Military Says Troops Demanded 'Rent' From Iraqi Vendors
By Scott Gold
Los Angeles Times
Saturday 06 august 2005
California Army National Guard troops charged unauthorized,
off-the-books "rent" to Iraqi-owned businesses inside Baghdad's Green
Zone in Iraq to raise money for a "soldier's fund," military officials
and sources within the troops' battalion said Friday.
The disclosure is the latest to emerge from a wide-ranging
investigation into the conduct of the 1st Battalion of the 184th
Infantry Regiment of the Guard, which is headquartered in Modesto,
Calif.
Military officials had confirmed previously that the battalion's
commander, Lt. Col. Patrick Frey, had been suspended and that one of
the battalion's companies, based in Fullerton, Calif., had been
removed from patrol duties and restricted to an Army base south of
Baghdad, the capital.
According to military officials and members of the battalion,
soldiers from the battalion's Bravo Company, which is based in Dublin,
an East Bay suburb of San Francisco, approached several businesses
earlier this year that were owned and operated by Iraqi nationals.
The businesses - a dry cleaner, a convenience store and the like -
catered to US soldiers and were located on the fringe of the US
military's operating base inside the Green Zone, the fortified hub of
the Iraqi government, US occupation officials, embassies and
contractor headquarters. The businesses were asked to pay the soldiers
"rent."
Lt. Col. Cliff Kent, spokesman for the 3rd Infantry Division in
Iraq, confirmed Friday that two vendors agreed to pay.
The money was used to create a "soldier's fund," said one member
of the battalion, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Such funds are
used by troops for a wide variety of purposes, such as small loans to
repay bills back home or buying commemorative so-called "challenge
coins" - often specially minted to foster morale inside a unit. Kent
said the fund created from the rent money also was used to buy
T-shirts, patches and a safe.
Kent declined to discuss the incident further, stating in an
e-mail from Iraq: "Specific details are part of the informal
investigation which is administrative in nature and protected by
privacy rules."
There is considerable dispute about the financial arrangement -
how much money was raised, how many soldiers were involved and how
important the allegations are.
Army officials say the total amount was $4,000, but troops in the
battalion have said the scheme raised more than $30,000. The
investigation resulted in disciplinary action against one officer from
the battalion's Bravo Company. Army officials declined to disclose the
officer's name, and his identity could not be confirmed independently.
Army officials say they have no evidence that anyone else was
involved beyond the disciplined officer. But members of the battalion,
including one who has been briefed directly on the investigation, said
that at least six soldiers played some role in the arrangement.
One member of the battalion said the consensus in the ranks was
that, "This is not the kind of thing that you do alone." Battalion
members who discussed the matter did so on condition that their names
not be used because they have been told by superiors not to talk about
the subject with reporters.
Several soldiers have called the rental arrangement "extortion,"
but Army officials insist that the word is not an accurate description
of the relationship between the soldiers and the vendors.
Military investigators initially received reports that the scheme
had been carried out on at least two other US bases in Iraq, but
officials said Friday that they have concluded that the arrangement on
the Green Zone operating base was an isolated case.
At least three companies in the battalion, composed of about 680
soldiers, have been affected by the investigation into its conduct in
Iraq.
The battalion's Alpha Company, a 130-soldier unit based in
Fullerton, has been the subject of the most serious portion of the
investigation: that soldiers allegedly mistreated or abused Iraqi
detainees in March.
Military sources have said that at least some of the mistreatment
involved a Taser stun gun and was captured on videotape. Eleven
soldiers have been charged in connection with the alleged abuse; the
Army's Criminal Investigation Division will determine whether the
soldiers will face courts-martial.
Military officials also have confirmed that a leader of the
battalion's Delta Company, 1st Sgt. Robert Jones, was relieved of duty
recently after being accused of threatening an Iraqi detainee by,
among other things, shooting at a water heater during an
interrogation. Delta Company is based in Oakdale, east of Modesto.
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: US soldiers like Mafia in Iraq |
07 Aug 2005 08:36:45 AM |
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wrote:
Military Says Troops Demanded 'Rent' From Iraqi Vendors
By Scott Gold
Los Angeles Times
Saturday 06 august 2005
California Army National Guard troops charged unauthorized,
off-the-books "rent" to Iraqi-owned businesses inside Baghdad's Green
Zone in Iraq to raise money for a "soldier's fund," military officials
and sources within the troops' battalion said Friday.
URL is
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-guard6aug06,1,6819446.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
Woods
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