In Their Own Hands
An emerging Iraqi special-ops forces works to get the bad
guys.
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The enthusiasm of U.S. Marine captains Thomas "Tad" Douglas and
David Nevers can hardly be contained. Their voices, alternately
crackling over a weak satellite-phone connection, are heartening as
they describe the successes they are witnessing in Iraq. The
insurgency is losing ground. Iraqi civilians, feeling less afraid
than in previous months, are increasingly coming forward with solid
information about the bad guys. And a new Iraqi special-operations
force is taking the lead in wiping out guerilla strongholds, south
of Baghdad.
From their operating base in Kalsu (so-named for Bob Kalsu, a
Buffalo Bills lineman and Army lieutenant who was killed during the
Vietnam War), Douglas tells National Review Online, "The Iraqis are
performing well-above my expectations. Their strengths are their
aggressiveness and mobility, and we are enhancing those
strengths."
Douglas, commander of a Marine Force reconnaissance platoon and a
reconnaissance and surveillance platoon, is referring to a crack
Iraqi SWAT (special-weapons and tactics) team, sometimes referred
to as the Al Hillah SWAT team.
Last week, the Iraqi SWAT team and other members of the Iraqi
security forces (about 800 men combined) backed by U.S. Marines
(about 1,300) launched an offensive aimed at retaking guerilla
strongholds south of the Sunni Triangle. The strongholds lie within
Babil province, home of the ancient city of Babylon, though today a
virtual no-man's-land rife with kidnappings, ambushes, and
murder.
The offensive continues this week, with Iraqi SWAT commandos and
Douglas's Marines attacking guerilla bases, and resistance forces
launching progressively weakening counter-attacks. On Monday, the
joint Iraqi-American force raided a base in the province, netting
two guerillas killed and more than ten captured. Like other raids
in this ongoing offensive, the Iraqi SWAT team is at the proverbial
tip of the spear.
Nevers, a spokesman for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU),
says "the new force may be a SWAT team in name, but in terms of
training and direct-action capabilities they are quite a bit more
than a paramilitary police force. They are more closely comparable
to a U.S. military special-operations force."
EXTRASPECIAL MARINES
The Iraqi SWAT team has been trained by and currently receives
the majority of its combat support from Douglas's force-recon
platoon, a unit specializing in direct action.
Unlike other U.S. special-operations forces, little is known about
the responsibilities and mission scope of force recon. The
reasoning can be found in the secretive nature of force-recon
operations as well as the longstanding view held by Marine leaders
that the entire Corps is "special" and no single Marine unit is
better than another. That said, force-recon Marines receive
training beyond that received by leathernecks serving in front-line
rifle companies. Force-recon Marines are experts in precision
direct-action, close-quarters fighting, and deep reconnaissance
operations. As such, they are trained to survive in the worst types
of environments, handle all manner of weapons and explosives, and
employ a variety of battlefield tactics. They also receive training
as parachutists and open-water divers.
Though their work rarely makes the papers, force-recon Marines are
playing a major role in the war on terror. Douglas, for instance,
was a key leader in the dramatic rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch
in April 2003. Since then, these Marines have been conducting
combat and surveillance operations throughout the country. They've
operated both independently and with other Marine forces and Navy
SEALs.
Over the past several days, however, force-recon Marines have been
running missions with the new Iraqi SWAT team in Babil province.
It's a natural fit. After all, force recon trained the special
Iraqi unit, sharing with the latter the raiding and close-combat
techniques for which all Marines are famous.
Training began in July when the Marines began honing the skills of
a handful of picked men from the provincial capital of Al Hillah.
The men, who would ultimately comprise the Iraqi (Al Hillah) SWAT
team, received instruction in marksmanship, tactics, and the finer
points of mission-planning, decision-making, and combat
leadership.
AN EMERGING FORCE
Today, some 175 Iraqis have made the team. They are taking the
fight to the enemy, and, in many ways, are proving themselves
capable of operating as an independent unit.
"This are an emerging force, and yet they are taking the lead in
our operations against the insurgents," says Nevers. "We conducted
an operation a month ago in which this force did most of the
planning and then physically led the way. The operation was very
successful, and it consequently set the stage for what we are doing
right now."
