Army Lures Iraqis With Construction Funds

[Snazzy]

Army Lures Iraqis With Construction Funds

Apr 27, 6:00 AM (ET)

By JIM KRANE

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The way to break the spiraling cycle of rebel attacks and U.S. counter-raids, the Army's just-arrived 1st Cavalry Division believes, is to kill the rebels with one hand and spread dollars with the other.

"We've got to win the people back," says Col. Steve Lanza, commander of the division's 5th Brigade, which controls south Baghdad. "This is what insurgency is all about."

Almost a year since President Bush declared major combat over, the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq has become mired in a brutal counterinsurgency campaign, with Iraqi civilians caught between guerrilla bombings and ambushes and American counter-raids and checkpoints.

The 1st Cavalry's deputy commander, Brig. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, wants to prevent the attack-counterattack cycle from becoming a never-ending story. He's urged his five brigade commanders to spend money in their occupation zones in the Iraqi capital, giving permission for projects of up to $100,000 apiece to fix neighborhood infrastructure and provide jobs.

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040427/D8272UB80.html