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Soldier killed by rpg { May 30 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/30/international/worldspecial/30IRAQ.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/30/international/worldspecial/30IRAQ.html
May 30, 2003
G.I.'s in a Desert Town Face Rising Iraqi Hostility
By PATRICK E. TYLER
HIT, Iraq, May 29 — Capt. Andrew Watson of Carson City, Nev., removed his helmet and mopped the sweat off his head this afternoon as he stood at the gate of his dusty encampment and puzzled over what had prompted the rioting, grenade throwing and arson on Wednesday in this little desert town that falls within his "A.O.," or area of operations.
"We have taken great pains to be aware of cultural differences," he said. "We do not want to be ugly Americans. We are here to be a friend."
But the challenges now facing the American occupation of Iraq exploded here this week when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at one of Captain Watson's convoys on Tuesday in this desert speck of a town 90 miles northwest of Baghdad.
Soldiers of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment responded by bringing local policemen into one of Hit's neighborhoods and conducting house-to-house searches, according to residents and military officials.
The residents say the soldiers kicked down doors and climbed over walls at other homes while an assault helicopter circled above the neighborhood.
Word spread like a prairie fire across the city that American soldiers had burst in on the Muslim women of Hit, catching them in various states of immodest cover.
"We are Muslims, and we don't allow people to trespass on our property and go into our houses and search our women," one angry resident said today. He would identify himself only as Abu Ahmed, age 37.
In this way, it seems, the earnest American quest to be sensitive to cultural differences can quickly turn to misunderstanding and violence in a country still nervous and restive after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
On Wednesday, American soldiers returned to the police station to talk with the local authorities about security. A crowd gathered and pelted the station with stones. Then someone threw a hand grenade over the wall of the police compound. Two soldiers suffered minor wounds, and reinforcements raced to the scene.
"The citizens didn't accept the behavior of the Americans," an elderly resident in a white robe said in unaccented English that he learned while a student at a technical institute in St. Louis in the 1960's.
The crowd grew. The soldiers formed a cordon with their guns aimed outward as they evacuated their wounded, witnesses said. Warning shots rang out. One local man said he had been shot through the leg. When the troops retreated, the crowded rioted for hours, burning the municipal building and the police station in protest at what was viewed as the "collaboration" of the police.
It was one of a series of attacks this week in which six American soldiers were killed and a dozen wounded, most in central Iraq.
The violence has underscored the challenges American troops face as they take over many of the functions of a national police force in Iraq. The injuries in Hit were minor compared with other attacks this week.
But confrontations like the one in Hit could multiply as allied forces begin enforcing a tough gun-collection program after June 1.
Until this week, the war had passed over this industrial town. There was no bombing here during the military campaign and no looting afterward, the town elders say.
Many men threw their weapons into the blue waters of the Euphrates River three weeks ago and welcomed the Americans who finally showed up promising the return of economic life.
But today, the municipal building and the police station are smoldering wrecks. A vigilante with an AK-47 stood guard as if to tell the Americans that they are in for a fight if they return.
After attacks on convoys that killed five Americans this week, a sixth soldier was killed today, military officials said, when "hostile fire" was directed at a convoy on the main supply route from Kuwait near the town of Anaconda. The unidentified soldier was pronounced dead at the 21st Combat Support Hospital, a military statement said.
Late Wednesday, American troops opened fire on an Iraqi civilian vehicle in Samarra, killing two people and wounding two others. Military officials said the vehicle had failed to stop at a roadblock.
While the level of alarm over convoy attacks was rising, American officials acknowledged today that they had mistakenly released from a military internment camp a suspected mass murderer believed to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of Iraqi Shiites in 1991.
The suspect, Muhammad Jawad an-Neifus, was released on May 18 from the Bucca internment facility at Umm Qasr, officials said. He has been accused of helping the Iraqi Army kill thousands of people during Mr. Hussein's repression of a Shiite rebellion in southern Iraq at the end of the Persian Gulf war in 1991.
Known as Sheik an-Neifus by the residents of Hilla, the site of one of the largest mass graves discovered so far, he was arrested by marines on April 26 and then turned over to the Army military police on April 29, the statement said.
"When he appeared for his initial screening, there was nothing unusual about the story he told," the statement added, indicating that his "true identity" was not known then. "Therefore, he was cleared for release."
American military officials said tonight that they were "solely responsible for his erroneous release and are conducting a thorough investigation to ensure no further recurrences." A $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to his capture.
Mr. Neifus lived in a compound near Hilla. On Wednesday, American soldiers and policemen went to the house and arrested two of his grandsons. Other relatives in the house said all the accusations against the family — that it helped Mr. Hussein's henchmen kill men, women and children in 1991 — were false.
The complexity of postwar Iraq has led American forces into law enforcement tasks for which they are not well prepared. They are still searching for Mr. Hussein and his key officials. They are fighting hardened criminals freed from prison by an amnesty granted by Mr. Hussein late last year.
For many Iraqis, the shifting role of American troops has been a shock. Just eight weeks ago, they were rolling across the country passing out candy to children. Now they are kicking in doors and blocking traffic to seize the weapons that most Iraqis have for home defense.
In Hit, the change of perception about the American presence is palpable. "Having the Americans standing in the streets really provokes the people," said Qusay Yusef, a carpenter with four children.
For now, the Americans have withdrawn. Captain Watson said that the patrols and roadblocks would continue, but that his troops would still be "at pains" not to appear as "ugly Americans."
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