Nice to see our soldiers in Iraq trying to do right. . .can only go so far

For five days, April 3-7, Ryan's 400 soldiers fought pitched battles with militants using Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. No Americans died, but hundreds of Iraqis did and much of the town was damaged.

The battalion took control of Abu Ghraib, but it was the worst kind of occupation, Ryan said. There was a curfew and numerous checkpoints were set up. Soldiers searched every vehicle and person entering town and no one liked it.

But Ryan also was learning about Iraqi culture. While the councils had political power, he realized he needed the help of tribal and religious leaders to ease tensions.

"When I met with this one sheik, from the Tamimi tribe, he told me I was the first coalition official to ever talk to him," Ryan recalled.

At another meeting, Ryan was offering cash for a construction project when "one guy said to me, `We don't want your money, we want your respect.' That stuck with me."

In an initial, post-attack trust-building exercise, Henegar arranged with a local imam to have men from a nearby village help in removing the bodies of the estimated 1,200 insurgents killed in Fallujah since the Marine-led assault began Nov. 8.

The Marines hope the grisly task can establish relationships with local Iraqis needed as partners in reconstruction — and turn up leaders to help in the effort.

“The very first, most basic thing is engagement, building relationships. But the challenge is picking the right people with whom to engage. We really can’t just reach down and pick leaders,” says Henegar.

In the area near Fallujah, the entrenched leaders are often local sheiks, whose thicket of tribal and political affiliations aren’t greatly understood by Marines.

One sheik helping in the body-collection effort, who gave his name to reporters as Abdul Hamid, smiles and joked with the Marines. But when they’re not listening, he calls them the “Jew Americans.”