U.S. troops, sweeping out dust and
sifting through debris left by looters, set up their
headquarters at two Iraqi air bases and a railroad station
outside Fallujah (search) and Habaniyah
(search),
cities where anti-American demonstrations and attacks have
been particularly aggressive.
Commanders have tripled the number of
troops around the cities in a bid to quell supporters of Saddam
Hussein's Baath Party (search) and
decrease the sniping at American patrols that has killed
two U.S. servicemen at a checkpoint. Conservative Sunni
Muslims (search) wield
great influence in the communities.
No immediate problems were reported
as the forces deployed.
The combat troops from the 3rd
Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade arrived to take over the
area from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Two
battalion-sized task forces took up positions around the
city of Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad; another task
force took over two military airfields in Habaniyah, five
miles farther west.
Two major highways connecting Baghdad to Syria and Jordan
run through the two cities, where about 300 soldiers from
the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment have maintained a mostly
symbolic presence.
But after violent demonstrations and
several attacks on U.S. troops, commanders decided to send
in the battle-tested 2nd Brigade, which captured most of
Baghdad during the war.
In addition to patrolling the area,
the brigade will also work with local leaders on community
service projects at schools and hospitals to improve
relations with residents.
Lt. Gen. David McKiernan (search),
commander of American ground forces in Iraq, said he
doubted the attackers were coordinating their efforts.
"These are localized,
decentralized attacks by those who were part of the old
regime. I don't see a national effort across Iraq,"
McKiernan said Wednesday. "I don't see any pattern of
centralized command and control over these
incidents."
He said the spate of attacks
signifies a last-ditch effort by Saddam's supporters --
not a gathering resistance movement.
"I see it as the completion of
the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime," McKiernan
said at a news conference in Baghdad. "They don't
want a democratic Iraq to succeed because they don't have
a role in it."
In Fallujah and the neighboring
cities of Ramadi and Habaniyah, the streets were quiet
Wednesday as soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division went
on patrol. Residents went about their business, passing
American forces without incident.
The road between Baghdad and Fallujah
was crowded with U.S. Army trucks moving west.
Anger in Fallujah grew in late April,
when confrontations between residents and American forces
left 18 Iraqis dead and at least 78 wounded. Residents
accuse U.S. troops of using excessive force and of not
respecting Islamic practices.
As troops moved into Fallujah, other
American infantrymen immediately began setting up shop at
Habaniyah Air Base, built by the British in the early
1950s.
Habaniyah grew up around the air
base, where abandoned Soviet fighter jets and cargo planes
still sit on the runway, slowly deteriorating. Uniforms
left at the base have the insignia of Republican Guard
troops, and hundreds of gas masks litter the barracks.
An Iraqi special forces base was
located northeast of Fallujah, and many military-age men
in the cities, some in very good physical condition, have
scowled or made obscene gestures toward U.S. troops.
"You can tell who used to be in
the military," said Capt. Chris Carter, commander of
A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, which is
occupying the air base.
At dawn Wednesday, the 2nd Brigade
loaded 88 Abrams tanks and 44 Bradley Fighting Vehicles
onto cargo trucks and dropped them off outside the two
cities. The soldiers then drove the combat vehicles to
their new positions and began establishing their bases.
There wasn't much to work with.
Most of the buildings had been looted
after Iraqi troops abandoned the base, with almost
everything that could be removed - including light
switches and door frames - stolen.
The troops were greeted by curious
shepherds, grazing sheep and goats on the base grounds.
The soldiers began cleaning the old tin-roofed barracks to
use themselves.
"It won't be that bad, once we
get some fans blowing through here," Carter said,
looking around the shell of one building, where even the
tiles on the fireplace had been pried off by looters.
"It's like a really bad summer
camp," 1st Lt. Eric Hooper, Carter's second in
command, said as he set up a mosquito net over his cot.
