Marines Start Leaving Baghdad, Army Takes Over

[thedrifter]

Marines Start Leaving Baghdad, Army Takes Over
Sat April 19, 2003 08:44 AM ET




By Matthew Green

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Marines who seized much of Baghdad earlier this month started pulling out of the Iraqi capital on Saturday, handing over control to U.S. Army units as the military's mission moves from combat to policing.

Two battalions -- roughly 1,600 Marines -- left Baghdad on Saturday to head south to an assembly area some 25-30 miles northeast of the town of Kerbala, Marine officers said.

Marines strapped their backpacks onto armored personnel carriers and began trundling out of the city. Two departing Marines sitting on top of one vehicle flashed victory V-signs at a Reuters television team as they passed.

"A couple of the units left today," said Major Dan Smith of the U.S. Marines' 1st Tank Battalion, adding that they would carry on with tasks similar to those they had begun in Baghdad.

"It's basically nation-building, providing security, making sure the water, electricity, sanitation and all that kind of thing is functioning," he told Reuters in eastern Baghdad.

"They're going to meet with the local leadership and begin to stand up local governments, or facilitate governments that may already be there."

The Marines' move is part of a plan to reorganize the overall pattern of U.S. forces in Iraq. Troops from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division will remain in Baghdad, while the 4th Infantry Division will cover the northern part of the country.

Baghdad is currently divided between Marines who control the capital east of the river Tigris, and Army units occupying the western half, but the handover will bring the city under the control of a single commander. Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division moved into areas east of the Tigris on Saturday.

VANGUARD STRIKE FORCE

Senior officers say there are about 15,000 U.S. Marines deployed in and around Baghdad.

The Marine Corps is a distinct organisation from the U.S. Army, designed primarily as a vanguard strike force. The much larger Army has more resources to deal with the reconstruction and policing role required in the capital, where many residents are deprived of electricity and live in fear of looters.

More Marine units are expected to head south on Sunday, with much of the Marine force likely to vacate the capital within the next few days, officers say.

Smith said the Marines would continue to hunt for members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party and Fedayeen militia, as well as "sensitive sites" -- facilities that may have been associated with the production of weapons of mass destruction.

Smith said the Marines were not planning to enter the holy cities of Kerbala and Najaf until around April 26 due to a major Shi'ite pilgrimage and will instead remain in "tactical assembly areas" outside the cities.

Marines expect up to 200,000 Shi'ite Muslims to converge in the area around the towns for the biggest pilgrimage of its kind in more than 20 years, clogging roads and city streets.


Sempers,

Roger