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U.S. tightens security at bases in Iraq

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, May 13, 2005

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military has ordered a tightening of base security in Iraq.

Officials said the military has completed a review of base security throughout Iraq in wake of insurgency attacks on facilities that included both Iraqi and U.S. troops. They said the review led to new regulations meant to increase the screening of visitors and limit access to Iraqis who train or work in military bases.

[On Wednesday, nearly 70 people were reportedly killed in four suicide bombings in Iraq, Middle East Newsline reported. The bloodiest attack was in the northern town of Hawija in which 32 people were killed in a suicide bombing outside an Iraq Army recruitment center.]

The military review was ordered after a suicide bombing at a U.S.-Iraqi facility in Mosul in December 2004 in which about 20 people were killed. The review pointed to serious deficiencies in security at the Forward Operating Base Marez, including access by Iraqi soldiers and contractors to areas assigned to U.S. troops.

The new measures have included restrictions on access to mess halls.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers have been banned from bringing backpacks or large objects into dining areas. Soldiers have also been required to present identification to enter mess halls.

Officials said despite the U.S. military assessment that Iraqi contractors have cooperated with Sunni insurgents, Iraqis would continue to enter and work in U.S. bases. The new regulations require Iraqi civilians and soldiers to wear badges that show access privileges.

"We don't do a systematic vetting process on Iraqi security forces, their government that does that," Lt. Col. Dan Wilson, deputy operations chief for the 1st Marine Division, said. "There's a certain trust factor that goes along with the Marines working with them."

Security restrictions have also been imposed in perimeter base security. On April 16, three U.S. soldiers were killed and seven others were injured when insurgents fired mortar rounds at a U.S. Marine base near Ramadi.

Officials said Sunni insurgents have spent months planning the infiltration of U.S. bases. They said the insurgents have employed youngsters to monitor the bases, photograph them and force those who work in the facilities to cooperate.

"They're trying to infiltrate the base as much as possible, taking pictures, videos drawing diagrams, grabbing people who are coming off base to intimidate them into giving them locations where different facilities are located on the base or torturing them until they do tell them," Wilson said.

"We know it is active and ongoing."


Copyright © 2005 East West Services, Inc.

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