Head of Carson brigade says Iraq is in transition

Soldiers from Fort Carson's 3rd Brigade Combat Team nabbed a would-be suicide bomber Friday as he was getting a haircut in one series of raids to keep eastern Baghdad calm in the midst of a significant security shift.

Militiamen on the Army's payroll who have helped secure Baghdad are being moved to other jobs, in Iraq's military or on reconstruction crews, in a change that will eventually disband the "Sons of Iraq."

U.S. units started hiring the armed Sunni and Shiite men for duty at checkpoints and as roving neighborhood patrols last year in a bid to have locals help take back their neighborhoods from the insurgency.

The paychecks kept locals from turning to the insurgency for cash.

Col. John Hort, commander of the 3,800-soldier Fort Carson brigade that controls Baghdad neighborhoods, including Sadr City, said improvements in security have allowed a change next month that will move the Army-paid militiamen to the Iraqi government payroll and eventually other jobs.

"That program is beginning a transition period where they will be brought under control of the Iraqi security forces," Hort said.

Meanwhile, the brigade is taking on insurgents one-by-one, clearing out the remnants of al-Qaida and Shiite guerrillas who once ruled the city's east side.

Among the insurgents caught recently was a sniper responsible for the Aug. 25 killing of one of Hort's men.

The al-Qaida gunman was driven from eastern Baghdad but turned up in the city's western neighborhood of Ameriyah and was snatched by a patrol from the brigade's 4th Squadron of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, Hort said.

The sniper attack, which killed Spc. Steven Fitzmorris, was the last significant attack on Hort's soldiers, marking nearly a month of calm.

Hort credits the drop in violence since May to improved intelligence that has allowed his soldiers to kill or capture insurgents before they strike, as happened at the barber shop Friday.

Tips from locals led soldiers to the would-be suicide bomber.

"It's quite encouraging to see the time-sensitive raids going against the remnants of al-Qaida and the remnants of the special (Shiite insurgent) groups that are still hanging around," Hort said. "We were able to affect most of the al-Qaida resurgence almost immediately before they could start any kind of attack."

Hort's soldiers have been going on daily raids all week to target remaining insurgents.

That kind of blanket security means the Army can move away from neighborhood patrols by the Sons of Iraq.

Hort said the plan is to move about 20 percent of the 3,000 local militia forces into Iraqi military and police jobs, while the rest will be employed to help rebuild neighborhoods ravaged by fighting.

Fears among the militiamen, especially over their pay and their future employment, must be addressed, Hort said.

He said the brigade is kicking in cash to make sure the Sons of Iraq members don't lose money in the deal and is working closely with Iraqi military officials and leaders in government agencies overseeing reconstruction to make sure they stay employed.

They're also making sure Sunni Sons of Iraq members are treated fairly by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government.

"We have to monitor this transition period with a great deal of scrutiny," Hort said.
Getting the militiamen moved into reconstruction ranks would help boost the economy, which commanders hope will cause locals to turn away from insurgents.

"We have established security now and you have got to have that before you can clean up power problems and fix sewer lines," Hort said.

With the drop in attacks has come a return of businesses to eastern Baghdad.
Hort said once-dormant factories making clothing, solar-powered lights, batteries and generators are back up and running.

That is helping to drop unemployment rates that had skyrocketed during the violence, with more than half the area's population left jobless earlier this year.

"You don't see it every day but over a period of weeks and months you see progress," said Hort, whose unit will return to Colorado early next year.

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Contact the writer: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com