Best regards,

You are amazing. I was writing my most recent article on this very subject when you posted this comment. I cannot keep up with you!

Extract from Marines:

“When we first got here, the people of Haditha wouldn’t even talk to an American much less be seen going to the CMOC because they feared the insurgents would kill them,� said Rignola, a 46-year-old from New York City. “Now the CMOC is packed everyday.�

Whether they’re looking for a condolence payment, vehicle permit, information on the status of a detainee, money to repair damages caused by Marines or simply to ask a question, the locals who come to the CMOC are looking for answers in some form.

“We’re not always able to give them what they’re looking for,� said Parker. “But in this culture, as long as they see that you’re making a strong effort they feel like they’re being taken care of.�

Apparently the word has traveled around the entire triad that when you go to the CMOC “you can get something done�, said Parker. People walk for miles from neighboring cities just to get to the CMOC and speak with the CAG Marines

The amount of triad residents who come to the CMOC to speak with the Marines has ballooned from five per week four months ago to an average of more than 60 people per day.

A line of people waiting to talk with a CAG Marine spills out the door of the CMOC nearly everyday. Some local citizens come to the CMOC on such a regular basis that they’re on a first name basis with Rignola, who considers many of the Iraqis he’s met here his friends.

“If they remember a Marine treating them good, they’ll keep that in the back of their mind for the rest of their lives,� said Rignolla, a reserve Marine who works for the New York City Fire Department investigating arsons and explosions when not activated.

“No matter what someone tells them later on in life, they’ll know that the Marines were good to them. It just comes down to treating people as you would like to be treated,� added Rignola.

The full version of this article is available here:
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/2AE71DC6D92D767E8525728200284E9E?opendocument

You are a pure delight to have on board. Thanks for the link.

Many also asked questions about when the current vehicular restrictions would be lifted. Other than trucks carrying food, water and essential supplies, vehicular traffic has been restricted inside the city for six weeks. Citizens with special circumstances put in a request and are given temporary driving permits.

The restriction was implemented to limit the movement of the local insurgency. Coupled with increased troop levels and a dirt berm surrounding the region, violence has dropped from seven to 10 attacks per day to approximately five per week.

The full version of this article is available at:
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/069DED4D1870A99F8525727800361719?opendocument

I suspect that rather than the DoD “releasing” the information to anyone, most of all AFP, the more likely scenario is that while the AP and Reuters look around trying to dig up ‘dirt’ on U.S. forces, AFP had a good ’stringer’ rooting around for an interesting and informative story. He found it.

Yesterday, I attempted to find further information previously released about this story, and I found nothing published before AFP did it on January 11, 2007(?)

If AFP released this news, it’s because, and only because, I assume, the Army has chosen to communicate it to AFP. I’m pretty sure agencies such as AP or Reuters would have been glad to be the first. Am I correct?

You make excellent points, points that didn’t occur to me when I wrote the post. Further, there is only one means of ingress and egress to the city - the whole point of the tactic. This means that all food, supplies, and people have to go through this gate, including people who need medical care.

It is a draconian tactic, to be sure, but it seems to be working at the present.

It’s no-nonsensical indeed to use one entry gate and one exit gate instead of a common checkpoint. For, I admit, with one checkpoint only things would be more complicated, much likely to give way for confusion and mistake, and so, dangerous.

Also, one more thing has to be checked. That is: provisions and emergency rules for evacuating inhabitants in a hurry in case any kind of natural or unnatural disaster happens within the walls (fire, gas attack, mortar or rocket attack, etc).