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In Mosul, an American 'mayor'

Dec-13-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Julian E. Barnes, U.S. News & World Report

The soldiers in Sgt. 1st Class Michael Steffey's platoon call him the mayor of Tal al Ruman. Armed with a hand-held computer that speaks a set number of Arabic phrases, Steffey walks down the streets of Tal al Ruman, a poor neighborhood on the west side of Mosul, talking to the neighborhood kids. He mainly focuses on the smaller children, chatting up the boys and girls between 5 and 12 years old. He asks their age, if they are in school, if they are married. His command of Arabic is not great. But he uses the few words he knows—and a hand-held translator—to great effect. And after a few minutes, he has them laughing.

He does his best to appear approachable. He takes off both the dark wraparound sunglasses soldiers must wear for protection against shrapnel and his helmet so that the children can see his face.

"I run around talking to the kids," says Steffey, a short man with a trimmed mustache, lively eyes, and a quick smile. "If anyone is going to tell me anything, it is the kids." [...]


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