Fighting insurgency, brick by brick

[unhappycamper]

Since production ramped up in January, employment at the Narhwan brick factory has soared. Some 2,000 donkeys also work at the plant, hauling cartloads of bricks. The donkeys are so accustomed to the back and forth grind they often carry the load without having to be shown what to do.


Fighting insurgency, brick by brick
By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, May 5, 2008

NARHWAN, Iraq — Before Lt. Col. Mark Sullivan arrived in this city of 120,000, he had his eye on the map.

On the outskirts of Narhwan a big smoke-belching brick factory, once the economic engine of the region, was sitting idle. Before the start of the war, it employed more than 10,000. In the years that followed, though, it degenerated into a den of extortion. The extremists were shaking down the business owners.

“It was a sanctuary. Weapons and ammunition were stored out there,” Sullivan said.

But Sullivan, commander of the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, sensed an opportunity at the onetime employment hub turned weapons storage center.

“We saw it on the map and said we’re going to go after this sucker,” Sullivan said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54557

[gcindy6]

1. What great thinking!

Sullivan should be commended.