As violence in Fallujah tapers off, U.S. troops find themselves risking their own safety

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Marines with an Iraqi police transition team stop to talk to a local man in Fallujah. As security improves here, Marines are giving up some security in order to help the city move forward, a worrying prospect for some of the men on the ground.


As violence in Fallujah tapers off, U.S. troops find themselves risking their own safety
By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, February 13, 2008

FALLUJAH, Iraq — Marine Sgt. Leodir Santos has had a peaceful and largely uneventful third deployment to Fallujah with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines.

But as security improves here, his ingrained training and infantry instincts are sometimes clashing with his unit’s new mission in this city, one that saw a marked decrease in violence during the past six months.

As part of this push toward normalcy, Marines are trying to help people, no longer keeping them at arm’s length. Concertina wire is coming down, Marine-Iraqi interaction increases daily and other initiatives are under way to demilitarize this former battleground.

But to help Fallujah progress, Marines are sacrificing some of their own security.

Last month, for example, a Company L convoy was rolling down a Fallujah street when a black car began weaving between the vehicles in the convoy. Was it simply a brazen driver, or something more sinister?


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52424