Border town moves toward stability
Sniper haven changed through US campaigns
HUSAYBAH, Iraq -- It's midday in this farming-and-smuggling town on the Syrian border, and the market square is bustling.
A colorful array of fruits and vegetables and plump fish from both sides of the border are for sale in stalls along the muddy main street. The smell of freshly baked bread saturates the air. The jewelry stores, bridal salon, Internet cafe, pharmacy, and bicycle and butcher shops are crowded with customers. So is the pool hall.
"Business is good," Ahmed Ratib, the town cobbler, said as he nailed new heels on worn-down shoes. "Not like in the past."
Two years ago, the same streets were fraught with roadside bombs and snipers, and sellers and buyers stayed away. The area was considered too dangerous even for a quick tour by a US general in his armored Humvee.
The Qaim region routinely was described as an out-of-control "wild west" where the Marines were fighting with only limited success to control the smuggling of insurgent fighters and weapons from Syria.
In a country with areas where the United States has failed or had limited progress toward stabilization, Husaybah and the surrounding Qaim region stand out as a success, officials said.
A State Department counterinsurgency specialist, who is based in Iraq, lists Qaim as "very good," Fallujah as "good but backsliding," and Ramadi as "a mess" (a description the commanding officer there disputes).
The effort has combined US military and economic power, backed by help from the municipal and tribal leadership.
In the fall of 2005, the Marines launched a massive effort called Operation Steel Curtain to find weapon caches and confront insurgent sanctuaries in this part of Anbar Province. A follow-up campaign, Operation Titanium, is under way to the northeast of Husaybah, along both sides of the Euphrates River.
The United States also has several improvement projects under way, including a massive 10-lane port of entry from Syria that should provide an economic boost. Marines are assisting the health clinic and hospital, and the United States is funding construction of a job center and vehicle registration site.
Despite the improvement, problems persist.
Insurgents routinely hijack gasoline trucks coming from Baghdad and a city council member recently was arrested for insurgent activity.
Hundreds of families are said to be coming here to escape Baghdad, which could lead to a struggle for housing and jobs.
"We had better get some tents and be ready," said Captain Sean Wilson, commander of Kilo Company, Third Battalion, Fourth Regiment.
But Husaybah also has major advantages, including a mayor who refuses to be intimidated and has brokered a deal with local sheiks for their support in fighting insurgents. The sheiks, whose tribes are spread on both sides of the border, were reluctant but committed themselves last fall to the fight.
Calling themselves the Protectors of the Desert, the sheiks have vowed to eliminate insurgents. To avoid the rise of private militias, US officials have asked that the sheiks instead urge tribal members to carry on the fight by joining the police or army.
Marines are encouraged to spread the idea that the United States is not an occupying power but a transition force until Iraqi security forces are ready to take charge.
"We try to be genuine: to show them we're trying to make things better," said Lance Corporal Carey Tennison, 26, of San Antonio. "We appreciate that they want to control their own town. They just don't how to do it yet." 