Tough choices on mean streets of Baghdad

US military officials have never seen anything quite like it: hundreds of men, women, and children swarming into government buildings to pry loose anything that might have value.

As one military officer put it, "They are just like locusts. They swarm and eat a field, and then they swarm again and eat another field."

The US Army has physically protected crucial infrastructure such as power plants and sewage-treatment facilities by posting 24-hour guards, but questions have persisted about whether the Army has been aggressive enough.

US officials, including L. Paul Bremer, the new chief civilian administrator for Iraq, have made a point this week of assuring Iraqis that security is a top security. They've detailed new efforts to restore calm, which included making 92 arrests in Baghdad on Wednesday alone.

Some people have even gone as far as suggesting that American soldiers should be authorized to shoot looters in an effort to quickly restore order. The idea is that once word gets out that US forces will shoot and potentially kill anyone plundering government buildings, the looting will stop.

Although US commanders have said they would not authorize a shoot-to-kill policy, the idea has nevertheless been a topic of discussion and debate among troops. Their experience has been forged in the line of fire in some of Baghdad's grittiest neighborhoods.

According to US Army officials patrolling eastern Baghdad, the most desirable targets for looters have already been picked clean. At the same time, US forces have protected as much crucial infrastructure as possible.

"It's finished. It's done," says Lt. Col. Joel Armstrong, commander of the 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR). "And we hold the places we don't want them to loot."

Colonel Armstrong says looting is not the most significant problem in his sector of the city. His primary concern is the organized criminals paying the looters, as well as those carrying out carjackings, abductions, and robberies.

"You have to choose what you want to fight for and let the rest go, even though it is pretty ugly to look at," he says. "We still have the power system and most of the hospitals. The public buildings are gone, but people haven't turned on one another on a large scale."

To many soldiers waging the battle to win the peace, the idea of shooting looters would be counterproductive to the overall US mission in Iraq.

"If we shoot people, it will make it worse for us because we will be making enemies," says Spc. Therron Augustine of Brooklyn, N.Y. "We are trying to be friends with the people, not get them to turn against us."

Lt. William Baird of Kennewick, Wash., says if his commanders issue a lawful order for him to shoot looters, he will shoot them. "But if I can accomplish the same objective by arresting them, I would do it that way," he says.

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