Asked if those on the team are more-formidable fighters than the
best Iraqi troops faced by U.S. forces during the spring 2003
invasion, Nevers is quick to respond, "Yes, and they are far better
than the Iraqis we were contending with in April 2004 [during the
brutal fighting in and around Fallujah and Ramadi]."
Douglas points to the team's unique talents. "It's kind of like
when you are coaching a baseball team and you want to play to the
strength of the ballplayers to fit the system," he says. "These men
are very good at clearing and direct-action. They literally swarm
over an objective and that has a tremendously negative
psychological affect on the enemy."
According to Douglas, the strength of the Iraqi SWAT team lies not
so much in precision single-point clearing missions, a specialty of
force recon, but in functioning as shock troops. "Iraqis are very
good at raiding a particular area and quickly clearing several
buildings at once," he says. "I'm afraid if we train them more on
the precision clearing, they might lose that aggressiveness and
speed that now serves them so well."
Speed indeed: When Iraqi SWAT commandos hit a target, they hit it
hard. Racing forward in white pick-up trucks emblazoned with the
unit's emblem a black scorpion and dagger (an emblem designed by
the Iraqis) the raiders leap from the vehicles and rush toward
their objective almost before the enemy has time to panic. The
attackers primarily in their early to mid-twenties are armed
with a variety of personal weapons including AK-47s and SIG Sauer
assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, and grenades. They all wear
khaki-colored assault suits (similar to zip-up flight suits) with
an Iraqi-flag patch stitched on the shoulder. Khaki or black
balaclavas cover their heads, concealing their faces. "The Iraqis
like wearing balaclavas," says Douglas. "It makes them look
fearless, and terrifies the enemy."
While the team is kicking in doors, observation helicopters are
thundering overhead watching for bad guys attempting to escape or
enemy reinforcements moving up. Attack helicopters and jets are
flying on-station ready to suppress any resistance or a
counter-attack. And within a few hundred yards of the assault, U.S.
Marines are poised to move-in should the raid begin to
unravel.
Over the past several days, this "swarming" technique has netted
numerous enemy prisoners and weapons caches in the 24th MEU's area
of responsibility. And the speed with which they attack actually
keeps casualties low.
The success of the new unit has instilled "great confidence" in
both SWAT-team members and regular Iraqi soldiers, says Col. Salaam
Abdul al Kathom, the commander of the Iraqi SWAT team. It has also
increased pride and a greater sense of security for the Iraqi
people.
"With the Americans, we're the same team, no difference," Col.
Kathom says, through an interpreter. "The training is very good. I
am very, very happy with the progress. We will destroy the bad
guys."
Still, additional training and experience is needed. "Developing
such a force requires patience," says Nevers. "The cohesiveness we
Americans take for granted is not universal, but we are witnessing
that cohesiveness in this force. We are holding them to near
unreasonable standards and they are measuring up to those
standards."
The success of a new, elite, independently operating Iraqi force is
good news. What about the bad?
"Optimism in the face of obstacles is no vice," says Nevers. "We
get criticized for complaining about the negative news coverage,
but it is because we are here. We know exactly what is going on,
and we believe in our ability to get this done. Tremendous progress
is being made every single day, but is often lost in the daily
reports of car bombs and ambushes."
He adds, "Look, we don't want to dismiss casualties or down-play
setbacks. This is a dangerous environment and we know it. But here
in Iraq every step back is three steps forward. And that's not an
opinion. That's a fact."
Douglas agrees. "This country has progressed light years since I
was here in 2003," he says.
Though the Iraqi SWAT team is the only unit of its kind, other
Iraqi special operations forces are being developed within the
Iraqi National Guard and security forces. Those units are being
fielded throughout the contested regions of the country,
particularly within the Sunni Triangle. Earlier this month, a
battalion of Iraqi "police commandos," supported by the Army's 1st
Infantry Division the famous Big Red One led the way at many
points in the retaking of the city of Samarra, southeast of Tikrit
in the northern point of the triangle.