US troops attempt to win over villagers

Before each mission Captain Chris Chang tells his soldiers they will not fire any warning shots: "If we get into a situation where you feel the need to fire your weapon, get yourself out of that situation. We don't need to be shooting."

He makes a point of telling them to be polite. It is an approach uncommon among US forces, with pre-patrol briefings generally mentioning Iraqis only as a potential threat.

But Cpt Chang insists the war will not be won by violence, or at least not violence alone. "We don't go around kicking in doors and shooting and I'd say we're much more effective for not doing it.

"Every time there is a raid, you run the risk of turning more people against the Americans and against the Iraqi government.

"If you raid the wrong house, you make enemies. Every time a US convoy drives badly or shoots up a village, you make enemies.

"If you help people, that's incredibly powerful it's more powerful than a tank."

Cpt Chang is an officer in the Los Angeles based 426th Civil Affairs Battalion, a National Guard Unit.

Although all personnel are trained to fight and heavily armed it is not a combat unit. Its job is to rebuild the schools, hospitals and shattered infrastructure of a nation crippled by decades of wars and sanctions.

"Word of mouth means news travels very quickly in this area," he said.

"That's good and bad. When we do something that help Iraqis, word gets around. When something goes wrong, people hear about that too. You can do everything right but a bad incident undermines it all."