REPORTER: John Martinkus
It is July 7. This is normally a busy arterial road through the capital. But a 3-hour battle with the resistance has just taken place here and these soldiers from the Iraqi National Guard are on alert. Already 27 of their men have been wounded and no-one knows if the fighting is over. A mortar shell landed.
REPORTER: Do you have any casualties?
SOLDIER, (Translation): Only injured. We took 12 prisoners. We killed three. I killed one of them. He was a sniper shooting from the top. The situation is good now. The American forces came.
This morning's attack is a show of strength by the resistance. At this very moment, Prime Minister Allawi is on television, letting Iraqis know that his security forces will crush the insurgency.
The attack, right in the centre of Baghdad, shows that the end of the insurgency is still a long way off. But it's not a story the authorities want reported.
The security guard at the nearby hospital told me what happened when a journalist tried to film the 27 men wounded in this morning's attack.
SECURITY GUARD, (Translation): We took him to the hall where the national guards were to interview them, but they refused and hit him. They refused and beat him, then took his camera. They removed the film and smashed it.
I got permission from the police commander at Adhamiya to film the local police station. I chose to film in Adhamiya because it's the most pro-resistance and pro-Saddam area in Baghdad. There are streets in Adhamiya where the Americans will not set foot. Attacks against them are constant and they are sensitive about cameras.
The US military call the shots here, but their presence is far from welcome. Major Mahmoud explains why.
MAJOR MAHMOUD, (Translation): Of course it's better for them not to be here. From our experience in Adhamiya, when foreign forces are present in the evening or at night, the Adhamiya post gets attacked.
This man is reporting that another bomb has just been discovered. It's only 10am and the security situation is dire. Mortar rounds have exploded near the Prime Minister's offices. Another mortar attack hit the Green Zone, home to the Iraqi Government, and a truck loaded with 1,600 kg of explosives has been seized in a busy shopping district.
I'm driving with the Adhamiya police commander, Colonel Khalid Hassan. In front of us are the US military.
COLONEL KHALID HASSAN, POLICE COMMANDER: (Translation): They're driving fast, and overtaking cars, so they must be acting on a tip. If they're overtaking, they must have information.
The US military can and do open fire on suspicious vehicles.
COLONEL KHALID HASSAN, (Translation): The cars move away when they see the American forces. Because if they come under attack from any side, they will shoot indiscriminately. That's why the cars move away, so they won't become targets.
One driver had been killed the night before when he drove too close to the Americans. They thought it was a car bomb. Police stations are attacked every day. Even filming them is banned. The US military believes such footage can be used by insurgents to plan attacks.
In the first six months of operations in Baghdad, 604 police were killed. I asked Colonel Karim what his main problem was in Adhamiya.
COLONEL KARIM, (Translation): Assassinations occur. Yesterday there was an assassination at 2pm.
The colonel tells me that two days before the assassinated man had appeared on television as a member of the coalition. The man was then shot dead in his car. Such killings are common in Adhamiya.
The Iraqi police are forced to operate in hopelessly inadequate conditions. When they first started patrolling the streets late last year, they were getting accidentally shot by American troops, nervous at the sight of armed Iraqi men. Many of them lacked even uniforms. There is still not enough armoured vests to go around and the police rely on weapons they have confiscated. They're outgunned by the resistance.
This road block is at one of the entrances to Sadr City. It is a notoriously lawless area. They're searching for weapons and they've just found a knife.
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): With all due respect, why would you carry it except to commit robberies?
MAN, (Translation): I'm after university Professor.
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): A university Professor?
MAN, (Translation): Here's my ID.
Kidnapping for ransom is wide spread, and it's the middle class that is targeted.
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): But this doesn't protect you.
MAN, (Translation): What else can I do?
The police allow the man to keep the knife for his personal protection. Guns, as long as they are licensed, are also returned to their owners.
Sadr City is a Baghdad district of 2 million people, where police and American troops rarely venture. The area is controlled by these men - the Mahdi Army of renegade Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose uprising in April turned Sadr City into a war zone. Muqtada al-Sadr communicates with his followers through this man, Abdul Hadi al-Daraji.
ABDUL HADI AL-DARAJI, (Translation): The United States of America uses Iraqis to strike Iraqis. After they failed miserably in their declared policy when faced with the honourable resistance of the Iraqi people, they started to make devious plans and run them through political channels that they manipulate as they please.
The last time the American troops entered Sadr City in force was in May. The local leader of the al-Mahdi army told me what happened.
