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2-4-2003 Guardian War in the Gulf: Helmet off, hand outstretched, Black Watch CO greets the people By Gethin Chamberlain with the Black Watch in Zubayr Tam o'shanter perched atop his head, pistol secured in its holster on his belt, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Riddell-Webster, commanding officer of the Black Watch, is striding ahead through the crowded marketplace in the centre of Zubayr. Yesterday this street was thought still too dangerous to drive down in a soft-skinned Land Rover, but the CO has decided that enough is enough. The order has gone out that the Black Watch is going to patrol the streets of Zubayr on foot. The dozen or so officers and infantrymen chosen to accompany him on the first sortie have been told that they can keep their helmets on if they wish, but he will be donning his ToS with the distinctive red hackle of the Scottish regiment. A quintessentially British moment. It is 8am and already the town is teeming with people, pouring in from all around in battered trucks laden with tomatoes and carts towed by donkeys. The temperature is already into the high 20s. Out of the gate stride the British officers, the CO in the lead, chatting earnestly to the man by his side, divisional staff officer Lieutenant Colonel Roger Warren, a fluent Arabic speaker. Those gathered round the trucks of tomatoes look up, bemused, as the men approach, but the CO does not break his stride. Hand outstretched, he greets the first wary Iraqis on the edge of the gathering. The crowd parts and engulfs the men. The CO listens as Lt Col Warren addresses the crowd. They are not there to hurt anyone, he tells them, they are there to help the people of the town. Now the crowd has found its voice. They talk all at once, pointing to their mouths. Water is the most important thing, Lt Col, Warren tells the CO - they say they want water. It is coming soon, the CO assures them. The men talk at him again. The electricity is broken, they say. A team of engineers is on its way to fix it, the CO replies. A man in a luxuriant moustache and pristine white jellaba shoves his way to the front. The British are too aggressive, with all their tanks and their guns, he says. He shouts and waves his hands. Lt Col Warren listens, interrupting occasionally, soaking up their anger. They are still afraid, he tells the CO. They say that the old regime has not gone away, just moved to Basra. When the British leave, he explains, the people fear that the Ba'ath party will be back. The CO tries again. The old regime is not coming back. We are here to stay, he says. There has been regime change. Next to a shattered shop front, they stop. Bricks have fallen on to the pavement and the windows are gone. It was a barber's shop, Lt Col Warren explains. They say it was hit by a tank shell. Further along, a restaurant, its windows shattered. The men want compensation. This is the street where D company faced a real battle, the CO recalls. They were being hit with rocket-propelled grenades from all sides. It is not so surprising that there was some damage. He walks on, past sandbagged bunkers next to bags of grain, bundles of herbs stacked high on shop counters, jars of spices, pyramids of baby milk, bags of rice and lentils, bottles of Pepsi and orange fizzy drinks emblazoned with Arabic script, piles of vegetables laid out on the side of the road, fish gutted and stinking in the heat. They have plenty of food, the CO says, slightly exasperated, they don't need more food. And at the end of the street, a hospital. Inside, lines of women, clutching babies, waiting to be seen by the one doctor who is left. The CO offers him doctors, but the doctor tells him there are Iraqi doctors but they are in Basra and can't get to the hospital. He is angry but calming down. He says his name is Dr Basl and that if there is an engineer who can help then that might be good. Outside, the CO gets on to the radio, calling for engineers and for water to be brought to the hospital. The CO turns to survey the town. He says what is on his mind: water is everything now. It is win or lose in this town. We are going to win or lose this by getting them water. Pooled dispatch from Gethin Chamberlain of the Scotsman
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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