as successful to the southwest, a Sunni Arab region where Americans are less well received.
"I can park my Humvee anywhere, and some little kid will bring out tea and bread from a house," Venable said.
Neighborhood watches also have been forming in Kirkuk, and residents who oppose insurgents are able to call U.S.-hired interpreters on cell phones, who in turn call company commanders like Venable.
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"I get several phone calls a day about stuff happening downtown," he said.
In Riyadh, Iraq, ex-Baathists complain about charges that they are terrorists. Baathists "are the cream of the crop" in Iraq, one Arab said.
Prayer beads slip through the fingers of a former Baath party member as he listens to the 2nd Brigade's Col. Lloyd Miles issue a stern call for the end of violence in the Riyadh, Iraq, region. Miles charged that insurgents are receiving support from people in the area.
The "knock and search" makes soldiers more approachable, and residents have been supplying information.
About a month ago, a tip gained from community outreach led to a site where rockets were regularly being fired at Kirkuk Air Base.
Although the insurgent dubbed "rocket man" for his regularity in shooting wildly inaccurate or dud rockets at the base wasn't shut down, that particular firing point was.
"We haven't had a rocket launched from that site since," Venable said.
Schofield soldiers have not eliminated full-on raids, either.
On Thursday, Charlie Company soldiers headed out after midnight with Special Forces troops to round up two individuals believed to be operating with a terrorist organization.
Explosives and Humvees were used to breach gates on the homes in the successful raids.
Miles recently visited with Sunni Arabs in Riyadh southwest of Kirkuk to offer the diplomatic approach and scale back the hunt for Baathists in exchange for greater cooperation in stemming terrorism.
The region is an extension of the so-called "Sunni Triangle" north and west of Baghdad where Baathist loyalties to Saddam Hussein still run deep, and the majority of attacks on U.S. forces have occurred.
Miles met with former Baath Party officials who said they wanted to cooperate with the United States after being targeted for so long.
But the meeting at Kaala Ent Al Azwar School, facilitated by local sheiks, showed that resentment over the downfall of the former ruling Baath Party is still very much alive.
"When you get information about the Baathists, the Baathists are sitting in front of you right now," said Hassan Sha-ab, a former intelligence officer. "Who told you they are terrorists?"
Sha-ab said the Baathists are "good people, educated," who executed their president's orders.
"So why did they become terrorists after the toppling of the government?" he asked. "Why don't you talk to the Baathists and see they are the cream of the crop of the Iraqi people?"
Miles had said the Iraqi Governing Council had determined that the top four tiers of the Baath Party were not employable in the new Iraq.
"How could they discharge tens of thousands of people?" asked another participant. "This is all causing problems."
The Sunni Arabs also expressed fears that the Kurds in the north would have too much influence in the new government.
Miles acknowledged the concerns. He also said many talented people — doctors, lawyers and professionals — had to serve in the Baath Party.
But he also said insurgents are receiving either direct or indirect support from the region, and it is "very important for you to remove them from the area."
"I know there are many, many complicated issues at the national level (in Iraq) and this level as well," Miles said.
Jobs are one — an area he offered some assistance in.
"We will try to bring projects and jobs to this area, believing that security will get better as we do," he said.