ABU SAYAF, AL MAHDI ARMY, SADR CITY: (Translation): The Imam Mehdi Army prepared to inflict heavy losses on the American army. We planted explosive devices and prepared RPGs to prevent the Americans from entering. Their losses that we counted that day were ten armoured vehicles, two armoured vehicles and eight modern tanks - the latest technology. They were destroyed by explosive devices. The Americans aborted their entry of the city.
CROWD, CHANTING: (Translation): Long live Al Sadr! Saddam must be executed. Long live Al Sadr! Saddam must be executed.
I'm driving back to Adhamiya with the police.
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): Ishreen Street is the most dangerous. Most attacks on police and the Americans happen in this street.
The graffiti on the wall says, "Long live Iraq. Long live Fallujah. Death to security."
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): Thank God we've arrived safely at the Adhamiya station.
And here is the bomb they found this morning.
MAHMOUD, (Translation): Four kilos of TNT, the detonator is that green part. A citizen informed us this morning that there was a bomb near the Indian embassy in Adhamiya. I immediately dispatched two patrols and called the explosives expert. But the expert was attending another incident in the Karrada area, dismantling a bomb. So one of our officers cut the wires himself and brought it to the station. This is a heroic act by the Iraqi police.
The lack of equipment and training make the Iraqi police a soft target. It's a constant war of bombs, sniping and outright attacks. The police spend all their time just trying to protect themselves. Normal police operations are impossible.
A few days later I go on patrol with the Iraqi National Guard, the ING. They are attached to the American units that recruit and train them. Basic training lasts five days. Entry requirements are that they can read and write and do ten push-ups and sit-ups. They're not fully trusted by the Americans and have a reputation for bad discipline under fire. In two months, they're supposed to be independent.
AMERICAN SOLDIER: Basically I just want him to know that he's in charge. It's his patrol and I'm here to facilitate his effort and to support him and advise him, but it is his patrol and he doesn't have to ask me for guidance.
The patrol is supposed to be looking for terrorists, but they're also out to catch thieves and destroy illegal alcohol. I asked this sergeant when they were last attacked.
SERGEANT, (Translation): A week ago, on Canal Road. We were fired at directly. But there were families around and it was crowded and we'd have missed our target. So to avoid killing people, we didn't return fire. I'm doing this for my country.
REPORTER: Why did you join the ING?
SERGEANT: Because no working now. No work in the street, no work in the city.
SOLDIER, (Translation): Tell him it's to protect the country.
SERGEANT, (Translation): No, I'm only saying the truth. Why should we lie? We shouldn't lie.
REPORTER What did you do before?
SOLDIER: Before that, I'm free - I have a free job, free work. Sometimes I work on building, sometimes I sold something on the road, because no work in Saddam days - it's hard.
This time the gunshots are not directed at the troops, but these men frequently come under fire. The American soldiers stay close to their vehicles while the Iraqi troops are deployed on foot in dangerous positions and take higher casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Carter is in charge of this unit. He admits discipline is still a problem among the Iraqi troops he commands.
LT COL FLORENTINO CARTER, UNIT COMMANDER, 1ST CAVALRY: When we first came under contact, whenever an IUD would explode or a sniper would take shots at one of my patrols or at the ING forces, they would immediately turn and just hold down the trigger and spray off a bunch of rounds. As you know, that's very detrimental to all the innocent bystanders who may be around.
REPORTER: Have you encountered a situation where they've wanted to do something and you have had to advise them against that?
LT COL FLORENTINO CARTER: We've had instances where they've been given orders to go into another unit's battle space. And that is in strict violation of our operational doctrine. Because if a unit does not know you're operating in a battle space, an unfortunate incident may happen, because, after all, we're American and we've got young soldiers operating out there and we know how we look. We recognise our Humvee, but if we see an Iraqi jeep with a bunch of soldiers who are dressed in chocolate-chip uniforms carrying AK47s and they don't know you're supposed to be there, you set yourself up for a potential fratricide incident.
The rising smoke is from a car bomb. It exploded at the main pedestrian gate to the Green Zone. When I arrived at the bomb site half an hour later, it was cordoned off by the Iraqi National Guard.
FEMALE SOLDIER, (Translation): They were at the road block checking cars when a car sped through but they had no time to respond so the three of them were killed.
This gate is used by journalists and Iraqis employed by the government. It's been the site of drive-by shootings and attempted car bombs before. The US troops stay inside and the entrance is guarded by the Iraqi National Guard. The bomb and their deaths were waiting to happen. This woman's 6-year-old boy was playing in the street when a mortar hit. She's been taken to see his remains. Three security guards were also killed. The nightly mortar and rocket attacks are rarely reported. It's deemed too dangerous to go into the suburbs after dark. With the Iraqi security forces unable to do their job, scenes like this will be repeated night after night for the foreseeable future.
