Preparing Marines for Iraq

WASHINGTON, 27 March 2004 — Maj. Gen. James F. Amos, commander of the third Marine Aircraft Wing, asked me if I would train Marines being deployed to Iraq. As Arab News’ Washington correspondent, I had been “embedded” with MWSG 37 during the Iraq War, so I was pleased to help.

Word was already circulating throughout Washington that the Marines were planning operational changes in Iraq. Without criticizing the Army’s heavy-handed tactics on the ground there, the Marines were quietly working on changing operational tactics.

During the Iraq War, I got to know some of their tactics. Their orders from their commanders were to “win the hearts and the minds of the Iraqi people.” They were tough when they had to be, but also thoughtful and considerate.

But now, as they prepare to relieve the Army in some parts of Iraq, the Marines are formulating new ways to interact with civilians, using restraint in the use of force and emphasizing cultural sensitivity.

Marine commanders, recognize the Iraqi population is angered by current military tactics such as knocking down doors of houses and shops, demolishing buildings, flattening fruit orchards, firing artillery in civilian areas and isolating entire neighborhoods with barbed wire fences. Many Iraqis have accused the Americans of using strong-arm tactics employed by the Israeli Army against Palestinians in the occupied territories. Many Arabs also believe the Israelis are coaching American forces how to use these tactics.

According to an internal Marine document, platoons of Marines soon to arrive in Iraq intend to live among Iraqis in their towns and villages while training the Iraqi police and civil defense forces. These units will resemble an armed version of the Peace Corps, and will be fully informed about Iraqi culture, customs and Islamic traditions.

Marine officers told the Washington Post they were “also aiming for more restraint in the use of force and intend to limit the use of heavy weapons, using bombs and weapons as a last resort. That contrasts with Army operations, in which air strikes and artillery were sometimes used to intimidate at the outset of confrontations.”

“I’m appalled at the current heavy-handed use of air [strikes] and artillery in Iraq,” a Marine officer told a journalist recently: “Success in a counterinsurgency environment is based on winning popular support, not blowing up people’s houses.”

“I think the way we do business as Marines will play an important part. I saw how the Army acted in Tikrit, which is why we left,” another officer recently told me. “When you treat every Iraqi as a bad guy, eventually they will assume that role.”

In order to distinguish their presence from other occupying troops in Iraq, Marines are planning to wear “woodland digital” camouflage uniforms, instead of the lighter toned desert cammies worn by the Army.

“Change is good. It doesn’t mean we’ve done better or worse, or that the Army is wrong. (The uniforms) just signify that different coalition forces are coming into the area. Different people will be working with the Iraqi people,” Lt. Col. Clarke Lethin told me recently at Camp Pendleton, California.

It would be my job to help these deploying Marines figure out how to re-establish a good rapport with civilians, and rebuild the loss of trust that took place when the Marines left last year.

But where to begin? I was able to seek the advice of Lubna Ismail, president of Connecting Cultures, a Washington-based company specializing in training workshops to build “cultural competency and sensitivity.”

Lubna, an Egyptian-American, teaches her workshop about Islam and Arab-American communities to the CIA, FBI and law-enforcement officers. Not only did she generously offer me her presentation outline, but also taught me how to deliver it.

The resulting production was a 15-minute video introduction about Muslim sensitivity and Islam, plus a 90-minute power-point presentation, customized for the Marines.

As I flew out to California, I prepared with a zeal I last experienced in preparation for college entrance exams. I arrived in San Diego, picked up a rental car and drove up to Miramar, where I would give my first presentations. The next morning, and for the rest of the week, I began my series of two-hour presentations, twice daily, often in amphitheaters packed with as many as 500 Marines. I traveled from MAB Miramar, near San Diego, to Camp Pendleton, and from there to Twenty-nine Palms, out in the middle of the California desert near Nevada. While in Iraq, I remembered Marines had said Iraq was a lot better than Twenty-nine Palms. From what I saw, they were right.

Most of the Marines I briefed were youngsters aged 18 to 21. Some had never traveled outside their hometown, let alone their home state. Now they were preparing to be deployed to a country that I bet many could not have located on a map.

To me, the most important goal was to ensure that the information the Marines learned would help them reduce tensions, conflicts and misunderstandings; that it would contribute toward their safety and the safety of the people they encountered.

The Marines were briefed on Iraqi current social concerns, which included the US occupation of their country, outlining Iraqi religions was also significant, as some did not know that there are Christians and Jews in Iraq. From there, Marines were instructed about some of the basic differences between Shiites and Sunnis. I outlined Iraq’s ethnic population, Kurds in the North, Shiites in the South — I felt it would be dangerous to assume they knew that already.

From there I outlined perceptions Iraqis had of Americans as arrogant and boastful. “We think America is the best country in the world,” I said. “But every citizen believes their country is the best country in the world, which is why when Marines are in Iraq, they need to understand and be respectful of Iraqi culture and Islam.”

Americans are also perceived as being wasteful. I used the example of how an Army unit had left a camp with ready-to-eat meals scattered all over the ground. Muslims believe food is a gift from God, I said, and this country has endured hardships ranging from sanctions to a war that we cannot fathom. For us to throw food on the ground is not only insulting to poor people, but can be religiously insulting.

Americans are also perceived as disrespectful. This happens, I said, because they don’t know anything about Islam or the culture, which can easily create misunderstandings.

This led to a synopsis of Arab cultural values, including “a strong sense of destiny and fate,” “religion influences life, work and business;” and that “hierarchy, rank and formality are honored in society.”

To emphasize the importance of Islam in the Arab culture, I cited a recent Zogby poll taken in both the US and the Arab world.

Respondents were asked: “What are the three most important things in your life?” The top three answers from Americans were: “Family, quality of work, and friends.”

The Arabs answered: “Religion, family, quality of work.” Religion is clearly not a top priority with Americans, yet it was the first priority for Arabs. Army Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who lived for two years in Saudi Arabia before going to Iraq, has a good synopsis of this cultural difference: “In the US, religion is a big part of our life. In this part of the world, religion is their life.”

Allah, they learned, is the Arabic word for God, and in Iraq, Iraqi Christians will also call God “Allah.” Many Marines I lectured had a misconception that Allah was a strange, foreign god, and were surprised to learn Islam actually meant “surrender, submission, commitment and peace.”

(To be concluded)