Soldiers in Jurf As Sakhir find themselves in an unexpected role

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Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division partol near the town of Jurf as Sakhir, south of Baghdad, earlier this month.


Soldiers in Jurf As Sakhir find themselves in an unexpected role
By Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, December 11, 2007

JURF AS SAKHIR, Iraq — This is not the war Company A’s soldiers expected.

While training at Fort Stewart, Ga., they searched houses and kicked down doors. They watched for roadside bombs and maneuvered in Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

But here, these soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division find themselves practicing foot-patrol diplomacy and community policing alongside people they thought they were coming to kill.

“All the training we’ve gone through … is nothing like what we’re doing here,” said Pfc. James Vaughn. “And we’re paying the terrorists.”

Local leaders in Jurf As Sakhir freely admit that they fought against U.S. forces until about the middle of this year, but say they grew fed up with al-Qaida in Iraq. Now, like in many towns across the country, the Army pays it former foes to join “concerned citizen” groups and guard the town against al-Qaida in Iraq fighters.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50880