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."