“If you leave, we will have a civil war,” Iraqis tell Ukrainian peacekeepers
Sabotage and terrorist attacks by local paramilitary groups remain one of the major factors that negatively affect the situation in Iraq. The militants have switched recently from open attacks on coalition servicemen to land mine warfare. One of the Saddam Hussein followers’ techniques is known as devil chain. This makes it possible to destroy up to three vehicles literally in a few minutes. The method is simple: the first vehicle is blown up by a charge laid on the road beforehand. The second and third vehicles come under grenade launcher and small arms fire respectively. Incidentally, the coalition force command believes that the grenade launcher is one of the most effective weapons used by the attackers.
It should be noted that the latter are constantly improving their techniques and tactics of employing homemade explosive devices. A few days ago combat engineers found a homemade explosive device tied to a date palm trunk in western Baghdad. The terrorists used an artillery shell as an explosive. This bomb could be set off by an ordinary TV remote control.
The Ukrainian peacekeepers, as part of the Central South multinational division, have been carrying out independent missions in Wasit province since August 28. And although this part of Iraq is considered relatively calm, our boys face very real danger. No sooner had a month passed as Ukrainians confronted the smell of war. Mines went off twice under patrolling armored vehicles, but no peacekeepers were injured because they were inside their APC. Peacekeeping, like military service in general, is a special activity that involves mortal danger. This is common knowledge. The recent incident on the Iran- Iraq border, when a Ukrainian soldier had to resort to arms, is convincing proof of this.
While visiting our peacekeepers in Iraq, Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk emphasized that safety is a top priority task for all commanders. “You must fulfill the mission with honor, as befits Ukrainians, but not at any price. You must take risks only when there is an open threat to your life or if you must save a comrade,” Mr. Marchuk noted. This is quite a timely order, for in their first month of service in Wasit province alone, the Ukrainian peacekeepers have detained over 100 people, half of them for illegal possession of arms, and seized almost 2000 explosive items and 49 weapon. Indeed, we do not have the psychological barrier with the Iraqis that the Americans naturally feel after the hostilities. Yet, we should not idealize the situation, as some tend to do here in Ukraine.
Iraq is going through an extremely difficult period of what amounts to a civil war. After decades the Saddam Hussein regime has given way to a complicated process of revival and consolidation. There are the central authorities, Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, local authorities, Baath Party members, plus hundreds of thousands of unemployed retired military with no job prospects. These are people who have been taught to fight. This is a serious problem that nobody knows how to solve. Danger emanates from not only the terrorist organizations but also from common criminals and all kinds of adventurists who were released from prison after the war, emigrated to Iran, and are now returning to Iraq.
In this situation, bulletproof vests alone will not solve the problem, although even the Americans consider the Ukrainian vests better than theirs. For this reason the Ministry of Defense is taking an integrated approach to security matters. This includes establishing a favorable climate around our contingent, forging close contacts with local government bodies, coordination and cooperation with all the coalition force contingents, contacts with the local populace, and so on.
An important component of security also lies in such purely military things as providing the servicemen with everything necessary, the creation of decent service and recreation conditions, effective organization of mission execution, strict observance of orders, safety rules, regulations on handling weapons, etc.
According to Minister Marchuk, participation of the defense ministry delegation in the ceremony, in which the US First Marine Expeditionary Force transferred authority to the Central-South Multinational Division, was just one of the aims of his visit to Iraq. The main thing was to see the conditions in which our peacekeepers live and serve, to meet representatives of the interim administration and provincial leaders, and to find out how the latter treat the Ukrainians.
The overall preparedness of the Fifth Detached Mechanized Brigade was judged quite satisfactory, while such things as the servicemen’s health, hygiene, medical care, and meals deserve excellent marks. Incidentally, it is one thing compare the comfort of our servicemen in Ukraine and in Iraq, but if you look at the conditions in which the Ukrainian peacekeepers and, say, US marines live in Iraq, this is quite another. The latter, oddly enough, do not know what an air conditioner or bed linen is, and they eat nothing but packaged food. The US command believes comfortable conditions only pamper the soldiers.
It is gratifying that Major General Serhiy Bezlushchenko, CO of the Fifth Detached Mechanized Brigade, managed to achieve complete mutual understanding with the local authorities in a short time. Moreover, the governor and the police chief of Wasit province offered thanks to Mr. Marchuk and the commanders during a meeting at the brigade’s headquarters in Al-Qut. They said they treat the Ukrainians as brothers. They know our country very well because many specialists studied in Ukraine, while many Ukrainians in turn worked in Iraq. And what can be considered the highest appreciation of the peacekeeping brigade’s job were the words, “If you leave, we will have a civil war.”
THE DAY’S REFERENCE
The Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq numbers 1,651 servicemen, including eleven as part of the Multinational Coalition Staff (Baghdad), 26 as part of the Multinational Division Central-South staff (Babylon), and 1,614 in the Fifth Brigade (Al-Qut, Fort, Es-Suvaira). It also has 348 pieces of equipment, including 102 armored vehicles, 246 automobiles, and 90 trailers.