It is July 7. This is normally a busy arterial road through the capital. But a 3-hour battle with the resistance has just taken place here and these soldiers from the Iraqi National Guard are on alert. Already 27 of their men have been wounded and no-one knows if the fighting is over. A mortar shell landed.
REPORTER: Do you have any casualties?
SOLDIER, (Translation): Only injured. We took 12 prisoners. We killed three. I killed one of them. He was a sniper shooting from the top. The situation is good now. The American forces came.
This morning's attack is a show of strength by the resistance. At this very moment, Prime Minister Allawi is on television, letting Iraqis know that his security forces will crush the insurgency.
The attack, right in the centre of Baghdad, shows that the end of the insurgency is still a long way off. But it's not a story the authorities want reported.
The security guard at the nearby hospital told me what happened when a journalist tried to film the 27 men wounded in this morning's attack.
SECURITY GUARD, (Translation): We took him to the hall where the national guards were to interview them, but they refused and hit him. They refused and beat him, then took his camera. They removed the film and smashed it.
I got permission from the police commander at Adhamiya to film the local police station. I chose to film in Adhamiya because it's the most pro-resistance and pro-Saddam area in Baghdad. There are streets in Adhamiya where the Americans will not set foot. Attacks against them are constant and they are sensitive about cameras.
The US military call the shots here, but their presence is far from welcome. Major Mahmoud explains why.
MAJOR MAHMOUD, (Translation): Of course it's better for them not to be here. From our experience in Adhamiya, when foreign forces are present in the evening or at night, the Adhamiya post gets attacked.
This man is reporting that another bomb has just been discovered. It's only 10am and the security situation is dire. Mortar rounds have exploded near the Prime Minister's offices. Another mortar attack hit the Green Zone, home to the Iraqi Government, and a truck loaded with 1,600 kg of explosives has been seized in a busy shopping district.
I'm driving with the Adhamiya police commander, Colonel Khalid Hassan. In front of us are the US military.
COLONEL KHALID HASSAN, POLICE COMMANDER: (Translation): They're driving fast, and overtaking cars, so they must be acting on a tip. If they're overtaking, they must have information.
The US military can and do open fire on suspicious vehicles.
COLONEL KHALID HASSAN, (Translation): The cars move away when they see the American forces. Because if they come under attack from any side, they will shoot indiscriminately. That's why the cars move away, so they won't become targets.
One driver had been killed the night before when he drove too close to the Americans. They thought it was a car bomb. Police stations are attacked every day. Even filming them is banned. The US military believes such footage can be used by insurgents to plan attacks.
In the first six months of operations in Baghdad, 604 police were killed. I asked Colonel Karim what his main problem was in Adhamiya.
COLONEL KARIM, (Translation): Assassinations occur. Yesterday there was an assassination at 2pm.
The colonel tells me that two days before the assassinated man had appeared on television as a member of the coalition. The man was then shot dead in his car. Such killings are common in Adhamiya.
The Iraqi police are forced to operate in hopelessly inadequate conditions. When they first started patrolling the streets late last year, they were getting accidentally shot by American troops, nervous at the sight of armed Iraqi men. Many of them lacked even uniforms. There is still not enough armoured vests to go around and the police rely on weapons they have confiscated. They're outgunned by the resistance.
This road block is at one of the entrances to Sadr City. It is a notoriously lawless area. They're searching for weapons and they've just found a knife.
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): With all due respect, why would you carry it except to commit robberies?
MAN, (Translation): I'm after university Professor.
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): A university Professor?
MAN, (Translation): Here's my ID.
Kidnapping for ransom is wide spread, and it's the middle class that is targeted.
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): But this doesn't protect you.
MAN, (Translation): What else can I do?
The police allow the man to keep the knife for his personal protection. Guns, as long as they are licensed, are also returned to their owners.
Sadr City is a Baghdad district of 2 million people, where police and American troops rarely venture. The area is controlled by these men - the Mahdi Army of renegade Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose uprising in April turned Sadr City into a war zone. Muqtada al-Sadr communicates with his followers through this man, Abdul Hadi al-Daraji.
ABDUL HADI AL-DARAJI, (Translation): The United States of America uses Iraqis to strike Iraqis. After they failed miserably in their declared policy when faced with the honourable resistance of the Iraqi people, they started to make devious plans and run them through political channels that they manipulate as they please.
The last time the American troops entered Sadr City in force was in May. The local leader of the al-Mahdi army told me what happened.
ABU SAYAF, AL MAHDI ARMY, SADR CITY: (Translation): The Imam Mehdi Army prepared to inflict heavy losses on the American army. We planted explosive devices and prepared RPGs to prevent the Americans from entering. Their losses that we counted that day were ten armoured vehicles, two armoured vehicles and eight modern tanks - the latest technology. They were destroyed by explosive devices. The Americans aborted their entry of the city.
