serurier
24-05-04, 13:05
U.S. Forces Plan Karbala Reconstruction
KARBALA, Iraq - Fatma Haidar laughed as her father led her toward the clanking sound of the U.S. Army vehicles. After weeks of heavy clashes, U.S. soldiers used the relative peace to walk the streets of Karbala, checking damage and planning how to rebuild schools, the water treatment plant and hospitals.
Cars were back on the streets, honking as kids played soccer in a dusty pitch. Iraqi police, who disappeared in mid-April, was back patrolling the Old City, scene of fighting until Friday. Now, it's the Shiite Muslim militiamen who have left.
As a sign of the new calm, hospital officials said that in the last three days no patients sought treatment for gunshot wounds.
Lt. Col. Garry P. Bishop said that approximately 250 insurgents were killed during the fighting in the city since Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched an uprising last month. Four U.S. soldiers were killed also, and over 50 were wounded.
Bishop said that Karbala is "firmly in control of Iraqi security forces" that work in conjunction with U.S. forces.
Litter strewn streets of western Karbala were playgrounds for hundreds of kids, some cautious of the troops. Others gave them thumbs up, following every move they made. Iraqi police sat in the shade with their Kalashnikov rifles at the ready.
Cruising in Humvees and armored personnel carriers through narrow streets, U.S. soldiers from the 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Division, braved the heat to ride on the momentum opened up by the lack of fighting and start working on reconstruction projects in this town.
The last three weeks have seen some of the fiercest urban warfare during the war in Iraq (news - web sites) in the area of town, known as the Old City, close to the two of the most sacred shrines for Shiite Muslims.
The fighting left the area adjacent to the shrines in apocalyptic scenes of ruin. In contrast, the shrines of Imam Abbas and Imam Hussein remain intact.
There were no plans to repair that damage in the first phase of planned reconstruction of the town, the military said.
But officers said that they want to start repairing and rebuilding the infrastructure of other areas of the city immediately.
"We want to do something visible so they can see that things are changing," said Lt. Col. John Kem, the commander of the 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Division. Kem said that their intention is to pump some money into the local economy by providing work on the repairs and the reconstruction projects, worth some $400,000. The plan is to get local contractors who would start working on rebuilding schools, water pumps, hospitals and sewer systems in this city of 600,000 inhabitants.
Cpt. Eric Lindberg, 26, of Fort Belvoir, Va., walked slowly and cautiously the streets which only two days ago proved at times lethal for the troops.
"How much electricity do you have per day?" he asked a group of men gathered around him.
"Three hours," responded Halim Amran, 36 a carpenter and a father of one.
But electricity was not what Halim said they lacked the most.
"We need security so we can sleep ... and work so we can buy food," he said. Halim claimed he makes barely $3 per day, when there is work.
In the meantime, five year old Fatma, her red flowery dress fluttering in the summer wind, was laughing, as she bowed her head. She was born blind in a Karbala slum. With one hand she held her fathers hand while the other she stretched for a handshake. Lindberg, took her hand and shook it.Other kids looked in amazement.
As the convoy took off, Fatma and the rest of the children waived. Their parents looked away.
From (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040524/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_karbala&cid=540&ncid=1473)
KARBALA, Iraq - Fatma Haidar laughed as her father led her toward the clanking sound of the U.S. Army vehicles. After weeks of heavy clashes, U.S. soldiers used the relative peace to walk the streets of Karbala, checking damage and planning how to rebuild schools, the water treatment plant and hospitals.
Cars were back on the streets, honking as kids played soccer in a dusty pitch. Iraqi police, who disappeared in mid-April, was back patrolling the Old City, scene of fighting until Friday. Now, it's the Shiite Muslim militiamen who have left.
As a sign of the new calm, hospital officials said that in the last three days no patients sought treatment for gunshot wounds.
Lt. Col. Garry P. Bishop said that approximately 250 insurgents were killed during the fighting in the city since Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched an uprising last month. Four U.S. soldiers were killed also, and over 50 were wounded.
Bishop said that Karbala is "firmly in control of Iraqi security forces" that work in conjunction with U.S. forces.
Litter strewn streets of western Karbala were playgrounds for hundreds of kids, some cautious of the troops. Others gave them thumbs up, following every move they made. Iraqi police sat in the shade with their Kalashnikov rifles at the ready.
Cruising in Humvees and armored personnel carriers through narrow streets, U.S. soldiers from the 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Division, braved the heat to ride on the momentum opened up by the lack of fighting and start working on reconstruction projects in this town.
The last three weeks have seen some of the fiercest urban warfare during the war in Iraq (news - web sites) in the area of town, known as the Old City, close to the two of the most sacred shrines for Shiite Muslims.
The fighting left the area adjacent to the shrines in apocalyptic scenes of ruin. In contrast, the shrines of Imam Abbas and Imam Hussein remain intact.
There were no plans to repair that damage in the first phase of planned reconstruction of the town, the military said.
But officers said that they want to start repairing and rebuilding the infrastructure of other areas of the city immediately.
"We want to do something visible so they can see that things are changing," said Lt. Col. John Kem, the commander of the 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Division. Kem said that their intention is to pump some money into the local economy by providing work on the repairs and the reconstruction projects, worth some $400,000. The plan is to get local contractors who would start working on rebuilding schools, water pumps, hospitals and sewer systems in this city of 600,000 inhabitants.
Cpt. Eric Lindberg, 26, of Fort Belvoir, Va., walked slowly and cautiously the streets which only two days ago proved at times lethal for the troops.
"How much electricity do you have per day?" he asked a group of men gathered around him.
"Three hours," responded Halim Amran, 36 a carpenter and a father of one.
But electricity was not what Halim said they lacked the most.
"We need security so we can sleep ... and work so we can buy food," he said. Halim claimed he makes barely $3 per day, when there is work.
In the meantime, five year old Fatma, her red flowery dress fluttering in the summer wind, was laughing, as she bowed her head. She was born blind in a Karbala slum. With one hand she held her fathers hand while the other she stretched for a handshake. Lindberg, took her hand and shook it.Other kids looked in amazement.
As the convoy took off, Fatma and the rest of the children waived. Their parents looked away.
From (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040524/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_karbala&cid=540&ncid=1473)