The Iraqi police chief wanted the American soldiers to build a wall to protect his officers from sniper fire.
He wanted them to fix his station’s showers and toilets.
He needed drinkable water, glass for windows and new doors.
He asked for rocket-propelled grenades, rifles, night-vision binoculars and a television.
Lt. Michael Cryer, a platoon leader with the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, tried his hardest to reassure the Iraqi, at least about the security wall.
“That’s something we can definitely talk to our commanders about,” Cryer said Thursday. “We know it’s important to you, and we want to help you.”
The session was part of a training exercise at Fort Lewis in which Iraq-bound Stryker platoons are participating this and next week. The Iraqi police chief was a role player.
He smiled and switched subjects. The American military wrongfully detained one of his officers last week. The man had done nothing wrong, the chief insisted.
Cryer, sharing a table with the police chief, an interpreter and five others from the platoon, told him he would ask about the case and verify why the policeman was detained.
“I am telling the truth,” the chief said, “because I am not a liar.”
The lieutenant kept his cool. He assured the chief he would check with his commanders on the litany of requests. The two ended their conversation with laughter, handshakes and hugs.
Cryer and the others from 3rd Platoon of A Company – a unit of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment – then turned to the other side of the room and listened to a critique of their performance from commanders and cultural experts.
The brigade is scheduled to leave for a 12-month tour this summer – its third deployment to Iraq since 2003. The situation should be much different than its last deployment, in 2006-07. Violence has dropped, and an agreement between Washington and Baghdad means Iraqis are taking more control of day-to-day operations.
Or, as Lt. Col. Adam Rocke told the platoon: “This is a partnership. They are on the lead. You are in the support position.”
Another training mission earlier Thursday involved speaking to the manager of a gravel pit who was being intimidated by insurgents. Both required an awareness and respect for Iraqi culture, which Rocke said is of increasing importance.
“The platoon leader is the grass-roots leader of cooperation with the Iraqis,” he said. “They’re the face of interaction with the local leaders.”
The encounter at the mock police station had a much different feel than the mission at the gravel pit. The soldiers didn’t wear helmets or vests or carry their weapons out of respect for the police chief. At the gravel pit, they arrived in full gear aboard armored Strykers.
The manager met them outside. The soldiers asked him why production at the plant – financed by the American government – had dropped dramatically. After moving inside to a conference room, the manager told interrogator Staff Sgt. Julius Wong that Al-Qaida in Iraq had extorted $40,000 from him in the past month.
“I want security,” he told the troops through a translator. “Why won’t you put troops here?”
Cryer told him he couldn’t promise it, but the information he provided should help the Americans catch the men threatening him.
“Inshallah,” the manager said – Arabic for “God willing.”
Scott Fontaine: 253-320-4758
blogs.thenewstribune.com/military
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