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U.S. troops patrol Baghdad on foot

Aug-17-2006 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

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By Ross Colvin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops are patrolling the streets in some Baghdad neighbourhoods on foot in a new bid to win the trust of Iraqis, an unusual sight for many residents more used to seeing them travel in armoured vehicle convoys.

Taking a more personal approach to Iraqis long critical of heavy handed tactics is part of the strategy aimed at reclaiming Baghdad's most dangerous neighbourhoods from insurgents and easing communal strife.

Thousands of U.S. reinforcements have arrived in Baghdad in recent weeks to join a crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces on worsening sectarian violence between once-dominant minority Sunnis and majority Shi'ites in the city.

Mindful of the three-year-old Sunni insurgency fighting to expel them from Iraqi soil, U.S. commanders explain to residents that they aim to restore security in support of Iraqi police.

"I want to get this job done so I can go home and live with my family and you can live with your family," Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Peterson, commander of the First Squadron, 14th U.S. Cavalry, told one man through his interpreter in al-Hadar, an area of the notoriously violent southern Dora district.

Peterson, whose unit usually travels in Stryker armoured vehicles, had dismounted to talk to residents while his men and Iraqi police swept the neighbourhood for illegal weapons.

"Certainly there is a renewed emphasis on troops interacting with the people," he said when asked whether the U.S. military was adopting a new tactic with the foot patrols.

Since arriving two weeks ago, two Strykers have been hit by roadside bombs, causing no major damage, and several others have been shot at, soldiers said. The unit's base has also been rocketed and mortared. Foot patrols are far more risky.[...]


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