U.S. Controls Only A Square Mile Of Baghdad

by Ferry Biedermann

They are getting angrier by the day. "The U.S. only protects oil, not stores and houses," reads one placard. Others are a variation of that sentiment.

The U.S. forces control barely one square mile of the sprawling city. In streets immediately around the barbed wire that rings the Palestine hotel compound, shots ring out at night.

The army started patrolling some streets with local policeman earlier in the week to restore order. A file of officers in the old olive green Iraqi police uniforms arrived at the U.S. command to coordinate this.

But hardly any of the Iraqi officers are seen on patrol. Now and then one was seen leaving with some marines, but most stayed close to the U.S. compound.

At one checkpoint an Iraqi policeman stood looking forlorn beside a U.S. marine. "We're starting them off easy," said the soldier, "to get everybody used to the idea again."

Some of the protesters outside are clearly not pleased by what they see. They mistrust any representative of the old regime of Saddam Hussein. "If they dare show their faces, we will rip them to pieces," said one man.

Others were milder in their judgment. "We need security now, but can't somebody else do it?" asked Dr Aisha Al Safar, watching the demonstration.

Her son Sadq, an engineering student, disagreed. "This lawlessness has to end -- even the old police is better than nothing, at least for now."

Some of the policemen see it as their duty to bring normalcy to Baghdad. Former police general Mohammed Samir Mahmoud from Babylon district outside Baghdad has returned to offer his services to the U.S. forces.

He was fired from his job in 1991 after the uprisings that followed the Gulf war. "Now is my time to come back and help the people," he said.

Captain Joe Plezner, spokesman for the 1st Marines said he was well aware of the mistrust with which people view the police. "There are some bad elements among them," he acknowledged, "we will keep an eye on them."

Lawlessness is the biggest problem that Baghdad faces, and it could become a direct threat to U.S. plans for Iraq. Lack of security is preventing restoration of services, aid distribution and reopening of businesses.

Looting continues in the city. After government buildings, banks and businesses, the looters' attention is now turning to homes. Local residents have taken up arms and organized their own militias to protect their property.

"We used to be safe, we had water, electricity and telephone services," said Tareq Ahmad, a mechanical engineer who used to work for Mercedes Benz, and who lives in an upmarket neighborhood. "Now we don't have any of those things and I have to stand guard every night from eight o'clock in order to protect my house and my family."

Baghdad used to be a relatively lively city in the Arab world, even up to the war. Despite the difficult economic situation, many families would go out in the evenings to restaurants, tea rooms and ice-cream parlours.

Now the city is pitch dark at night, except for the area around the Palestine hotel and a few buildings where residents have generators. The shooting, intermittent through the day, picks up after sunset to what sound like gunfights.

One U.S. soldier standing guard on an approach road to Baghdad said the main roads were clear but inside the city "people are still going crazy." He compared it to soccer violence. "If your team in Europe wins a cup, the whole city also blows up," he said.

Apart from the Palestine hotel, the U.S. troops control only some facilities around some of the former presidential palaces. A U.S. officer on duty by the Republican Palace said his troops had been attacked with Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) over the past few days.

"We thought this is getting crazy, so we blew up a couple of hidden caches of 300 to 400 RPGs," he said. "Hopefully it will be more quiet now."

It is hardly surprising that many soldiers are still very nervous a week after they moved into Baghdad. One officer screamed at his men as they let an Iraqi car though their checkpoint. "Who the hell are these guys, what are they doing here? Get them out," he shouted.

The Iraqi crunch around the Palestine hotel increases by the day. It is the only place that functions and where people can make some money. They try to sell their services to the press as translators and drivers and beg to use satellite phones to call family abroad.

The growing crowds are becoming a bigger warning every day that if the U.S. forces do not restore normalcy to Baghdad soon, they would have won the war but lost the peace.