Report from Iraq: Patrol looks for al Qaeda
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

PHOTOS/DOUG GRINDLE Above and Right: Soldiers of Alpha Company, 2-15 Field Artillery Battalion of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum NY on patrol near Muhmidiyah Iraq

Near Muhmidiyah, Iraq - A line of soldiers moves quietly across a field in the countryside near Muhmidiyah, a small city of 100,000 people 20 miles southwest of Baghdad. The uniforms of the soldiers are checkerboard green and gray, and blend into the harvested stubble of the fields. The men walk spread out.

They walk slowly and steadily toward a mosque two miles away. A line of Humvees sits on the road a few fields behind them, their engines idling. The Humvees are armored and mount heavy machine guns, and are relatively safe and comfortable.

Out here, the temperature is above 110 degrees. Each soldier carries an assault rifle, ammunition, water and an armored vest that covers on each man's chest and back. The men sweat and sometimes puff under the heavy load in the sweltering sun.

"It's been averaging between 117 and 125 pretty much all day long," explained Pfc. Patrick Danks of Hermosa, South Dakota. "It's nice to have these on there," he continued, pointing to his armored vest. "A lot of people have been shot in the chest and it keeps us from getting ..." He makes a zipping sound with his lips.

This area is criss-crossed with irrigation canals filled with tall reeds. The soldiers must hop the canals and, if they miss the far bank, it can mean wet feet or a painful stumble onto their knees. They move into single file onto narrow paths when reeds grow between fields. Iraq is a dusty, desert country, but the men are only a couple of miles from the Euphrates Rover, and the river valleys are green.

The men are walking toward a mosque near the river. Lately al Qaeda has been pushed out of much of this area west of Baghdad. Local Sunnis, and a few Shias, who used to support the insurgents and al Qaeda and fight the government, have now changed sides. Now they fight al Qaeda and support the government. But in this remote corner of the countryside the government has never held sway. Now al Qaeda is trying to sneak back in.

The mosque reportedly is a rallying point used by 200 al Qaeda members to plan further attacks.

There are a couple of dozen men in the patrol, plus another dozen or so Iraqi Army (IA) soldiers. Thirty against 200 doesn't seem like much of a fair fight, but the soldiers say al Qaeda seldom likes to attack Americans head-on. The air power from helicopters and planes is too deadly.

"We'll check out if there's only females there when we get there, and little kids, and then we'll know there's something up," said Lt. Dave Kendzior from Rochester, N.Y.

In this area, which is a bad one, a lack of males that means they are probably out helping the insurgents. Missing males is a common and malevolent occurrence.

"If there's military age males around, things will be looking a little more normal than usual," Kendzior added.

The soldiers walk across the last field and approach a cluster of houses near the mosque. The houses are built in a grove of trees, next to the mosque. The soldiers do not approach the mosque for fear of inflaming local opinion. They enter several houses.

There are no males.

The women are there, though. They say they need more protection from insurgents.

One woman says al Qaeda came and took many of the males to go fight extremist Shiite militias that are a problem in this area. Another woman said the terrorists accused her husband and son of helping the government and threatened to kill them.

The mosque is quiet. The soldiers never go closer than 300 yards, and content themselves with searching the houses.

The Americans work closely with the IA soldiers they have brought with them. The IA soldiers search the houses while the Americans wait outside. This unit of IA is a good one, one of the best in the army. Other units are not so good, and corruption and low skills still plague the force. But the soldiers say they are happy to fight alongside these Iraqis.

All the soldiers finish searching the houses and get set to head back.

"I'll get in the rear and I'll want at least a SAW [machine] gunner and 203 [grenade launcher] in the rear, so we don't get messed up in the rear," Kendzior tells his platoon sergeant.

The soldiers start walking back across the fields toward their waiting Humvees. Half an hour later, with the sun getting ever hotter, they reach the road safely.

Now the soldiers know al Qaeda is active in the area, trying to filter back in and maintain influence in this remote corner of the battalion's area. The next step is figuring out what to do about it.