Tough choices on mean streets of Baghdad

"These people aren't enemies of the United States. They are just poor people trying to get something for themselves," he says. "I don't think anyone should die just for trying to have a better life."

Sgt. Eric Wetzel of El Paso, Texas, views the issue differently. He says the Iraqis won't stop looting until the US shows it is serious about preventing looting.

"I think the second we shoot the first one for looting, they will all quit," he says. "All we've done to this point is put them in a jail cell and give them free water and food."

There would be significant ethical considerations to any order to shoot looters, military officials say. In a crowd of men, women, and children, how should a soldier pick out the one to kill?

"You'd have to have specific guidelines," says US Air Force Capt. Bryan France of Mobile, Ala., who is attached to the 2nd ACR. "You have an 18-year-old private making this decision, and you have to make it very clear for that private."

Some soldiers suggest the use of rubber bullets to physically punish looters.

Armstrong says looting wasn't the only issue that demanded immediate attention in past weeks. The city was littered with huge quantities of unexploded ordnance and weapons caches, many of them stored in schools. Those threats to public safety have been neutralized.

"The other part of the story is what isn't being looted," Armstrong says. "Normal businesses are functioning, and kids are going to school. It is not as bad as people are making it out to be."

Army officials say there are several kinds of looters targeting government buildings. First are administrative-level looters - those who take what they want from their old place of employment.

Next are opportunists who take anything that is not bolted down or firmly attached to the building.

Third are the heavy-machinery looters - those who probably worked in the facility and were aware of the presence of particular equipment and what is necessary to get it out of the building.

Fourth are those looking for products that can be melted down into raw materials to be sold. This includes copper from pipes and wires and aluminum from door and window frames.

Finally are the bottom feeders - the scavengers who descend upon what remains of a government building, looking for wood to fuel a cooking fire, or building materials to help patch a roof.

Unless US soldiers are posted 24 hours a day outside a government building, Army officials say, all five levels of looters will arrive, frequently at the same time.

Armstrong says the real problem isn't looting, but crime and a lack of employment opportunities.

"What would the United States of America look like," he asks, "if you simultaneously let everyone out of prison and shut down every police force?"

Page: 1 | 2