DHULUIYA, Iraq, 14 June 2003 — The men lined up along both sides of a table, digging their hands into piles of rice and lamb that had been set out for lunch at the funeral for Mehdi Ali Jassim.
Jassim, 53, was a teacher, a father and, now, another wedge in the relationship between US troops and Iraqis. The locals say the soldiers beat Jassim to death when they swept into this town in a massive operation this week to root out resistance fighters who have been ambushing US troops. The US military says that Jassim died of a heart attack.
It almost doesn’t matter who is right. The anger is palpable in this town of former Baath Party officials and favored citizens of Saddam Hussein’s government. “The Americans are going into people’s houses and killing them,’’ Zaid Sami, 33, said as he stood inside a rundown one-table billiard hall where Saddam’s picture still hung on the wall. On the dusty, unpaved streets outside, US troops patrolled in their Humvees and armored vehicles.
The benefits of allegiance to Saddam dot this city of 50,000 people, where many live in large, two-story villas with landscaped gardens and green lawns that are as out of place in this sun-scorched land as palm trees might be in New York. The United States military said Dhuluiya and several other surrounding communities had become refuges for former Saddam loyalists who were attacking Americans across central Iraq.
With fresh attacks coming daily, early Monday the US Army launched “Operation Peninsula Strike,’’ a comprehensive invasion of this Tigris River region about 35 miles north of Baghdad involving more than 4,000 soldiers. They attacked from land and sea and air. They came in hard and fast. The tally so far: As many as 15 Iraqis dead, at least four Americans wounded and more than 300 Iraqi men detained.
The assault continued Thursday as US forces bombed what they called a terrorist training camp 95 miles north of Baghdad and Iraqi forces shot down a US helicopter gunship. The two-person crew was rescued unharmed.
“There was no American force here, so this became a sanctuary of sorts,’’ said Maj. Michael Fenzel, of the 173rd Airborne, who participated in the Monday invasion of this city and whose forces now patrol it. But Fenzel said that after storming the community and capturing what they believe to be “valuable’’ prisoners, the army is trying to shift its focus to win over Dhuluiya’s people.
“Now we are getting out into the community,’’ he said, “trying to tell people what we are doing and why we are here.’’ While the use of force succeeded in toppling the regime, the army recognizes that it does not offer a viable long-term solution to stabilizing Iraq so that US troops can one day go home. The battle to win acceptance from the local population may prove to be far more difficult than the military operation.
And one reason is Jassim, the dead teacher. He has become a focal point for the anger this community feels after losing its privileged status under Saddam’s rule. Jassim’s funeral was a “who’s who’’ of the community — and of the former regime. There was a judge, a general, a prominent businessman and the leader of the local tribe.
“The old regime, the old state, we were officials in that state,’’ said Sheikh Hussein Ali Saleh Al Legi, leader of the Jabbor tribe and its 15,000 members. “Are we all to be treated as criminals?’’
The sheikh is an influential man in his community. His family has held the position of tribal leader since the early 1900s. And he insists, at least publicly, that there were no resistance forces in their community. “It’s just a pretext,’’ he said. “They are coming here to kill us. They have come to kill, and they have killed.’’
Legi’s home has a large green front lawn where he pitched a tent and set up more than 100 chairs for the mourners who had gathered to commemorate the dead teacher.
The men cried as they hugged each other. Then their anger spilled out, instantly and without coaxing.
The words could have been spoken in Fallujah, another stronghold for Sunni Muslims west of Baghdad that benefited under Saddam’s rule. They complained that everything in postwar Iraq is bad, that there is no electricity, no running water and no security. They complained that the Americans had promised liberation, and served up only occupation.
And they denied any culpability, either for the state of their country or the actions of the US forces. They denied that they were shooting at the soldiers, or that they condoned shooting at the soldiers, or that they harbored people who shot at the soldiers. Then they promised that if the soldiers don’t leave, they will shoot at them. “The people have to resist. They have to fight for their honor, for their dignity,’’ said Qahton Aid, 46. “They promised to establish an interim government. If this promise is not fulfilled, it means that even a child who can carry a weapon will fight them. Even women.’’
