Mentoring: Sgt John Knox, 1 Scots, looks on as his Iraqi colleague rests during a patrol of East Rashid

Report: Heidi Mines
Pictures: Mike Weston

AT first glance the neat rows of houses, narrow streets and welcoming cul-de-sacs seem normal enough.

It’s only as the eyes adjust to the glare of the sun that you notice the scars left by fierce fighting and the rubble-filled gaps where homes once stood.

The bloodstains on the pavements are a stark reminder that we are on a foot patrol in the most dangerous city in the world.

“Get ready to run,” shouts CSgt Dean Fraser, 1 Scots, as we approach an open area with a potential sniper threat. He has been based in Baghdad with five other members of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland for the past three months.
With 11 US soldiers they form the Military Transition Team (MiTT) and their role is to train and mentor Iraqi Army units patrolling residential areas or muhallas.

Although Baghdad is predominantly the responsibility of the US military, the small team of Royal Scots Borderers has followed an Iraqi Army battalion trained in Basra to East Rashid, a central district of Baghdad.

CSgt Fraser explains that following a recent American surge in Baghdad, Basra-based units of the Iraqi Army have been asked to assist in the north.

“We are here because the Iraqi battalion is from the 10th Division based in the Basra area. They have all been trained by us so we have moved to Baghdad with them to help continue their training.”

As our patrol moves down another narrow street, Sgt George Smith, 1 Scots, keeps a watchful eye on Iraqi 2iC Sgt Maj Uda Mhaibes Ajeef.

“Once the training is completed in Basra it doesn’t just stop,” he says. “I am taking a mentoring role and making sure that the 2iC is keeping to the brief issued earlier by the patrol commander and to steer him in the right direction if I think he is moving away from the correct protocol.”

The reason for deploying Iraqi soldiers on the ground in East Rashid is to try to win the support of the local community and to encourage people to move back to their homes.

It is not long before residents approach members of the patrol, many complaining that they have lived without electricity for more than two years. They want the Iraqi Army to help by making the provision of power their top priority.

Our patrol stops at the home of a middle-aged woman who invites us into her modest front garden, which is dominated by a large birdcage. She tells us that she is positive about the future and says: “We welcome the Iraqi Army, we want them to do their best to make the area better and listen to people’s problems and respond to them.”

The security of the district is complicated by the fact that the Iraqi soldiers share the responsibility with the Sons of Iraq, a well-armed neighbourhood watch-style force funded by the Americans.

As CSgt Fraser leads us through the winding streets he tells us to keep up the pace and stay close to the walls. We have now reached the once bustling shopping hub of 60th Street, a stretch of road vital to the rebuilding of the whole district.

He explains that the American government is offering grants to former shopkeepers under an initiative to help them rebuild the area by encouraging them to open up for business.

CSgt Fraser says: “It is a very difficult and slow-moving process and our aim is to encourage the people who fled from here to come back to their homes, but you can’t expect people to want to return to an area with no power or water supply.”

Sgt John Knox explains that in the short time they have patrolled East Rashid he has seen an improvement. “In just over a month the shops at the north end of 60th Street have started to open and there are more people moving around the area.”

Although some progress is being made, the area is still prone to violence and volatile incidents. An Iraqi soldier had been killed on 60th Street just a few days before Soldier’s
visit and another had been shot and injured soon after.

“It would be stupid to say you don’t worry about the constant threat but you just have to remain focused. We are constantly aware of what the threats are and where they can be,” says CSgt Fraser. “A number of IEDs have been found in the Rashid district by the Iraqi Army and successfully destroyed.”

The battle on the streets of Baghdad is now one for hearts and minds, encouraging local people to have confidence in their own army.

Sgt Smith says: “I volunteered for this role because we are out on the streets and interacting with the locals. There is a respect between the Iraqi soldiers and us. We are professionals and we are teaching them to be professionals.”

Despite Baghdad’s reputation, our patrol passes without incident, although we hear an explosion in the distance as we return to the Iraqi unit’s safe house. For two hours we have been met with nothing but courtesy and kindness from the people who live and work on these tense and dangerous streets.

As this issue went to press 1 Scots were returning south to join colleagues at the Division Training Centre in Shaiba.