Trust....

I am sure many of you remember me saying when I got home last year, we have no real clue as to who we are fighting. People smiling in the streets at you one day are shooting at you the next. An interesting, short, read came out today and I thought I would share. Many of you know Marines in country with me. Here is the story of a few.

In Iraq, Trust Is A Casualty
Troops struggle to secure Ramadi, where friend and foe may be same
By Todd Pitman, Associated Press
RAMADI, Iraq -- Rocket launchers and radios strapped to their backs, U.S. Marines burst into a dark, lantern-lit villa after nightfall, forcing a quaking Iraqi man and his mother into a corner at gunpoint with hands on their heads.
As troops searched the house with red light beams attached to assault rifles, one soldier asked the frightened pair whether they'd seen any insurgents.
"We've seen nothing," they replied -- words heard often in this conflict-torn city where guerrillas blend easily among civilians.
Fear of insurgents and distrust of outsiders has made residents reluctant to cooperate, complicating efforts to secure a city that has more violence daily than any other part of Iraq.
U.S. troops hope to hand off security to Iraqi forces, but even they are finding it hard to win over residents in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad.
When troops talk to residents after firefights erupt around them, "generally the answer is that they were sleeping, they were out of town, or they stayed inside," said Marine 1st Lt. Carlos Goetz, 29, from Miami. "They don't see anything, they don't hear anything."
It's often difficult to tell friend from foe.
"We're fighting an enemy that doesn't wear uniforms," said Marine Sgt. Edward Somuk, 30, of New Milford, Conn. "You can see him on the street one day and he's smiling and waving ... and later on that night, that guy could be shooting at you."
Insurgents stake out coalition positions simply by walking past in civilian clothes or watching from a distance. U.S. forces won't shoot unless they can positively determine "hostile intent."
"We're playing a game of cat and mouse," said Iraqi Col. Ali Hassan, whose troops sweep neighborhoods only to find out that insurgents have returned to stage new attacks. "The mouse can get into every hole in the wall, but the cat cannot."
U.S. and Iraqi officers say many residents are hesitant to talk because insurgents visit the same people they do -- threatening and intimidating them.
"They don't think the coalition can protect them from insurgents, and right now they're right," said Iraqi Maj. Jabar Marouf al-Tamini.
American commanders say the United States plans to pour more Iraqi soldiers into Ramadi this year, and authorities have begun to rebuild the lawless city's virtually nonexistent police force.
But residents may be reluctant to talk to foreigners. Tribal loyalties run deep in this tightly knit Sunni Arab city.
Some see the insurgency as legitimate resistance and view U.S. troops as occupiers ultimately responsible for the ongoing violence.
"They don't trust us," al-Tamini said, "so it's almost impossible to get information out of them."