Cordon and Knock

near Habbaniyah Iraq
45 miles east of Baghdad
October 30, 2005
110th Infantry, Task Force Panther, PA National Guard

 

6 kilometers east of the small town of Habbaniyah Iraq a patrol of infantry is knocking on doors of houses. 
This area is midway between Fallujah and Ramadi and is about 45 miles west of Baghdad proper.  This is not one of the worst areas of Iraq, this is the worst area of Iraq for insurgent activity.  Regular small arms fire, improvised explosive devices (the roadsides bombs called ieds by the military),  RPG rounds fired at vehicles.  It is all here.
But amazingly enough in the middle of the worst area of Iraq there are quiet spots too.  It is in just such a quiet spot that soldiers are knocking on the doors of houses and asking the residents if they have seen any insurgents, or have any information of use to the coalition (American soldiers in these parts).
 A cordon and knock is simple.  Soldiers of the 110th Infantry (Pennsylvania) task forces roll up to a houses or row of houses, surround it, and while some soldiers question the occupants other search the houses, the back yard and grounds.
In the first house the man is friendly.  He talks to the soldiers, smiles and generally is cooperative.  He says a few details that might be of use.  Soldiers meanwhile check his house, walking past a nervous calf tethered in the back yard with a few scraps of grass strewn about. 
Two young men run off into the grove of palms behind the house.  This area is not friendly and their running is either significant or, then again, maybe not.  Plenty of people fear the soldiers, plenty more hate them. This is the heart of the Sunni Triangle. 
Whether the running is significant or not is something the soldiers will never find out, as the runners are off and away and the soldiers, burdened with 65 pounds of gear, are not likely to ever catch up.
The soldiers wrap this up, and head off to the next house, and the next and then they are done.
Soldiers say this is one of the best methods of picking up information.  Insurgents cannot target the householders if they talk , because the soldiers visit so many people the source is concealed.
But then again, in this province meaningful information is not easy to come by.  Incidents happen every day and the locals play dumb.  For the most part it�s a brick wall of silence here.  Those that are sympathetic are cowed.  The Sunnis have little to gain from the new national government and are not well disposed to helping soldiers.  This will be one of the last provinces to be pacified, and that day is a long way away.