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My brother was interviewed on NPR radio yesterday.
Lt Michael Stallings
I gotta tell myself at the end of the day, I can go home away from the idiots, he's stuck over there, and they have weapons....
Here's his part of the interview.
On March 14, U.S. and Iraqi forces rolled into Shakarat to commandeer the tiny bridge over the canal. Army Lt. Michael Stallings explains the strategic importance of controlling the bridge.
"It became a key hub for the insurgents because so many roads intersected here, and this is the only crossing of the Marrouk Canal in this breadbasket area," he says. "So in the Sunni-controlled area, this was their main lifeline. But now we own it."
Stallings says insurgent groups terrorized the local people, and that they beheaded a retired police officer. "They pulled everybody out of their houses to watch it," he says.
The U.S. and Iraqi military intend to stay. They've taken over homes along the main road, and offered compensation to the owners. One of their main outposts is the biggest and nicest house in the street, but the owner has yet to be compensated.
Stallings tells a member of the owner's family that the forces aren't prepared to make payments yet.
"We've been here less than a week," Stallings says. "There are a lot of claims that we have to handle and we don't come into town with a trunk of money to hand people cash for the things that have happened."
Stallings is assailed by questions from the locals. He's not helped by a short Iraqi soldier at his elbow asking how much longer they have to stay in Shakarat. The soldier complains he's working 12-hour shifts, hasn't had time off, and hasn't been paid.
Stallings becomes frustrated.
"Yes, we're going to be here as long as we need to be to secure the people of Iraq," he tells the Iraqi soldier. "You need to talk to your chain of command, your commander, your platoon leader... to ask them these questions, not me. I only run the American part of things; your commander runs the Iraqi part of things."
Shopkeeper Fadhil Kadhmi wants the U.S. military to allow cars over the bridge again so he can sell his crops to buyers coming from other parts of the country.
"We have no connection with the insurgents," he says. "We don't know who they are or where they come from. This operation is for them, but it's been six days and we have nothing left to eat."
Other Iraqis also want the bridge opened. But the U.S. military says it's too soon. Iraqi soldiers call men approaching the bridge to lift their shirts to make sure they're not wearing explosives. A suicide bomber killed an Iraqi child here this past weekend.
Jamal Aloun, 61, sits with other Iraqis outside a store watching the bulldozers work. He says he feels better now after this latest operation, and wants the military to stay.
"We need electricity, we need water, we need this garbage removed. That's what everyone is now asking for."
He's told it's coming, along with the reconstruction of the local school, which only last week bore the flag of al-Qaida, the U.S. military says. He replies "inshallah," God willing, and those standing with him say the same.
Lt Michael Stallings
I gotta tell myself at the end of the day, I can go home away from the idiots, he's stuck over there, and they have weapons....
Here's his part of the interview.
On March 14, U.S. and Iraqi forces rolled into Shakarat to commandeer the tiny bridge over the canal. Army Lt. Michael Stallings explains the strategic importance of controlling the bridge.
"It became a key hub for the insurgents because so many roads intersected here, and this is the only crossing of the Marrouk Canal in this breadbasket area," he says. "So in the Sunni-controlled area, this was their main lifeline. But now we own it."
Stallings says insurgent groups terrorized the local people, and that they beheaded a retired police officer. "They pulled everybody out of their houses to watch it," he says.
The U.S. and Iraqi military intend to stay. They've taken over homes along the main road, and offered compensation to the owners. One of their main outposts is the biggest and nicest house in the street, but the owner has yet to be compensated.
Stallings tells a member of the owner's family that the forces aren't prepared to make payments yet.
"We've been here less than a week," Stallings says. "There are a lot of claims that we have to handle and we don't come into town with a trunk of money to hand people cash for the things that have happened."
Stallings is assailed by questions from the locals. He's not helped by a short Iraqi soldier at his elbow asking how much longer they have to stay in Shakarat. The soldier complains he's working 12-hour shifts, hasn't had time off, and hasn't been paid.
Stallings becomes frustrated.
"Yes, we're going to be here as long as we need to be to secure the people of Iraq," he tells the Iraqi soldier. "You need to talk to your chain of command, your commander, your platoon leader... to ask them these questions, not me. I only run the American part of things; your commander runs the Iraqi part of things."
Shopkeeper Fadhil Kadhmi wants the U.S. military to allow cars over the bridge again so he can sell his crops to buyers coming from other parts of the country.
"We have no connection with the insurgents," he says. "We don't know who they are or where they come from. This operation is for them, but it's been six days and we have nothing left to eat."
Other Iraqis also want the bridge opened. But the U.S. military says it's too soon. Iraqi soldiers call men approaching the bridge to lift their shirts to make sure they're not wearing explosives. A suicide bomber killed an Iraqi child here this past weekend.
Jamal Aloun, 61, sits with other Iraqis outside a store watching the bulldozers work. He says he feels better now after this latest operation, and wants the military to stay.
"We need electricity, we need water, we need this garbage removed. That's what everyone is now asking for."
He's told it's coming, along with the reconstruction of the local school, which only last week bore the flag of al-Qaida, the U.S. military says. He replies "inshallah," God willing, and those standing with him say the same.