In Baghdad, Mixed Feelings Over Iraqi Takeover of Green Zone

By Abeer Mohammed, Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Posted January 21, 2009.

"Security for all areas inside the zone is handled by Iraqi forces and they have done their job successfully."

Rawanduzi also said his committee had not received any reports from women of misconduct or harassment by the guards. "We will punish anyone guilty of such behavior if we receive complaints in the future," he said.

Over the past year, general improvements in security across Iraq have helped lessen the Green Zone's isolation.

Mohammed, a 17-year-old working with a private security firm inside the zone, says he is now able to visit his family outside more frequently.

At the height of the violence, he was confined to the zone because of the threat from militants to anyone who worked there. The teenager spent long periods without seeing the family he had given up his schooling to support.

Mohammed's mementoes from his last two-and-a-half years inside the zone include a photo of himself with some American soldiers.

"The handover is a good step," said Mohammed, who did not give his real name because of security concerns. "We have to protect our areas by ourselves."

Despite the ceremonial handover on January 1, the U.S. military currently still has a presence in the Green Zone, mentoring and supporting the Iraqi force.

Iraqi officials say the handover will be completed on March 31, at the end of a three-month transition period. The minister for national security, Shirwan al-Waeli, says U.S. forces are training and monitoring the Iraqis' handling of "technical equipment and other such issues."

Waeli says protection of the Green Zone has been assigned to a brigade of 3,000 men from the ministry of defense, who are under the command of the prime minister.

He says the government plans to support the brigade's work with an intelligence unit, supplied by the ministry of national security.

The agreement on the U.S. forces' withdrawal from Iraq, signed late last year, says the Green Zone must be fully handed over to the Iraqi government.

Iraqi forces already guard all five entrances to the zone. They also control vehicle checkpoints inside the zone.

Pedestrian checkpoints inside are jointly manned by Iraqi and American forces. The Iraqis there have the same duties as the Americans, asking for badges and checking them.

On the ground, the Iraqis are getting to grips with the new order.

"Now I, as an Iraqi officer, can give orders to the American soldier, whereas this was not possible in the past," said Mohammed Ameen Abbas, a 24-year-old officer in charge of a checkpoint in the Green Zone.

Ali Hameed, a 19-year-old soldier at another checkpoint, said Iraqi guards are more understanding than the Americans.

"We can still assist our citizens, even if they do not have identification cards with them," he said. "The Americans were strict in their treatment of Iraqis. It is different now that we have taken responsibility."

However, Marwa, who goes to school inside the zone, fears the Iraqi guards will be less reliable.

"The American soldier would never single anyone out for favorable treatment, even if it was his father," she said.

"But the Iraqi soldiers can show courtesy to their friends and let them enter the Green Zone, even though they do not have identification cards. What guarantee is there that a suicide bomber might not enter the zone and head to my school?"

See more stories tagged with: iraq, iraq occupation, iraqi women, green zone, u.s. military, iraqi army, nuri al-maliki

Abeer Mohammed is an IWPR trainee and freelance journalist in Baghdad.

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