Marines try to coax desert town into coalition camp

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051102/wl_mideast_afp/iraqushealth_051102193002

SAADA, Iraq (AFP) - For people in the desert town of Saada, near the Iraqi border with Syria, the choice is stark and, for some, very unwelcome -- Sunni fundamentalists known as Salafists or troops of the US Marine Corps.


Perched on a US vehicle, an Iraqi soldier tells residents: "The government has decided, along with the help of the Iraqi army and the marines, to give you some medical assistance and a food distribution."

A civil affairs unit from the marine regiment stands by to help.

"We have been without help for almost five months," says local mayor Mohammed Badawi. "The clinic is closed and we can't leave the village.

"When the routes are not blocked by military checkpoints, bandits rule. So I asked the marines for help."

[IndianaGreen]

1. Sounds like Vietnam

same old shit except we traded the jungle for a desert.

[Jacobin]

2. I thought this story had a familiar ring to it

then when the American troops leave, the insurgents will come back in and fuck up whoever cooperated with the american troops.

I pity these poor Iraqis their suffering.

[leftchick]

3. yes indeed

it is far too familiar. :(

[MADem]

4. No bars, no whorehouses, and fewer opportunities to buy drugs

But other than that, SS, DD...