Sadr City security staffing may change

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Iraqi Army 2nd Lt. Lazer mans a checkpoint at a wall that separates the northern two-thirds of Sadr City from the rest of Baghdad. The wall is crucial for keeping enemy fighters from bringing weapons into the capital, but requires substantial manpower from the Iraqi Army.


Sadr City security staffing may change
By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, January 5, 2009

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi Army may reconsider the amount of effort it spends on static checkpoints in Sadr City as a result of the emphasis on empowering Iraqi forces called for by the security agreement signed by both countries.

The Iraqi Army is far from a static force. Soldiers patrol local streets, search homes and meet with locals just like the Americans do. But unlike American units, they must also man Sadr City checkpoints that control the entrances to walled-off portions of the Baghdad slum.

To maintain the same patrol tempo, the Iraqi Army will need to bring in more soldiers or shift soldiers from checkpoints to the more mobile missions that the Americans do almost exclusively.

The checkpoints are crucial to controlling the northern two-thirds of Sadr City — an area off-limits to Americans even though it’s long been the stronghold of Shiite militants. Iraqi soldiers ensure that enemy fighters aren’t able to slip roadside bombs and other weapons into the rest of Baghdad.

“We’ve gone through great pains and treasure and resources to wall off this place, and they are literally the ones who have the keys,” said Capt. Andrew Slack, commander of Company C, 1st Battalion, 35th Armor, a unit in Sadr City.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59794