Barnes Blog
As the conflict in Iraq continues, U.S. News has dispatched Pentagon correspondent Julian E. Barnes for a frontline view. Barnes, who has periodically reported from Iraq since the war began in 2003, is blogging his impressions for usnews.com.
Feast on the farm but short on supplies
In the very small and very dusty Iraqi farming village of Mahuz today, Lt. Col. Marc Hutson, commander of the 101st Division's 1-327 infantry battalion, paid a visit to Sheik Kamel Jasim, a member of the large al Jabouri tribe. Hutson's troops handed out donated school supplies, toys, clothes, and medicine. Sheik Kamel laid out a huge spread of chicken, lamb, stuffed grape leaves, pickles, and cucumber salad.
Judging from the large size of the feast and relatively small amount of supplies, the Americans got the better end of the deal.
But Sheik Kamel has long-term plans. And in addition to having good manners, he clearly sees the food as an investment in the future. Previous American units helped him build a community center. But months after the building was completed, it is still without power. Kamel hopes Hutson can help him finish that project, jump-start an uncompleted project to build a well, and provide aid for the village schools.
Because the meetinghouse and well are old projects, Hutson is confident he can get the money or material to complete them. Fixing the schools is more complicated. The Americans have stopped doling out money for projects of their own choosing. Funds for fixing the school will have to go through the provincial council in Kirkuk.
Still, while his soldiers were handing out clothes and medicine, Hutson visited every classroom in the village, talking to the elementary-school children, quizzing them on their English, and urging them to study.
"Learn your lessons well," Hutson told one class of third graders. "With an education, there are many things you can do, and your country needs you."
The elementary school for boys was in relatively good shape, and all the students had individual desks. Next door, the girls' school was, perhaps unsurprisingly, in far worse shape. The classrooms were packed, with young girls seated tightly together on benches. Some walls were raw cinderblock. Windows were cracked and missing. Old kerosene heaters leaked fumes throughout the school.
"We will look at what we can do to help your school," Hutson told the sheik after the visit. "It's important to teach your young men and women."
The 101st, sticks, and carrots
Goodwill operations seem almost as common as major raids and neighborhood searches, at least for the 101st Division's 1-327 infantry battalion. Since the fall of Baghdad, American military units have been engaged, at different levels of intensity, in various goodwill projects and outreach. But 21/2 years into the war, the Americans seem to be becoming a lot more sophisticated in how they conduct and discuss those missions.
The 101st seems to have a much deeper appreciation and understanding of the region it oversees than other units have had. The division soldiers seem to understand the factionalism better and also better appreciate the limits of their understanding. For example, Lt. Col. Marc Hutson, the commander of the battalion, can talk in some detail about the succession battles going on inside the larger tribes in his region.
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