Safety of Iraq dam still a high priority

HADITHA DAM, Iraq — Even before Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled, U.S. military planners knew this mammoth hydroelectric dam 150 miles northwest of the capital was important to Iraq's future.

To prevent retreating Iraqi troops from destroying the dam and flooding the region, Army Rangers seized the site on the night of April 1, 2003, a week before the fall of Baghdad, while warplanes hammered a nearby Iraqi army unit.

Nearly two years later, as U.S.-led forces battle an insurgency that has targeted much of the war-ravaged country's infrastructure, protecting the 10-story-high dam that provides electricity for a third of the population remains a priority. The job is split between U.S. Marines and a company of soldiers from Azerbaijan.

The Marines, notoriously picky in their evaluation of other military forces, say the Azerbaijanis have been impressive with their discipline, respect for authority and the careful way they handle their weapons.

"If the Marines are an 8, the Azerbaijanis are at least a 4," said Sgt. Refugio Llamas, 38, from San Jose, Calif. "The Iraqis, well, they're not on the scale."

The Marines, members of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Regiment, a reserve unit from Houston, are responsible for security in surrounding towns and roadways. The Azerbaijanis, crisp and sharp in their tan-and-green field uniforms and pith-like helmets, are responsible for security inside the dam and within the fenced perimeter.

Haditha, Iraq's second-largest hydroelectric dam, was a showpiece for the Saddam regime. Designed by Soviet engineers and built by about 2,000 workers from Czechoslovakia, the first phase was completed in 1984 after eight years of work. During construction, the course of the Euphrates River was altered and archeological sites and small villages were flooded.

Marines and Azerbaijanis must use stairs — 290 of them. Like much of the internal workings of the dam, the elevators do not work.

Although relatively new, the Haditha Dam shows the deterioration that was common to Iraqi infrastructure during the final years of Saddam's rule and is still evident. Walls are moldy, the offices and workspaces smell of sulfur, and walls are cracked and crumbling. Much of the machinery is broken.

By one account, the dam was functioning at 30 percent capacity when the Army Rangers descended and rounded up the dam workers.

A $12 million improvement project administered by Colorado-based CH2M Hill and overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers rehabilitated two turbines. By the middle of last year, the dam was functioning at capacity for the first time since 1990.

Before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, American officials worried that Iraqi forces might blow up the dam to swamp the region and slow the advance of U.S. troops. Now the worry is that insurgents might strike the dam to show their determination and intimidate the populace.

No serious attempts to attack the dam have been made, though insurgents are known to be active in the area — particularly after an offensive in November drove many fighters out of Fallujah, 100 miles southeast of the site.

Insurgents occasionally fire mortars at the dam, but the rounds fall hundreds of yards short. A raid on an insurgent stronghold uncovered a map showing the structure, its checkpoints and patrol routes.

A platoon of Marines in small watercraft patrols the Euphrates and the dam's immense reservoir, Lake Qadisiyah.

Marines from the 4th Platoon of the Small Craft Company recently uncovered several caches of weapons and explosives along the banks of the river within striking distance of the dam. Within days of the discoveries, a squad was ambushed while patrolling in its 39-foot hard-rubber boat. A Marine lance corporal was killed and a captain lost an arm.

The river unit patrols constantly while the Azerbaijanis staff lookout towers.

The two military units live on opposite sides of the dam's concrete water barriers but share a chow hall and Internet room. The Azerbaijanis are polite but reserved, and there's little interaction between the two groups, as the chasm of language and culture appears too wide.

On the Marine side, signs of Texas are plentiful: a state flag above the dam, a sticker saying "Texas Born, Texas Proud" on the gun turret of a Humvee, and more. The Azerbaijanis like to watch their national equivalent of MTV.

The Azerbaijanis search the Iraqi dam workers each day as they arrive and leave. Some Iraqis have made their displeasure known, but the Azerbaijanis appear unmoved.

"They don't like us," said Maj. Elkhan Shalbuzov, the top Azerbaijani officer. "Our soldiers tell them nothing. We are not here to talk to Arabian people but to catch terrorists."

Since gaining independence in 1991 from the former Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has made military service mandatory and sent troops to Kosovo and Afghanistan. The United States has responded with military aid for the nation of 8.3 million people beside the Caspian Sea.

The presence of Azerbaijanis allows the Marines to launch missions in the countryside without worrying that insurgents might use their absence to attack the dam.

"No problem, we are here," said Azerbaijani Lt. Rashad Garayev.