Middle East report: Reporter recounts swing through U.S. war zones

By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Saturday, November 29, 2008 4:00 PM PST ∞

Editors' note: Staff writer Mark Walker traveled through the Middle East and war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan earlier this month. This is a recounting of the trip he took with Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland and other Marine Corps commanders as they visited the troops.

Friendly greetings and handshakes. Boys asking for money. Smiling young girls.

Those are among the more vivid memories of a stroll down a central market street in Haditha 10 days ago.

It was my first visit to the Iraqi city made famous when two dozen civilians were killed by Camp Pendleton Marines after a roadside bombing in 2005. The troops were accused of violating the rules of engagement, and I've written dozens of accounts of their trials.

Walking Haditha's streets after years of picturing it in my mind was surreal.

Market stalls were full of goods, lots of shoppers were around, and my overall impression of the city of about 89,000 was that it has put the war in its past.

We did get a few stern looks from what the Marines call "young, military-age males," but overall there was no hostility toward the Marines I was with.

That may be in part because the Marines recently withdrew from Iraqi cities such as Haditha, another sign of the progress in the Anbar province west of Baghdad that once was a hotbed of the insurgency.

In Anbar, military officials say the Iraqis are weary of war and longing for security and prosperity. While listening to discussions between Haditha officials and the Marines, it was clear their desire for economic development superseded military issues.

Weariness and a longing for home also was evident on the faces of many of the Marines ---- from generals down to privates ---- I saw and spoke with in Iraq and Afghanistan. They're tired. Most have been in the country for months and are due home soon. A typical day for Camp Pendleton's Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly, for example, lasts 20 hours.

In Afghanistan, Marines sent there in April were packing up for the trip home. To a man, they said they were anxious to get home and end a deployment marked by heavy combat and 20 troop deaths.

While many young Marines in Iraq say they are longing for more action, seasoned troops such as Cpl. William Daniels (who was winding up his fourth combat assignment), aren't eager for more fighting and another uniform insignia.

"I'm definitely glad this deployment has been so mellow," said the veteran of earlier battles in once-insurgent laden Anbar cities such as Ramadi. "Going to Afghanistan is not something I dream about ---- for me it would just be another ribbon."

Afghanistan

Stepping into Afghanistan is like stepping back in time. There is little electricity outside major cities and few paved roads. Homes and family compounds are built from earthen blocks, and schools are nowhere to be seen.

Literacy and poverty rates are among the lowest in the world for the population that lives on the plains flanked by towering, soon-to-be snowcapped mountains.

While Iraq's Anbar province is filled with farms along the Euphrates River Valley, farms are scarcer in Afghanistan, where the major crop is the opium poppy.

Sub-freezing overnight temperatures greeted us at Camp Bastion, a sprawling British and U.S. base that serves as the hub for operations in the Helmand province. It's there where a new group of Marines is replacing the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from North Carolina and the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment from Twentynine Palms.

The new Marine unit includes a helicopter squadron from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station that will be in the fight against a resurgent Taliban through the spring.

Unlike bases in Iraq where troops live in "cans" or small, trailerlike bunk rooms, Marines at Bastion face harsher conditions. Most live in tents ---- some still without heat or air conditioning. A large chow hall recently opened, providing hot meals throughout the day, replacing the MREs (meals, ready to eat) that had been the standard fare.

Troops and commanders heading home spoke earnestly of winning over local villagers, but also cautioned that the Taliban and foreign fighters are prevalent and a sustained presence is required.

Two medical corpsmen interviewed during a frigid morning visit to Forward Operating Base Deleram in the foothills of the Helmand were proud of providing services to local villages. But in some cases, they said their work with villagers led to retaliation. After leaving a village where they treated local residents, they later heard the Taliban resurfaced and beat people who had accepted help.

Deleram, encased by stacks of large boxes filled with dirt and rock and topped by barbed wire, is also shared by a small contingent of Italian troops. They wave friendly greetings, unlike a nearby group of bearded, U.S. special forces who angrily objected to even being approached. They're there, but they weren't talking.

The Marine generals I was with did a lot of talking behind closed doors, unlike a similar trip in May when I was allowed to attend many of their briefings. My sense was that much is being done to plan for a Marine buildup next year, and that much was being discussed about how those forces fit into a joint U.S.-NATO operation.

Iraq

Our final war zone visit was to Al Asad Airbase in the Anbar province, which included the tour of Haditha.

When we landed at Al Asad, we were greeted on the tarmac by Maj. Gen. Kelly, commander of Marine Corps forces on the ground in Anbar. In a later interview, Kelly made it clear that while much work remains to be done to solidify political harmony, the bulk of combat operations are over in Anbar.

If Anbar was a nation unto itself and not just one part of Iraq, the war would be over, he said.

At Camp Ripper, the Marine enclave at Al Asad, Col. Patrick Malay of Camp Pendleton's Regimental Combat Team 5 told a visiting general that he has been able to send some of his troops home early. Much of his work now, Malay said, is focused on civil affairs and political development in the region.

During the visit to Haditha later that day, it was clear that Malay is well-known and has forged personal relationships with city officials and merchants. He's also forged a tie with many of the children, carrying a special pack full of suckers that he distributes as he walks the streets.

Malay made sure he had enough to hand out to a group of girls at the end of the street. He needed to make up for his last visit, he said, when he ran out and disappointed the girls.

While insurgents can strike at any time, the risk appears to have fallen substantially in Haditha, a name forever linked to the U.S. experience in Iraq because of the 2005 civilian killings and the resulting fallout.

A telling story I heard, however, was that the residents don't consider those deaths a "massacre," the descriptor often applied in media and blog accounts in this country. Residents instead refer to the slayings as the Haditha "accident" or "incident."

The real Haditha "massacre," they say, came when insurgents beheaded a group of policemen and other men at a soccer stadium four years ago.

So goes the war, and now the growing peace, for Marines in Iraq.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

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