Officials said Iraqi security forces were being trained in the use of
combat cameras and computers for use in counter-insurgency operations. They
said the U.S. Army compressed a 10-month training course into a two-week
program for Iraqi troops in the use of cameras to improve shooting skills,
maneuvers and document operations.
"They went from looking at a camera and wondering, 'What do you want me
to do with this?' to holding the camera with confidence and saying, 'Let me
show you what I can do with this,'" a U.S. trainer said. "To me, the overall
knowledge they gained was impressive for 10 days."
The camera course was provided for an Iraqi special weapons and tactics
unit in Hilla, one of the most advanced SWAT units in Iraq. Officials said
the new combat camera would be introduced into Iraqi security missions.
The first mission with combat camera-trained personnel was the Iraqi
counter-insurgency assault on Basra in March 2008. Officials said a
newly-trained Iraqi combat cameraman documented every move made by SOF
units.
"Sometimes, the picture you take is how you feel inside," Iraqi Col.
Falah Hasan Khadhim, a brigade deputy commander in the Iraqi special
operations forces, said. "It could be a picture of nature or the scene of a
battlefield. The camera has more effect than the gun."
