Iraqi village shows hope for wider stability

[July 19, 2008]  KHIDR, Iraq (AP) -- Brick by brick and one cinderblock at a time, the residents of this Euphrates River village about 45 miles southwest of Baghdad are rebuilding homes that the U.S. military says al-Qaida destroyed while they occupied the area in 2006.

Their determination to restore normalcy here is an example of what U.S. officials hope will fuel Iraqi's future, which is threatened less now by mass violence than by the psychological weight of decades of conflict.

What's happening in this small Shiite village says two important things about the role of U.S. forces in Iraq at this stage of a war that is growing quieter by the week: It reveals how drastically American troops have shifted their focus from combat to helping Iraqis build on a newfound, if fragile, peace. And it reflects a continuing concern among U.S. commanders that the security gains could slip.

"They are opening a new page," says Col. Saeed Khlayef Yassin, an Iraqi army battalion commander who helped escort a visiting group of American Army officers through the farming village Thursday.

From the piles of rubble that al-Qaida left behind when it was driven out last December, Khidr residents are erecting makeshift homes, while looking to the government in Baghdad for more help footing the bill.

Col. Jefforey Smith, a deputy commander of U.S. forces in areas south of the Iraqi capital, approached one young man standing beside small piles of sand, mortar and a few bars of reinforced steel. Smith asked him whether he felt concerned that al-Qaida could re-emerge to wreak havoc once again.

"We won't let them steal our dignity like before," the man responded, speaking through a U.S. military interpreter.

The U.S. intention is to push hard now, while there is still a large U.S. troop presence in Iraq - 150,000 as of this week - to get the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad to connect more closely with provincial authorities to improve essential services. In the Khidr area, farming suffers for a lack of irrigation.

Smith sees an opportunity to establish a foundation for sustainable stability in Iraq, but the chance won't last.

"We can't miss it," he said in an interview later at his office at Multi-National Division-Center headquarters.

Khidr also reflects the enormity of the task ahead for the central government to support areas outside the capital and to continue partnering with U.S. forces to improve the effectiveness of the army and the police.

Before President Bush decided in January 2007 to send about 21,000 extra combat troops to Iraq, as part of a shift in counterinsurgency strategy, the swath of fertile farmland south of Baghdad was a haven for al-Qaida, a Sunni Arab extremist group, as well as extremist elements of the Shiite Mahdi Army.

Col. Tom James, commander of the 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, which has responsibility for this part of Iraq, said while accompanying Smith to Khidr that al-Qaida seized complete control of this village. He said homes were destroyed and families were killed or fled. The Iraqi army dared not fight back.

But last Nov. 29, after U.S. forces established a presence in the area, they joined with Iraqi forces to launch an offensive. James said an estimated 13 al-Qaida fighters were killed, 12 were captured and the rest - probably a few dozen - escaped. Since then, the Iraqi troops have remained in the area.

Some 70 homes were destroyed in the Khidr area, according to Lt. Col. Timothy Newsome, commander of 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment. That includes 64 by al-Qaida while they held the area and as they prepared to depart, he said. Six others were destroyed by the U.S. troops as they fought to retake the area, he said.

In December, U.S. troops set up a combat outpost nearby, and there has not been an attack here since January.

Yassin, the Iraqi army colonel, said his men now have the respect of villagers.

"The most important factor is the trust that was built between us and the people," he said through an interpreter. He said al-Qaida fighters had told the villagers that the Iraqi army had only American interests at heart.

"We have reversed the way they were thinking about us," Yassin said.

To probe the atmosphere in Khidr more fully, Smith met with Sheik Jaafar Hussein Dandan al-Massoudi in the tribal leader's home. The sheik said the meeting room in which they stood had been used by its al-Qaida occupiers as a courtroom for the imposition of Islamic Sharia law on the villagers.

The sheik asked Smith for help in getting a police station opened, and the colonel promised to see what could be done, while stressing that most of the responsibility for providing Khidr with the services its lacks must rest with the Iraqi government. That way, the improvements will be sustainable after U.S. forces leave.

Smith heard upbeat sentiments from the sheik, who smiled brightly when asked about the mood of his people.

"We're starting to see a good expression on people's faces," he said.

[Associated Press; By ROBERT BURNS]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.