CASPER
New member
US officer in Baghdad finds loss of leverage
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BAGHDAD – The American captain was visibly irritated as local officials pressed him to move his vehicles away from the meeting place to allow traffic to pass. Finally, he walked out of the meeting — and none of the Iraqis asked why.
Months before, Capt. Nathan Williams was treated with respect bordering on reverence. Iraqi officials with whom he worked in Baghdad's Hurriyah district sought his opinion and deferred to his ideas.
But as the U.S. military pulls back from Baghdad and other cities ahead of a June 30 deadline, American commanders like Williams are rapidly losing influence in neighborhoods they once ruled.
That became clear at the weekend meeting of the Hurriyah district council.
Williams, 28, of Raleigh, N.C., was not greeted with the same enthusiasm he received during previous council meetings during his seven months as commander of a military outpost at Hurriyah.
This time, no one sought his opinion on the issues under discussion. And when he left, the meeting continued as if he were never there.
Williams, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment based at Fort Riley, Kan., said the mood change was a sign that Iraqis are depending less and less on the Americans — a longtime U.S. goal.
"I want you all to know that I will keep coming to see you until the end of the month," Williams told the 15 councilors before he left the room. "Should you need us after that, let us know and we will come to see you."
Williams summed up the subtle changes in the relationship between the Americans and the Iraqis: "They deal with their own problems now, and that is really where we want them to be."
His 150-member infantry company left Hurriyah on May 30, one month ahead of the deadline for U.S. combat troops to pull out of Iraqi cities. Williams and his troops have since focused on staying engaged in Hurriyah.
They commute to Hurriyah from their new home at Camp Victory, a sprawling base near Baghdad's airport about six miles away.
Williams' soldiers still visit Hurriyah every day — a trip that takes about a half hour. They give out cards with telephone numbers for residents to call if they want to report suspicious activity or individuals.
All that will change at the end of this month. After that, they will go there only if the Iraqis ask for help.
"We will not stage routine joint patrols with the Americans in Hurriyah," said Maj. Hussein al-Qaissy, the district's Iraqi army commander. "We will ask them to come only in an emergency."
Clearly, the Iraqis are relishing their new role, showing less enthusiasm for responding to American requests.
On one recent afternoon, Williams and one of his officers spent 10 tense minutes trying to persuade an Iraqi army major to assign a handful of soldiers to join them on a foot patrol. The Iraqi officer eventually gave in.
During a patrol last weekend, Sgt. 1st Class Gary Frey pleaded with every Iraqi army soldier he encountered to tell him if he needed anything.
"We will be here in a heartbeat if you need anything," Frey, 36 of Quincy, Ill., told an Iraqi soldier standing next to an armored carrier at a checkpoint.
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BAGHDAD – The American captain was visibly irritated as local officials pressed him to move his vehicles away from the meeting place to allow traffic to pass. Finally, he walked out of the meeting — and none of the Iraqis asked why.
Months before, Capt. Nathan Williams was treated with respect bordering on reverence. Iraqi officials with whom he worked in Baghdad's Hurriyah district sought his opinion and deferred to his ideas.
But as the U.S. military pulls back from Baghdad and other cities ahead of a June 30 deadline, American commanders like Williams are rapidly losing influence in neighborhoods they once ruled.
That became clear at the weekend meeting of the Hurriyah district council.
Williams, 28, of Raleigh, N.C., was not greeted with the same enthusiasm he received during previous council meetings during his seven months as commander of a military outpost at Hurriyah.
This time, no one sought his opinion on the issues under discussion. And when he left, the meeting continued as if he were never there.
Williams, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment based at Fort Riley, Kan., said the mood change was a sign that Iraqis are depending less and less on the Americans — a longtime U.S. goal.
"I want you all to know that I will keep coming to see you until the end of the month," Williams told the 15 councilors before he left the room. "Should you need us after that, let us know and we will come to see you."
Williams summed up the subtle changes in the relationship between the Americans and the Iraqis: "They deal with their own problems now, and that is really where we want them to be."
His 150-member infantry company left Hurriyah on May 30, one month ahead of the deadline for U.S. combat troops to pull out of Iraqi cities. Williams and his troops have since focused on staying engaged in Hurriyah.
They commute to Hurriyah from their new home at Camp Victory, a sprawling base near Baghdad's airport about six miles away.
Williams' soldiers still visit Hurriyah every day — a trip that takes about a half hour. They give out cards with telephone numbers for residents to call if they want to report suspicious activity or individuals.
All that will change at the end of this month. After that, they will go there only if the Iraqis ask for help.
"We will not stage routine joint patrols with the Americans in Hurriyah," said Maj. Hussein al-Qaissy, the district's Iraqi army commander. "We will ask them to come only in an emergency."
Clearly, the Iraqis are relishing their new role, showing less enthusiasm for responding to American requests.
On one recent afternoon, Williams and one of his officers spent 10 tense minutes trying to persuade an Iraqi army major to assign a handful of soldiers to join them on a foot patrol. The Iraqi officer eventually gave in.
During a patrol last weekend, Sgt. 1st Class Gary Frey pleaded with every Iraqi army soldier he encountered to tell him if he needed anything.
"We will be here in a heartbeat if you need anything," Frey, 36 of Quincy, Ill., told an Iraqi soldier standing next to an armored carrier at a checkpoint.
