Lewis troops get dress rehearsal for Iraq

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Lewis troops get dress rehearsal for Iraq
By Scott Fontaine - The News Tribune
Posted : Tuesday Nov 4, 2008 18:17:31 EST

FORT LEWIS, Wash. — The sound of gunfire drew a crowd of a half-dozen Iraqi women to the streets. They shouted at U.S. troops. The Fort Lewis Stryker soldiers tried to calm the women through an interpreter, but a few continued grabbing at the troops’ equipment.

A soldier fired a warning shot in the air. An Iraqi woman crumpled to the ground. Several Iraqi men joined the protest. Soon five people were detained, their wrists bound. And then a television crew arrived to film the scene.

The final exercise of the Nov. 3 battle simulation had soldiers responding to a sabotage threat at the water-treatment facility on North Fort Lewis.

At that moment, however, the Stryker brigade troops were reminded that even when a unit performs well, a momentary lapse of judgment can have large consequences.

They had made a critical mistake: A detainee broke free and ran down the street, away from the treatment plant. A soldier pursued him but couldn’t catch up. So the soldier shot the detainee in the back, just inches above where his hands were bound.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_lewis_iraq_110408/%2e