Night Arrest
near LSA Anaconda
45 miles north of Baghdad
October 13, 2005
100-442 Infantry Battalion, US Army Reserve, Honolulu HI
45 miles north of Baghdad
October 13, 2005
100-442 Infantry Battalion, US Army Reserve, Honolulu HI
It is nighttime in Iraq. Soldiers run their humvees quietly along the street of an Iraqi village. They stop, slip out, and wearing night vision goggles surround the house of an Iraqi known to support the insurgency. Two soldiers hide out the back to catch anyone running away. Then the others pile in the front door.
The soldiers are not polite. But they are not threatening either. There is no shouting, no yelling, no shots. But there is plenty of adrenaline on both sides. The soldiers don�t know if they will be shot at. The Iraqis don�t know whether the force used will be deadly.
Turns out on this night the suspect is not home. That�s OK. The soldiers find evidence that he has been there. The residents deny everything, before, after and despite the evidence being found. The soldiers turn the place upside down looking for more evidence. It is done deliberately, not maliciously. But the soldiers are unapologetic. Talk and they won�t have to do it. Household items come out of drawers. Boxes are pulled from cupboards and emptied onto the bed and floor. The soldiers need a good picture of the suspect, and they are going to get it if they can.
The interrogator - a female - is forceful. No one likes being lied to.
The suspect most likely gives the insurgents money if he doesn't pull triggers himself. The soldiers arrest two men at the house for not cooperating and denying what the evidence affirms.
The war in Iraq is, at the cutting edge here, two parallel wars. One is the war on the roadsides - the coping with small arms attacks and roadside bombs. This war is the hunt for the trigger man who has just set off a homemade bomb (some are actually quite sophisticated).
The other is this - tracking down information about the insurgents and their supporters, the people without whom the 20,000 or so insurgents cannot survive, the people who signal, finance, and support.
Soldiers say they already know who the bad guys are. Where they live. Its catching them is the tough part.
The soldiers leave eventually with about $850 in Iraqi currency. Is it a fund for insurgents, or the household savings in a country with a poor banking system? Who knows, that�s what interrogators are for.
They leave after about 3 hours, and 8 kids sleeping in a couple of the rooms still slumber. The soldiers searching inches from their reclining forms never even woke them up.
The soldiers are not polite. But they are not threatening either. There is no shouting, no yelling, no shots. But there is plenty of adrenaline on both sides. The soldiers don�t know if they will be shot at. The Iraqis don�t know whether the force used will be deadly.
Turns out on this night the suspect is not home. That�s OK. The soldiers find evidence that he has been there. The residents deny everything, before, after and despite the evidence being found. The soldiers turn the place upside down looking for more evidence. It is done deliberately, not maliciously. But the soldiers are unapologetic. Talk and they won�t have to do it. Household items come out of drawers. Boxes are pulled from cupboards and emptied onto the bed and floor. The soldiers need a good picture of the suspect, and they are going to get it if they can.
The interrogator - a female - is forceful. No one likes being lied to.
The suspect most likely gives the insurgents money if he doesn't pull triggers himself. The soldiers arrest two men at the house for not cooperating and denying what the evidence affirms.
The war in Iraq is, at the cutting edge here, two parallel wars. One is the war on the roadsides - the coping with small arms attacks and roadside bombs. This war is the hunt for the trigger man who has just set off a homemade bomb (some are actually quite sophisticated).
The other is this - tracking down information about the insurgents and their supporters, the people without whom the 20,000 or so insurgents cannot survive, the people who signal, finance, and support.
Soldiers say they already know who the bad guys are. Where they live. Its catching them is the tough part.
The soldiers leave eventually with about $850 in Iraqi currency. Is it a fund for insurgents, or the household savings in a country with a poor banking system? Who knows, that�s what interrogators are for.
They leave after about 3 hours, and 8 kids sleeping in a couple of the rooms still slumber. The soldiers searching inches from their reclining forms never even woke them up.
posted by Doug at 7:35 AM
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