[Shadow_Group] "people smile by day - and launch deadly projectiles by night"

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

U.S. Marines Can't Easily ID Enemy in Iraq 
Mon Nov 1, 1:36 AM ET 
By EDWARD HARRIS, Associated Press Writer 

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - Scouring turnip patches and
dimly lit homes, U.S. Marines on patrol outside the
insurgent stronghold of Fallujah search for guns,
mortar rounds and rockets in villages where the
Marines believe people smile by day - and launch
deadly projectiles by night. 
 
In a fight without front lines against
civilian-clothed enemies, Marines in central Iraq
can't easily identify enemies called "The Muj" - short
for mujahedeen, or Muslim holy warriors - who
boobytrap roads and fire into U.S. bases from nearby
hamlets. 

"They're watching us right now. They're everywhere,
but you can't tell who they are," says Sgt. Alexander
Munoz as he leads a 1st Marine Division patrol through
one town. "They wave and salute - then they bomb you."


The Marines have stepped up activities in Iraq's
restive Sunni Triangle and are laying plans to attack
Fallujah, whose rebel leadership is believed a leading
force behind the insurgency as well as the
hostage-takings, bombings and beheadings. 

An attack, if ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad
Allawi, would likely be led by Marines now patrolling
near Fallujah, seeking to clear weapons caches as well
as prevent the kind of rearguard action the U.S.
forces faced during an aborted attack on the city in
April. 

U.S. forces hope to cut down the rebellion and boost
security in Iraq ahead of nationwide elections
scheduled for January. 

But as the Marines try to calm the area around
Fallujah, they say they face a foe who mixes with the
local population, threatening unsympathetic civilians
into supporting their goals. And collaborating with
the Marines can be deadly. 

"The people here are against a wall. They help us and
they help the Muj," says Munoz, as the Marines look
for roadside bombs - which the troops call improvised
explosive devices, or IEDs. 

"Sometimes they tell us about the IEDs, sometimes they
don't. They're scared," says the 28-year old from San
Sebastian, Puerto Rico. 

Civilians escaping Fallujah - with some rebels likely
among them - are taking refuge in abandoned houses and
schools shuttered during the fighting. 

"There has been a large influx of refugees fleeing
Fallujah. Overnight, we usually go out and stay in
abandoned houses and now we're competing with
refugees," says Lt. John Jacobs. 

"They're definitely out there in numbers," the 31-year
old from Santa Cruz, Calif. says. Food shortages are
beginning to show up among the displaced, he says. 

The Fallujah displaced provide the Marines an
opportunity to ingratiate themselves. 

"We came from Fallujah a month ago. We have no money,"
one Iraqi woman, Nazha Ahmed, tells patrol leader
Munoz, speaking through an Iraqi translator. 

"This is our family here, but we don't have anyone to
help us," says the wizened, middle-aged mother of
four. 

"Okay. Tell them I'll send this upstairs and the
Marines will bring them food," Munoz says to the
translator. 

A Marine attack on Fallujah in April was called off
after widespread Iraqi protest at reports of civilian
casualties, but not before insurgents sneaked around
and attacked the Marines' rear, touching off a
dayslong battle outside the city. 

So the Marines are showing their force this time
before any upcoming attack on Fallujah, walking
through turnip and tomato fields and looking for
weapons buried in irrigation ditches as rebel rockets
crash in the area. 

Children scamper nearby with wide grins, shouting
"Give me, Give me." 

"'Sup homies! Salaam, Salaam," shouts one Marine as he
hands out candy. 

The Marines are on constant lookout for the roadside
bombs, often connected by wires to a mobile phone,
which when dialed sets off the blast. Rebel spotters
are presumed to be watching. 

The bombs can also be mounted on telephone poles or
put in trash, and the Marines suspect the townspeople
often know where the bombs lay. 

"Another way you know of an IED is that the people run
away when we pass by," says Munoz. "Especially the
kids." 

The Marines quietly enter families' walled compounds,
shining their flashlights in corners and looking on
rooftops. 

Adolescent Iraqi boys hold their empty palms to the
Marines, indicating they're hiding no contraband. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know you don't have anything," says
Lance Corporal Brian Davis. 

"A lot of these people are very respectful, they give
you water," the 27-year old from Kelseyville, Calif.
says later. "But you always have to ask yourself who
they really are." 







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