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MANDALI, Iraq (AP) -- Worried about people
sneaking in from Iran, U.S. troops and Iraqi border
guards are focusing their attention on the "socket"
- a remote section of frontier that juts into Iran
and is used by smugglers, shepherds and even job
hunters for illegal crossings.
The strongest concern, however, is that the rugged
area is being used by those helping Iraq's
insurgency.
Iraqi and U.S. authorities have long accused Iran of
meddling in Iraq, and the border guards and American
technology are the first and main line of defense
against infiltrators.
The task is a formidable one. The two countries are
separated by mountains and rocky hills laced by
narrow creek beds that provide numerous hiding
places. Hundreds of thousands of munitions left over
from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war are strewn throughout
the area, making patrols even more difficult.
Lt. Col. William M. Hart, who commands the 1st
Squadron, 278th Regiment of the 42nd Infantry
Division based in Athens, Tenn., said most of the
illegal movement across the border has been stopped.
"There's been some contraband, movement of vehicles
in and out, smuggling operations," Hart said. But he
described the crossings as "small-scale in nature"
and said only a small percentage was tied to the
insurgency.
Still, there is cause for concern. In February, the
278th Regiment announced it had captured Jaffar
Sadiq Fette, a suspected Iranian intelligence agent,
in the border city of Mandali. Fette was allegedly
involved in the killing of an Iraqi intelligence
officer and helped Iraqis go to Iran to train at
camps run by the militant group Hezbollah.
Officials have also watched the border more closely
as President Bush has publicly confronted Iran over
its nuclear program. Bush has said the United States
is not preparing to attack Iran, but no option is
ruled out if the Iranians do not abandon what
Washington views as efforts to build a nuclear bomb.
Iran's government insists its nuclear program is
only to generate electricity.
Just under 1,000 Iraqi border guards and about 100
soldiers from the 1st Squadron patrol a 60-mile-long
section of the central border with Iran. The
regiment's 3rd Squadron watches the adjacent area to
the north.
Iraqi guards and soldiers from the U.S.-led
coalition, including Polish and British-led forces
to the south and Kurdish peshmerga militiamen
farther to the north, keep an eye on the rest of the
frontier with Iran.
On a hilltop two miles from the border, U.S.
soldiers peer out of high-powered scopes, scouring
mountainsides for paths used by smugglers and
illegal immigrants. While they are keeping watch for
anyone who tries to cross, they are particularly
focused on foreigners who could be arming or
supporting Iraq's insurgency.
The border is a "nightmare to patrol or defend,"
said Lt. Kevin Mick of Columbia, Tenn.
U.S. soldiers patrol this section of the border one
to six times a day, and monitor it with electronic
equipment. But even with advanced technology and
heavy terrain vehicles, the area is so rugged that
soldiers must stay on the main roads - leaving paths
hidden in the back country to infiltrators.
"Most of the time, even if we do see (border
crossers) we don't catch them because they know the
terrain so well," Mick said.
Iraqi border guards caught each of the approximately
200 people picked up crossing the border in
February, said Capt. James Hite, a native of
Nashville, Tenn. U.S. troops rely on the guards for
their knowledge of the terrain and population.
"We don't know if they're Iranian, but (the border
guards) can tell the difference," Mick said.
Concerns remain about the border guards' loyalty.
During a visit to one Iraqi border outpost by U.S.
troops, the Iraqi guards - some in civilian clothing
or mismatching uniforms - complained they hadn't
been paid in two months and said there was an
unequal distribution of weapons between their men
and Iraqi army soldiers.
"We're not naive to think some border patrol aren't
being paid off," Mick said, adding the guards are
paid about half as much as Iraqi soldiers. "But (the
border) is a lot better off than what (it) used to
be."
AP
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