Strykers sweep neighborhood of insurgency

Photo By Spc. Cal Turner | Spc. Daniel Adams, who is from Albuquerque, N.M., and is a breach specialist with 1st Platoon, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division keeps an eye out the door of a building cleared by his team in the neighborhood of Doura in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 15. The mission was to secure the neighborhood one building at a time, so Iraqi security forces could move in and assume control of the area.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

01.29.2002

Story by Spc. Leith Edgar 

7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Spc. L.B. Edgar,
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP STRYKER, Iraq – Room by room, building after building and one block at a time, Soldiers and Iraqi Security Forces meticulously search neighborhoods in Baghdad. The search is for the tools of the insurgency, such as prohibited firearms and explosive-making materials, which are used to destabilize the fledgling democracy of this war-torn country.

The Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, worked with Iraqi Army troops and national police to clear neighborhoods in Baghdad's Al Doura district Jan. 15-18.

"We went through a neighborhood to try to clear any caches or any bad actors out of the neighborhood to try to leave it safer than we came," said Capt. Brent Clemmer, commander, Company C, 2nd Bn., 3rd Inf. Regt. "Hopefully in the end an Iraqi company or battalion will move into that area to take ownership of it after we've made it more safe with our actions."

Clemmer, a native of San Diego, said the mission was a success since prohibited body armor, weapons and explosives were confiscated over the course of the operation.

The life of an Iraqi was even saved. He was the apparent victim of sectarian torture and was found in the course of the operation, Clemmer explained.

"At least we made a difference in one man's life today, because he's not dead and he would have been if we had not gone there," Clemmer said.

The rescue of the Iraqi man and the bodies of five torture victims confirmed the U.S. Soldiers and ISF have their work cut out for them. The six victims are examples of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shia in the area, Clemmer said.

Engaging the neighborhood's residents and gathering intelligence were the primary means of combating sectarian violence, as well as insurgents, said Staff Sgt. Nick Crosby, a team leader with Company A, 2nd Bn., 3rd Inf. Regt.

"We were going out as a battalion, going door-to-door to talk to residents and get information on how the neighborhood is, (the people's) living conditions (and) try to find out if (insurgents) are working out of there," said the native of Tucson, Ariz. "(We) get on the ground and talk to people. (We) let them know we care, and we try to fix problems."

With their boots on the ground, U.S. and Iraqi forces, alike, are working toward improved security in Baghdad's neighborhoods, Clemmer said.

"We're trying to make Iraq safe for the people of Iraq – give the Iraqi government and the security forces some breathing room to get themselves together: equipped, trained and turned into a competent force, sot they can take (Iraq) over," Clemmer said.

• Date Taken: 01.29.2002
• Date Posted: 01.29.2007 15:00
• Story ID: 8989
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