In Germany, few want to play an Iraqi

The US military is having trouble recruiting local Arabs to help with training by manning 'Iraqi villages.'

from the March 2, 2007 edition

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Many of the candidates also worried that the increased interest in Iraqi culture was a sign that the US was settling in for a long occupation.

Among them was Kamal Said, an older Baghdad native whose sister still lives in the city. He says that she spends her days huddled in a single room with her family so that "they all die together."

When Adil Synsche, a young man from Morocco, was asked by a man sitting next to him if he planned to take part, he leaped to his feet, shouting, "I will not help the Americans hurt my brothers!'' he recounted. "Everyone with any sense knows they're just there for the oil."

To be sure, there is one group that's eager to help: Iraqi Kurds, the only pro-American segment of the Iraqi population.

Ibrahim Bakhteyar, who works for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Germany and who turned up at the Cologne session, called the new training program "a gift to my country."

Detektei Service and Security, the recruiting company, says its making progress towards filling its quota. JMRC officials declined to comment on the recruiting of role-players.

The JMRC, one of the Army's three major training centers, has relied mostly on Germans to play Iraqis in the past, unlike its stateside counterparts, which work with hundreds of Iraqi-Americans. Though hiring Iraqis has raised some security concerns – at Fort Irwin in California, foreign-born role players are screened more carefully than Americans – military trainers say the extra touch of realism helps prepare recruits to avoid cultural gaffes and ease tense situations.

"It makes a world of difference," says Fort Irwin spokesman Kenneth Drylie. "The soldiers come out more confident and better prepared for what's happening on the ground."

Troops use the sites to learn how to do everything from raids to humanitarian operations in the least inflammatory way. In one JMRC scenario, soldiers try to nab a sniper in a minaret without laying waste to the mosque he's hiding in.

The role players are expected to stay in character for most of their waking hours and to play their roles faithfully. Waiters spend their days serving real drinks and snacks. Lawyers negotiate agreements between military and political leaders.

At Fort Irwin, each villager belongs to a clan that stretches across village boundaries, so if a soldier roughs up a civilian, GIs in a neighboring town find friendly villagers quickly turning surly. Combat feels as close to the real thing as possible, and some soldiers have been known to start crying in standoffs with villagers.

"The goal is to create the most realistic training possible," says Maj. Eric Bloom of JMRC. "We train the way we fight."

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