Life On The Iraqi Front

For The Black Lions Battalion, New "Surge" Is Also About Reading Lists, Ideals, And Staying Alive

(Christian Science Monitor)  This article was written by Sam Dagher.

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Before heading to war last month, Cpl. Jon Dorsey hid 20 books in equipment that he was charged with shipping to Iraq.

Along with titles on quantum physics, he sent General Patton's memoirs, Plato's "The Republic," and Kerouac's "On the Road."

The young soldier from Strong's Prairie, Wis., calls himself a student of history and takes a broad view of his mission as the war enters its fifth year. For him, and a handful of others in this battalion called the Black Lions, it's about shaping the future and spreading U.S. ideals.

But as his unit digs into the new front lines of Baghdad, their views and outlooks, already being tested, will be challenged at every turn.

As part of the Baghdad security plan in two of the city's toughest neighborhoods, Al Amel and Jihad, they are bound to face fierce opposition. Already, the unit has suffered casualties. Last week, three soldiers died in roadside bomb attacks, just days after setting up combat outposts.

To be sure, not every Black Lion in his unit, known as the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, shares Dorsey's idealism. Others just want to get the job done and make it back alive to their loved ones.

The 1-28 was initially supposed to spend its one year in Iraq escorting supply convoys north of Baghdad. That changed when President Bush announced his intention in January to send more troops to the Iraqi capital.

The battalion, based in Fort Riley, Kan., is attached to the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division — the second of the so-called surge brigades to be deployed in Iraq so far this year. It was built from scratch in January 2006, and the majority of its members were junior soldiers just out of basic training.

A Planet Away From Plentywood

Dorsey says he believes success in Iraq is still attainable if the Army is given enough time and money to regain the trust of average Iraqis and enable the country's security forces to stand on their own. He says many back home were losing the big picture by focusing on the daily violence.

"American soldiers gained their country's independence and we put an end to slavery, fascism, and dictatorships all around the globe. I do not buy into 'we can't stop this and we can't stop that,' " says Dorsey, a freckled redhead from a township in the heart of Wisconsin with barely 70 inhabitants. He joined the Army after high school because he felt college would be just too limiting and, he says, downright boring.

"The only thing that can stop us are people back home. People who decide they have had enough and it's not worth fighting anymore," he says.

Dorsey finds time to quiz his comrades on Arab phrases included in a fold-up laminated "Culture Smart Card" carried by every soldier. "Be patient; the Iraqi approach to time is slow and relaxed," reads one of the items under the Do's.

Both his father and grandfather were in the Navy and his maternal grandfather fought in Vietnam, another war that polarized the nation four decades ago.

The battalion's executive officer, Maj. Erik Overby, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in military history, says the current surge is as significant as the U.S.-led invasion.

"But it's not that kind of war anymore. We are not just racing to Baghdad to pull down the statute," says Major Overby, a native of Plentywood, Mt., referring to the dramatic toppling of Saddam Hussein's statute in Baghdad on April 9, 2003.