Catch and Release

Through the dusty haze that settled in on Alahat earlier in the morning I picked out the approaching Iraqi Army convoy who were escorting the detainees. The crowd in front of me all stopped their conversations and swung around to see how far away the convoy was. A banner above the podium had some Arabic writing that my interpreter told me just announced this as the release ceremony. There were several members of the media in the audience and they were getting shots of our soldiers securing the locations, of the several local dignitaries who were going to be giving speeches later in the afternoon, and I'm sure some shots of the audience itself. The audience was made up of all of the local sheiks who were to sign as guarantors of the behavior and conduct of the detainees from their area. Sprinkled into the crowd were a few family members, but these could have been counted on one hand.

Over the loudspeaker an Iraqi man urged the crowd to wait in their seats until the detainee each was signing for was called forward. The sheiks all gathered around the closest of the arriving IA vehicles, jockeying for the best position to get first look. The anticipation in the air was high and the sheiks all shouted greetings into the trucks.

The detainees being released were captured well before my unit arrived, meaning they had all been convicted of criminal activity against Coalition Forces. The atmosphere of the ceremony was one of pride and joy, I felt it most closely resembled a kindergarten graduation. The sheiks were the blushing parents and we were the third grade class snickering from the sidelines, the former gathered to celebrate the significance of this achievement and the latter knowing its insignificance. I watched in surprise as the sheiks--all of whom are in that title due to their responsibility for security in their respective areas, security from the types of attacks the men being released had either planned or participated in--warmly embraced the detainees as they were ushered from the trucks to the seating area.

Once the group was seated, several speeches were given applauding the convicts for their willingness to cooperate with Coalition Forces, I guessed this trait was proven earlier in the day when a piece of paper stating 'I, _________, will not attack Iraqi Security Forces' over the course of three paragraphs was placed in front of them and they were told to get released they must sign and then they snatched the pen off the table and scribbled their names on it, and reminding them they will be held accountable for any criminal activity undertaken from this point forward. I doubt many were listening because I could barely hear the speeches over the din of conversations coming from the giddy group. As the sheiks came forward to sign the documents as guarantors, I realized that perhaps the men working for us and the men working against us were actually on the same team. I wondered to myself how many of the twentytwo being released would wind up back on our wanted list by next month.

After the ceremony was complete and the media had taken their fill of happily reunited sheik/insurgent couple shots the group began filing out for the parking lot. Waiting for them there were three IP trucks. The serenity of the afternoon to this point was now disrupted by the raging debate between policemen and sheiks. Through my interpreter I learned that the IPs had warrants for six of the newly freed men for crimes other than those they were convicted for. Finally, the police slapped the cuffs on the six and threw them in the back of their trucks. As they drove off for jail I couldn't help but smile for the first time since the happy ceremony began.