Soldiers work to get out vote in Ramadi

[freeandfun1]

Soldiers work to get out vote in Ramadi

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, January 20, 2005

RAMADI, Iraq — American soldiers are blanketing the streets and shops of Ramadi with information on the upcoming elections, trying to encourage people to vote in a city where security of polling sites is threatened by insurgents.

Winding through the dusty streets of Tamim, a district on the southwest edge of Ramadi, soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry handed out colorful fliers and instruction sheets Tuesday.

Sometimes they were greeted by smiles, sometimes by indifference and sometimes by hostile glares.

“Election information! Go vote,” called out Sgt. 1st Class Jefferson Pridgen, handing out fliers in one of Tamim’s marketplaces.

“Saddam will not be on the ballot this year,” he added with a laugh.

Nearby, Staff Sgt. Ricky Thomas, a 29-year-old scout platoon member from Ville Platt, La., did the same, trying short phrases of Arabic with the people he encountered.

Most people took the pamphlets, nodded or smiled, and put the papers in their pockets or displayed them on tables or shop windows. But the free-election concept is new to many Iraqis.

One man asked soldiers when he would get paid for his vote. Another thought the informational handouts were ballots.

In a small medical clinic, a female staff member — who understood English, but spoke Arabic — wanted to know where the polling stations in Tamim would be. U.S. military officials and the Independent Election Commission of Iraq are waiting to announce that information until a few days before the election, not wanting to give insurgents time to destroy the locations before the vote.

Pridgen, a 42-year-old artillery forward observer-turned civil affairs officer, also used the day to see how well the reconstruction effort was going.

“You can gauge the local economy a lot by the quality of goods people are buying and selling,” he said, pointing out markets with fresh fruit and clothing stores with new, brightly colored fabrics and relatively expensive shoes. “A few months back, a lot of it was junk. Now you’re starting to see good stuff for sale and nice cars on the street.”

Quality and price are relative — Tamim is a largely poor area, with garbage piling on many streets and intermittent electrical and water service. Civil affairs teams have been hiring contractors to fix both problems.

Intelligence officials with the 2nd Brigade say they believe the insurgents have been pumping more men and resources into the Tamim area as signs of progress increase. U.S. troops are expecting more attacks in the district as the election nears, and have patrolled the streets aggressively looking for weapons and fighters. The soldiers are among the 3,500 2nd Infantry Division soldiers sent to Iraq from South Korea last fall.

The soldiers, shadowed closely by armored Humvees, had a few tense moments Tuesday. One visibly angry man in a long purple robe took the fliers he was handed and immediately tore them apart. Then he followed Pridgen, tearing up the fliers he handed to other people.

“You can tear as many up as you want. We’ll be here every day. We’ll bring more,” one soldier told the man. Another Iraqi man on the street told soldiers the first man was angry because Americans had killed members of his family.

A few minutes later, a soldier fired warning shots at a vehicle that came too close to the patrol. Civilians in the marketplace ran for cover, but quickly came back onto the streets when it was clear no firefight was going to take place.

 

[Annie]

Thank God for our troops. I am awed and amazed at their diplomatic value.