Untangling Iraq’s barbs

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Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, Company E clear concertina wire from a field in Baghdad’s Jihad neighborhood. The curly razor wire collects trash and makes some residents feel like they’re living in a prison. The Americans hope removing it from Baghdad neighborhoods will bring a bit of normalcy back to the areas.


Untangling Iraq’s barbs
By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, September 23, 2008

BAGHDAD — The soldiers had been out on the streets since about 6 p.m. that night. They’d patrolled through trash-strewn streets to mark abandoned houses on a map, and they’d inspected passing vehicles after setting up roving checkpoints.

But Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment still had one more job to do as the clock ticked closer to 10:30 p.m.: Clear a rat’s nest of concertina wire that their battalion commander had spotted in the area.

The chore was part of a larger effort to get as much of the curly razor wire off Baghdad’s streets as possible. Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commander of Multi-National Division — Baghdad, has asked units to clear wire from their areas in order to give the communities a further sense of normalcy. The change is a visible reminder of the increased stability in many previously war-torn areas.

Iraqis have long tried to make the best of unsightly security necessities by painting concrete barriers or decorating checkpoints with brightly colored artificial flowers. Yet concertina wire defies improvement like no other obstacle.

"It makes a bad picture," said Khalad Sharhan, a resident in Baghdad’s Jihad neighborhood, where the Company E soldiers were working. "Everyone when they try to visit us, they feel like they’re in jail."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57585