Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
August 24, 2007
Pg. 1
By Sharon Behn, Washington Times
BAGHDAD — During two tours totaling 26 months, Maj. Alfred Williams has dealt with insurgents, terrorists and lawless militias. But a giant sinkhole in a main street of one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods has him stumped.
"When I look into the hole, I just want to shoot myself and fall into it," he said, frustrated beyond all measure.
It all started in July.
The 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team had just taken control of a section of Baghdad"s fiercely Sunni and violent neighborhood of Dora.
Their mission: to clear out al Qaeda in Iraq elements, neutralize Shi'ite extremists, secure the streets and make the place livable once more for the roughly 20,000 Iraqis there.
Then came the abyss.
"The hole started, as best we can tell, with an [improvised explosive device] blast," said Maj. Williams, operations officer for the Stryker team.
"We think the IED was placed under the road where the main lines of water and sewage run, so when they blew it, they broke two main water lines and one sewage line," Maj. Williams said, a wad of chewing tobacco parked in his lower lip.
This particular section of Dora is a lower-middle class Sunni area just south of the Tigris River, built atop an old flood plain of fine, almost silty earth.
Mixed with water, the soil turns into sticky soup.
The first time the Stryker team saw the hole, it was about the size of a refrigerator. Figuring it was just a bomb crater and unaware there were burst pipes underneath, they drove their large 20-ton vehicles around it while patrolling the streets.
But on July 17th, when the hole swallowed a Humvee, the combat team realized there was a bigger problem.
"We brought a Stryker up and pulled it out of this giant hole, and now it's even bigger. It's like 20 feet deep and full of water," said Maj. Williams.
Dozens of phone calls and several meetings later, the Americans signed a contract with a local Iraqi man to pump out the water.
"He pumped for four days, and the water level decreased about two inches," Maj. Williams said.
"Nearby storm drains were clogged, and the more that man pumped, the more water poured into the streets and into people's houses."
By late July, the hole had taken over the entire width of the road while stagnant water sat on nearby streets.
The Americans, working with neighborhood leaders, found a contractor named Jaafar, who brought in pumping trucks to clear out the water, dumping tons of mud and water next to the hole. But he was not able to cap the broken pipes.
A bigger problem was that the sinkhole was competing with the Stryker team's existing priorities, driving out insurgents and bringing a degree of security back to the trash-filled neighborhood.
But something had to be done, so the Americans arranged another meeting with Jaafar and neighborhood leaders, and they persuaded local authorities to turn off the water, which also cut off water to thousands of households in the area.
"We hold ultimately the government responsible for the situation, and second the coalition forces because they are not pressing the government enough," said a white-haired Iraqi man hauling plastic containers filled with clean water around the neighborhood on a little wooden cart.
As he spoke, the sharp crack of a bullet forced him to duck into a driveway for cover, spilling his precious cargo.
A few weeks later, a new water pipe had been installed and everyone figured the problem had been solved.
But then, sewage started seeping everywhere. The hole filled back up with a liquid that resembled water, except it was black.
That began another round of conferences, reports, phone calls, contracts, patrols in the blistering heat, with Maj. Williams peering over the edge of the sludge-filled mess.
"It sprung a leak. Hah," said a frustrated executive officer, Maj. Scott Green, throwing his arms into the air. That was Saturday, more than a month after the sinkhole first appeared.
The next day, another hole — the size of a refrigerator door — appeared one block away.
August 24, 2007
Pg. 1
By Sharon Behn, Washington Times
BAGHDAD — During two tours totaling 26 months, Maj. Alfred Williams has dealt with insurgents, terrorists and lawless militias. But a giant sinkhole in a main street of one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods has him stumped.
"When I look into the hole, I just want to shoot myself and fall into it," he said, frustrated beyond all measure.
It all started in July.
The 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team had just taken control of a section of Baghdad"s fiercely Sunni and violent neighborhood of Dora.
Their mission: to clear out al Qaeda in Iraq elements, neutralize Shi'ite extremists, secure the streets and make the place livable once more for the roughly 20,000 Iraqis there.
Then came the abyss.
"The hole started, as best we can tell, with an [improvised explosive device] blast," said Maj. Williams, operations officer for the Stryker team.
"We think the IED was placed under the road where the main lines of water and sewage run, so when they blew it, they broke two main water lines and one sewage line," Maj. Williams said, a wad of chewing tobacco parked in his lower lip.
This particular section of Dora is a lower-middle class Sunni area just south of the Tigris River, built atop an old flood plain of fine, almost silty earth.
Mixed with water, the soil turns into sticky soup.
The first time the Stryker team saw the hole, it was about the size of a refrigerator. Figuring it was just a bomb crater and unaware there were burst pipes underneath, they drove their large 20-ton vehicles around it while patrolling the streets.
But on July 17th, when the hole swallowed a Humvee, the combat team realized there was a bigger problem.
"We brought a Stryker up and pulled it out of this giant hole, and now it's even bigger. It's like 20 feet deep and full of water," said Maj. Williams.
Dozens of phone calls and several meetings later, the Americans signed a contract with a local Iraqi man to pump out the water.
"He pumped for four days, and the water level decreased about two inches," Maj. Williams said.
"Nearby storm drains were clogged, and the more that man pumped, the more water poured into the streets and into people's houses."
By late July, the hole had taken over the entire width of the road while stagnant water sat on nearby streets.
The Americans, working with neighborhood leaders, found a contractor named Jaafar, who brought in pumping trucks to clear out the water, dumping tons of mud and water next to the hole. But he was not able to cap the broken pipes.
A bigger problem was that the sinkhole was competing with the Stryker team's existing priorities, driving out insurgents and bringing a degree of security back to the trash-filled neighborhood.
But something had to be done, so the Americans arranged another meeting with Jaafar and neighborhood leaders, and they persuaded local authorities to turn off the water, which also cut off water to thousands of households in the area.
"We hold ultimately the government responsible for the situation, and second the coalition forces because they are not pressing the government enough," said a white-haired Iraqi man hauling plastic containers filled with clean water around the neighborhood on a little wooden cart.
As he spoke, the sharp crack of a bullet forced him to duck into a driveway for cover, spilling his precious cargo.
A few weeks later, a new water pipe had been installed and everyone figured the problem had been solved.
But then, sewage started seeping everywhere. The hole filled back up with a liquid that resembled water, except it was black.
That began another round of conferences, reports, phone calls, contracts, patrols in the blistering heat, with Maj. Williams peering over the edge of the sludge-filled mess.
"It sprung a leak. Hah," said a frustrated executive officer, Maj. Scott Green, throwing his arms into the air. That was Saturday, more than a month after the sinkhole first appeared.
The next day, another hole — the size of a refrigerator door — appeared one block away.