Posted by
Cary Wesberry on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 12:18:33 AM
BAGHDAD— U.S. Marines continued counterinsurgency operations in Haditha Sunday in an effort to win the hearts and minds of Iraqi citizens.
“Showing a presence in the area does a lot more than people would think,” said U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Joseph A. Cervantes, squad leader, 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2. “We mainly do two types of patrols, one being security patrols, which are designed to have a deterrent effect on anything that happens in the area.”
Marines assigned to 1st Sqd., 3rd Plt., conduct up to three patrols a day. Patrols allow Marines to find the enemy and learn about the populace.
“We also do ‘meet and greet’ patrols. We go out and meet the families, and we start a relationship with them,” said Cervantes. “We speak to them and get their feelings on current situations and take their suggestions on what could be done differently in the city.”
The locals warmed up to the Marines, and now talk to them regularly.
Read more about the successes of our soldiers in the battlefield at Iraq's Inconvenient Truth every day. One of few aside from Michael Yon and Bill Roggio that report, believe it or not, on victories instead of only death and carnage and mutilation.