CROWD, CHANTING: (Translation): Long live Al Sadr! Saddam must be executed. Long live Al Sadr! Saddam must be executed.
I'm driving back to Adhamiya with the police.
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): Ishreen Street is the most dangerous. Most attacks on police and the Americans happen in this street.
The graffiti on the wall says, "Long live Iraq. Long live Fallujah. Death to security."
IRAQI POLICE, (Translation): Thank God we've arrived safely at the Adhamiya station.
And here is the bomb they found this morning.
MAHMOUD, (Translation): Four kilos of TNT, the detonator is that green part. A citizen informed us this morning that there was a bomb near the Indian embassy in Adhamiya. I immediately dispatched two patrols and called the explosives expert. But the expert was attending another incident in the Karrada area, dismantling a bomb. So one of our officers cut the wires himself and brought it to the station. This is a heroic act by the Iraqi police.
The lack of equipment and training make the Iraqi police a soft target. It's a constant war of bombs, sniping and outright attacks. The police spend all their time just trying to protect themselves. Normal police operations are impossible.
A few days later I go on patrol with the Iraqi National Guard, the ING. They are attached to the American units that recruit and train them. Basic training lasts five days. Entry requirements are that they can read and write and do ten push-ups and sit-ups. They're not fully trusted by the Americans and have a reputation for bad discipline under fire. In two months, they're supposed to be independent.
AMERICAN SOLDIER: Basically I just want him to know that he's in charge. It's his patrol and I'm here to facilitate his effort and to support him and advise him, but it is his patrol and he doesn't have to ask me for guidance.
The patrol is supposed to be looking for terrorists, but they're also out to catch thieves and destroy illegal alcohol. I asked this sergeant when they were last attacked.
SERGEANT, (Translation): A week ago, on Canal Road. We were fired at directly. But there were families around and it was crowded and we'd have missed our target. So to avoid killing people, we didn't return fire. I'm doing this for my country.
REPORTER: Why did you join the ING?
SERGEANT: Because no working now. No work in the street, no work in the city.
SOLDIER, (Translation): Tell him it's to protect the country.
SERGEANT, (Translation): No, I'm only saying the truth. Why should we lie? We shouldn't lie.
REPORTER What did you do before?
SOLDIER: Before that, I'm free - I have a free job, free work. Sometimes I work on building, sometimes I sold something on the road, because no work in Saddam days - it's hard.
This time the gunshots are not directed at the troops, but these men frequently come under fire. The American soldiers stay close to their vehicles while the Iraqi troops are deployed on foot in dangerous positions and take higher casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Carter is in charge of this unit. He admits discipline is still a problem among the Iraqi troops he commands.
LT COL FLORENTINO CARTER, UNIT COMMANDER, 1ST CAVALRY: When we first came under contact, whenever an IUD would explode or a sniper would take shots at one of my patrols or at the ING forces, they would immediately turn and just hold down the trigger and spray off a bunch of rounds. As you know, that's very detrimental to all the innocent bystanders who may be around.
REPORTER: Have you encountered a situation where they've wanted to do something and you have had to advise them against that?
LT COL FLORENTINO CARTER: We've had instances where they've been given orders to go into another unit's battle space. And that is in strict violation of our operational doctrine. Because if a unit does not know you're operating in a battle space, an unfortunate incident may happen, because, after all, we're American and we've got young soldiers operating out there and we know how we look. We recognise our Humvee, but if we see an Iraqi jeep with a bunch of soldiers who are dressed in chocolate-chip uniforms carrying AK47s and they don't know you're supposed to be there, you set yourself up for a potential fratricide incident.
The rising smoke is from a car bomb. It exploded at the main pedestrian gate to the Green Zone. When I arrived at the bomb site half an hour later, it was cordoned off by the Iraqi National Guard.
FEMALE SOLDIER, (Translation): They were at the road block checking cars when a car sped through but they had no time to respond so the three of them were killed.
This gate is used by journalists and Iraqis employed by the government. It's been the site of drive-by shootings and attempted car bombs before. The US troops stay inside and the entrance is guarded by the Iraqi National Guard. The bomb and their deaths were waiting to happen. This woman's 6-year-old boy was playing in the street when a mortar hit. She's been taken to see his remains. Three security guards were also killed. The nightly mortar and rocket attacks are rarely reported. It's deemed too dangerous to go into the suburbs after dark. With the Iraqi security forces unable to do their job, scenes like this will be repeated night after night for the foreseeable future.