Shooting of four U.S. troops highlights trust issues between two forces

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U.S. Army Sgt. John Thompson, background, patrols Mosul with his Iraqi counterparts during a joint operation Wednesday. The shooting of four American soldiers by two men in Iraqi police uniforms earlier this week highlights the trust issues between the two forces.


Shooting of four U.S. troops highlights trust issues between two forces
By Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, February 27, 2009

MOSUL, Iraq — Everything is suspect in this desperate, rubble-strewn city.

Death is packed into freshly laid concrete, piles of trash, speeding cars, even an explosives-laden teapot. It comes from bombs and mortars and snipers’ bullets. Recently, the death dealers have worn Iraqi police and army uniforms, straining the crucial partnership between U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts.

"It makes you look a little harder at the guys you’ve been working with," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nick Capozzi of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.

Trust is paramount in today’s Iraq, where – under the security pact between the two countries – every military patrol is now supposed to be Iraqi-led and American-supported. The shooting death Tuesday of an American soldier and his interpreter by two Iraqi police officers threatens to undermine that trust.

The shooting, which also left three soldiers and another interpreter wounded, was the third instance of Iraqi police or soldiers firing on Americans in Mosul since November.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61003