U.S. Troops' Tough Approach Wins Few Iraqi Friends
Sun March 30, 2003 01:10 AM ET

By David Fox
UMM QASR, Iraq (Reuters) - Fresh graffiti on a building in this port town in southern Iraq reads "Down with USA" -- painted over the original "Down with Iraq" slogan from before the U.S.-led invasion.

Residents here say the change, in the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim south noted for its opposition to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, has been fueled by U.S. troops' rough handling of civilians which now poses problems for their British allies.

During the Vietnam war, a popular response to the mantra of winning over the civilian population was "grab them by the balls, and their hearts and minds will follow."

That appears to be the tactics of the forces leading the war in Iraq, except it is U.S. forces who are attacking Iraq's underbelly and British troops being left to make friends after.

The southern Shi'ites also remember how the United States urged them in 1991 to rise up against Saddam's largely Sunni leadership only to abandon them to brutal suppression of their revolt.

The suspicions are not being allayed by the attitude of many of the U.S. troops here.

A regular complaint heard in the vast swathe of southern Iraq already under occupation is that U.S. forces -- mostly at the front of advances through the country -- are rude and hostile to civilians caught up in the conflict.

"Are they fighting us or are they fighting Saddam?" asked teacher Mohammed Salik when questioned on what he thought of the U.S. servicemen he had encountered.

An army the size of that moving through Iraq was never going to creep unnoticed into Baghdad and there is no doubt that the invading forces are seriously disrupting the lives of ordinary civilians.

But U.S. forces who took the port of Umm Qasr won few friends among the civilian population and some British troops now charged with setting up a transitional authority complain they are having to undo damage caused by the Americans.

One British officer being given an escort by Marines to his headquarters expressed alarm when they let loose with a volley of rifle fire at a house on the outskirts of the [t]own.

"They said they had been sniped at from there a few days ago so they like to give them a warning every now and then," he told Reuters.

"That is something we would never condone," he said. "You really aren't going to make any friends doing that."

A U.S. special forces officer in Umm Qasr told Reuters it was sometimes difficult to contain the exuberance of men doing the actual fighting and sometimes they could overstep the mark.

"You got to realize these guys are single-minded in their training. In the military it is look after yourself and your buddies. Full stop. How do we know who the enemy is," he said.

Are the invading forces against Iraq or just the regime? "Some of my guys have difficulty telling the difference," the special forces officer said, "The average grunt (soldier) is no more or less educated than the average American and some of them don't know what is going on over here.

"But we are doing the main fighting here. There is no room for us to let down our guard," he added.

That role is being left to the British forces who, in the main, are taking up positions once U.S. troops move through.

At many roadblocks mounted by U.S. forces, civilians and journalists moving independently to cover the conflict are dismissed without a word. Surly Marines gesture them to turn away and refuse to answer any questions or confer with their superiors.

The British, however, have generally been polite and helpful where possible. Soldiers chat amiably with civilians -- even though neither party has a clue what the other is saying.

"I think it is a question of training," one British officer said. "American soldiers have all the benefits of technology and unbelievable training. They are single-minded in their approach.

"But British soldiers tend for a more human approach -- perhaps it is because we are more used to things like Northern Ireland where we are treated by many as an occupying army.

"The differences are a bit like national stereotypes," he added.