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January 11, 2005
[Have an opinion about the issues discussed in this article?
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By Jason Chudy,
Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
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| (Jason Chudy / S&S) Spc. Jason Enerson of the 58th
Combat Engineer Company's Assault and Obstacles Platoon watches
as unit interpreter "Brad Pitt," as he's called by the soldiers,
checks an Iraqi man's registration aganst his license plate
during a search of the man's car Saturday. |
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 |
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| (Jason Chudy / S&S) Pfc. Victor Gayton holds open the
hood of a car owned by an Iraqi man, right, during a search
of his vehicle by soldiers of the 58th Combat Engineer Company's
Assault and Obstacles Platoon as Spc, Jason Enerson, far left,
and Sgt. 1st Class Michael Wilkenson look into the engine compartment.
Nothing suspicious was found in the vehicle and the man was
allowed to leave a few minutes later. |
|
BAGHDAD — Soldiers from the 58th Combat Engineer Company are fighting
a war against insurgents one car at a time.
The Fort Irwin, Calif.-based unit’s Assault and Obstacles Platoon
spent part of Saturday searching cars, buses and trucks at a traffic
checkpoint in the city’s Mutanabbi neighborhood.
After the platoon set up near a gas station, soldiers began checking
IDs of passing motorists and giving cars a quick once-over, looking
for anything out of place.
“We’ll always do a cursory search on everything,” said company commander
Maj. Chris Emond. “[Saturday] we spent a lot more time checking the
bolo list.”
Bolo stands for “be on the lookout” and the list describes wanted
cars or people. Sometimes the list is specific, other times it’s not.
“One time they said we’re looking for a green Opel,” said Humvee gunner
Pfc. Jorel Abreu. “Within 10 minutes we saw like 30 of them. They’ll
say ‘black BMW’ and we’ll see a thousand of them.”
Baghdad traffic, which is normally clogged during the day, grinds
to a halt on the soldiers’ side of the street as they check cars against
their list.
Out of the few hundred vehicles passing through, the soldiers thoroughly
searched about two dozen of them.
Pfc. Anthony Sanchez said that during one checkpoint a few months
back they searched about 650 cars in a three-hour period.
Saturday’s cars ranged from fairly new BMWs to indistinguishable models
with missing parts and pieces held in place with rope or wire.
Emond said that they’ll often search cars that are “too brand new”
or really old and beat up. The soldiers pay close attention to the
vehicle occupants’ demeanor.
“If they’re looking forward, not looking at you, or shaking when you
ask them for ID, these are the guys you worry about,” Sanchez said.
One vehicle they searched had three bloody handprints on it and the
driver didn’t have an ID card. The day before two people in the nearby
gas line were killed in a fight, so the soldiers worried that the
driver may have been involved.
“[The driver] said it was traditional to sacrifice a chicken and put
the blood on a new car to thank God for the gift,” Emond said.
He confirmed the tradition with the unit’s translator.
They continued to ask the man various questions on details of the
sacrifice, whether he owned any weapons, and what happened to his
ID.
The man told them that he had to turn over the ID while the car registration
paperwork was being done.
They also tested the man for explosives residue and searched his car.
He hadn’t been handling explosives or fired a weapon and the search
turned up nothing suspicious.
During the entire time, Emond said, the man remained patient and friendly
to the soldiers. “Throughout all the questions he wasn’t especially
nervous or especially cocky,” Emond said. “He did not appear to look
like a bad guy.”
The man and his bloodied car were eventually allowed to pass.
People’s attitudes toward the soldiers, he said, can also draw attention
to them. “A lot of them that are comfortable with us being in the
area tend to welcome it if they’re innocent,” Emond said. “They’ll
happily show us their car.”
“It’s 50-50 on whether the people don't like you or do,” said Abreu.
“Mainly females and kids like you. Men are the stubborn ones. They’re
aggressive and cause the problems.”
Saturday’s search, as with most of their searches, didn’t turn up
anything exciting, other than a man with a pistol. The man turned
out to be a translator for another Army unit and was allowed to pass
after checks of his IDs and weapons permit.
The soldiers do come across weapons, but most of the owners are authorized
to carry them.
“Occasionally there are some,” Emond said. “Most of the ones we see
are individuals with the Iraqi Police or Iraqi National Guard with
valid weapons permits.”
Some, however, show up with weapons but no weapons permit. If they
can establish that the person is entitled to a weapon, such as from
a phone call to their unit, they’re allowed to pass.
If they can’t prove it, the soldiers keep the weapon.
Finding weapons isn’t a big surprise, but when another of the company’s
platoons stopped a truck a few months back it did cause a commotion.
The truck was full of ammunition; it was being used as a mobile weapons
cache, said Emond.
Even though the soldiers usually don’t regularly make big hauls, or
for that matter any at all, Emond believes the TCPs help.
Because the insurgents don’t know where or when the next checkpoint
is going to be set up, their attack plans may be disrupted.
The soldiers don’t know how to measure the “disruption effect” of
their checkpoints, Emond said. However, he added: “We’re pretty confident
that … happens.”
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