Lt. Col. talks about war with govt. class

Lt. Col. Stephen G. Sanders is a classic example of civic minded individuals who through education, experience, skills and events became a leader and turned out to be a successful one.

Sanders had just returned from serving more than 18 months on active duty in Iraq when he spoke to my government students. Extensive and wide-ranging are the only ways to describe his past active service in the Texas Army National Guard, where he served in a variety of increasing responsibilities: with NATO military engineers during many exercises, as a member of the first U.S. Army Liaison Team to visit the Czech Republic, as Operations Officer for base camp and anti-terrorism construction efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and as commander of the 111th Engineer Battalion in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III in Baghdad since July 2004.

One of Sanders’ key responsibilities in West Baghdad was neighborhood watch and the protection of “very important persons” visiting Iraq, among them Condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, members of Congress, the current administration’s  high officials, as well as foreign dignitaries.

In class, student questions to the lieutenant colonel dealt with security in Iraq, reconstruction, Iraqi elections, troop morale and Iraq’s future.

“How do I know if my troops were welcome in a Baghdad neighborhood?” asked Sanders. “Children. When we drove by, children either came by our convoys, smiled and waved, and we felt safe, or they were nowhere to be seen, and this meant danger for our troops.”

He then added, “We have basically four groups of bad guys in Iraq: first, the ex-Baath Sunnis wanting to stay in power and establishing terrorist cells; second, criminal elements trying to take over neighborhoods, called ‘Ali babas;’ third, hardcore religious fanatics; and last, paid locals to kill U.S. troops for $200 or more.”

Another way his troops sensed they were welcome or not in a neighborhood was to listen to the mosque’s muezzin calling worshippers to prayer. These calls were interpreted by the troops as friendly, neutral or hostile, and soldiers acted accordingly.

“Reconstruction? Now, we work to limit damage and protect target infrastructures such as power, water utilities, schools,” he said. An indicator that things are better in Iraq: “I saw more kids go to school at the end of my deployment than at the start… In my estimate, it will take an additional four to five years for Iraq to start its stabilization,” he said.

“One key element of stability is the political process,” Sanders said. “The Iraqis went to vote in the last election, despite the fact they knew they might get wounded or killed by terrorists, so great was their desire to influence their future. We, in the states, take voting for granted and we should not, especially not after what I witnessed in Iraq last fall.

“Troop morale? For my soldiers to perform daily and to return home to the U.S. safely, they had to concentrate every minute and stay focused on their task,” he said. “And that was not always easy, especially when they received news from home and learned their loved ones had affairs, started divorce proceedings, etc… I had to call these family members back home and try to get them to understand the situation in Iraq. And if nothing else, I ended up sending soldiers back to the U.S. in order to avoid casualties.”

And quoting Lawrence of Arabia, the lieutenant colonel said, “The key in Iraq is for Iraqis to stand up and fight; they need to take charge of their own destiny.”

— Gabriel Bach is a government professor at North Lake College