Active Unit News

Abandoned weapons pour into black market
Tue Apr 22, 7:22 AM ET Add Top Stories - USA TODAY to My Yahoo!
Steven Komarow USA TODAY
TIKRIT, Iraq (news - web sites) -- The U.S. Army is sending troops to Iraq's abandoned military bases because the weapons left behind are flowing into the black market. Col. Don Campbell, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said the military base near this town -- Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s hometown -- is full of guns, grenade launchers, heavy weapons and ammunition. Even the base hospital was a weapons storehouse. ''I've never seen so much stuff,'' Campbell said. Sunday night, soldiers from the brigade's 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry were sent to the base and confronted a group of intruders. The Americans killed 16, Campbell said. No Americans were hurt. But already, ''these weapons are in the civilian populace,'' the colonel said. U.S. commanders say weapons caches all over Iraq remain one of the biggest problems they face. Army Gen. William Wallace, the V Corps commander, ordered artillery units whose firing missions are over to help collect abandoned weapons and ammunition. Overall, soldiers are finding tens of thousands of weapons, ranging from ancient Enfield rifles to SA-7 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons to missiles. Hundreds of soldiers, using the heavy-duty trucks that normally carry ammunition to the front, have been told to gather and transport the weapons to gathering points. One such task force, operating south of Baghdad, has collected more than 300 tons of weapons and ammunition. The weapons will be destroyed. Another major concern is at Taji air base, just north of Baghdad and a few miles from the main U.S. Army base at Baghdad International Airport. Inside Taji's 30 miles of fence are unexplored bunkers, buildings and abandoned vehicles full of ordnance. Looting began soon after U.S. forces pushed through the area. Now, black marketeers are ''dealing weapons (from the base) farther out from the city,'' said Col. Kevin Stramara, commander of the 4th Infantry's artillery. Stramara is overseeing the cleanup. ''Soldiers have got to be on their toes'' because of all the gunfire in the area, he said. Another problem with weapons has flared in Baghdad. When the lights blinked back on in one city neighborhood Monday after nearly three weeks of darkness, some residents celebrated by firing their rifles in the air. The volley of shots brought a team of eight U.S. Army soldiers into the Arasat India neighborhood of south Baghdad to hunt down the gunmen. In the end, they confiscated a Kalashnikov rifle from a 21-year-old security guard. For Iraqis, gunfire celebrates everything from soccer victories to weddings. The quick response from U.S. forces revealed the cultural gap between the more than 5 million Baghdad residents and the Americans who wield authority over them. U.S. Army Spc. Gordon Brown of Peoria, Ill., said Iraqis who fired weapons were likely to have them confiscated. That could be a daunting task in Baghdad, where almost every family possesses at least one weapon. ''We won't take away everyone's weapons,'' Brown said. ''It depends what you're doing with them. If someone's defending his home, we understand that. But if they're firing randomly in the air, they'll lose that privilege.''