Marines in Karmah have joined the battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqi citizens

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Cpl. Shea Gooch plays with a toddler after he and other Marines finished eating at the home of a local family.


Marines in Karmah have joined the battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqi citizens
By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, January 23, 2008

KARMAH, Iraq — Marine Corps Capt. Quintin Jones certainly didn’t sign up for this when he joined the Corps. His men in Company L, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, likely didn’t enlist to do what they’ve been doing for the past five months either.

But there they were, Jones and a group of his Marines, sitting down last week to dine at the home of a local sheik in this town of 150,000, just north of Fallujah.

Just another day on the job.

It’s been that kind of deployment for the company. They entered a volatile area where attacks were a daily occurrence and local cooperation was almost nonexistent. Now, as their deployment ends in the next month, most days are focused on helping the locals and establishing the infrastructure to clear hurdles that once seemed insurmountable.

“When we first did it, it was so strange,” Cpl. Shea Gooch of Helena, Mont., said between bites of chicken, rice and bread. “That whole culture shock of eating on the floor. But that’s how you get to know people, I guess.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51833