Falloujans Return to All They Lost
Residents are scrutinized at tightly guarded entry
points, then
find a ghost city with blocks of empty homes, or just rubble.
By Tony Perry
Times Staff Writer
January 5, 2005
FALLOUJA, Iraq — The line began forming in the predawn chill Tuesday
when the only sounds coming from this devastated city were the honking
of geese on the Euphrates River and a call to prayers from a riverfront
mosque.
By midmorning, hundreds of Iraqis were waiting to cross the bridge that
serves as one of the five carefully guarded entry points into Fallouja
that were recently opened by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Some were
laborers hired by the Iraqi government to begin the massive effort to
rebuild this war-ravaged Sunni Triangle city, once home to nearly
300,000 people.
Others were residents who had fled before
U.S.-led forces wrested control of the city from insurgents in
November. They hoped to find something remaining of their homes, their
businesses and their lives.
The battle for Fallouja is largely
over, save for occasional firefights and sniping. A longer and, in some
ways, more daunting task lies ahead: letting residents return, catching
insurgents trying to sneak back and helping Iraqis repair their
shattered city.
On Tuesday, 2,500 residents passed through
Entry Control Point 5 on the west side of the bridge, a new high for
the site since the influx began last month. The checkpoint is open 10
hours a day.
During the morning, Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski,
commanding officer of the 1st Marine Division, was inspecting the five
entry points and assessing the progress of the effort.
"I hope your home was not damaged too much," he said through a
translator to an Iraqi who appeared to be about 50.
"If God is willing," the man replied, looking heavenward.
Natonski, whose forces led the incursion into Fallouja and are part of
the rebuilding effort, is bullish on the prospects for restoring the
city. But he concedes it will take a long time.
The city was
heavily damaged during pre-invasion U.S. airstrikes and the subsequent
combat. However, Natonski was unwavering in his view that the
destruction of Fallouja was the fault of insurgents who had long used
it as a base.
"The fact is, the city will be better than it was
before the insurgents turned it into this," he said. "We'll keep
[insurgents] out. The people don't want them, and we don't either."
To get back into their city, Fallouja residents must run a gantlet of
inspections and scrutiny. Those with Iraqi identification cards, issued
by the fledgling government, are given preference, but their vehicles
are searched.
Those without cards are interviewed. Their
irises are scanned so that the characteristics of their eyes can be
cataloged and compared to a database of Iraqis who have been arrested
by U.S. forces.
Iraqis found with anti-American literature or
such material on compact discs are taken aside for further
interviewing. Female Marines search female Iraqis; Iraqi police search
male Iraqis, with Marines watching.
It is difficult to gauge how many of the hundreds who return to the
city each day leave again once they view the wreckage.
"There are some happy faces but also sad ones," said Lance Cpl. Jerry
Contreras, 19, of Long Beach. "I saw one man start crying when he saw
his house was destroyed. I felt bad but I knew we didn't just blow it
up, we had to."
One hopeful sign, Marines say, is that more women and children are
returning.
"To me, it means the Iraqis feel safe inside the city, so they can
bring their families," said 1st Lt. Donald Toscano, 28, of Miami, who
commands the platoon in charge of Entry Control Point 5.
The
city that awaits those who return has a ghostly appearance. Empty homes
fill block after block, some with gaping holes in the walls and roofs.
Some blocks are nothing but piles of brick and masonry rubble.
Skinny, crazed-looking dogs roam the streets. Telephone poles are bent
over, their wires littering the ground. Some ruins have a strange,
Stonehenge look.
The freshly damaged areas are interspersed
with zones that were rusting and fetid long before U.S.-led forces
invaded Iraq in 2003. Piles of ancient garbage ring the outskirts of
town, and rusted reinforcing bars protrude from buildings that were
abandoned, only half-completed.
Marines and soldiers have
numerous compounds inside the city. Sentries keep away the curious and
tanks back up the signs that warn: "STOP Or U.S. Military Will Shoot
Fire." Some neighborhoods are blocked off with razor wire. Only certain
parts of Fallouja are considered safe enough for residents to return.
Men stand on street corners in small knots watching glumly as American
vehicles pass by. A few cars drive slowly down streets filled with
rubble and garbage. Some depopulated neighborhoods are silent except
for the whine of an unmanned U.S. surveillance plane overhead.
Parks are being used as food distribution centers by troops.
The Marines manning Entry Control Point 5 are members of Weapons
Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment. The unit was a leader of the
assault on Fallouja.
The same Marines who were exchanging
gunfire with insurgents are now trying to convince residents that a
better life lies ahead.
"This is critical," said Maj. Rob
Belknap, 32, of New Orleans, the commanding officer of Weapons Company.
"Getting people back into their city and back to a normal life, that's
mission-success, if we can accomplish that."
