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Guarding Iraq's future: Standing guard over a country's lifeblood.
Byline: Gretel C. Kovach
AL BASRA OIL TERMINAL, Northern Persian Gulf _ In the turquoise waters off Iraq's coast, U.S. forces guard the liquid black jewels of this struggling country's future and train a fledgling Iraqi force to take over.
The Navy commandos protecting the rusted oil platforms where the bulk of Iraq's wealth gushes toward international markets are armed with .50-caliber machine guns, grenade launchers and infrared scopes.
U.S., British and Australian sailors stand watch in nearby waters and board suspicious craft, while helicopters patrol the skies with help from Naval Coastal Warfare radar, sonar and optical sensors.
The sailors who live for weeks at a time aboard the platforms about 12 miles off the coast of the Al Faw peninsula are tied into international oil politics and its impact on the Iraqi and American economy.
"We're protecting the backbone of Iraq," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Zamarripa of Fort Worth, Texas, as he studied the horizon for the Naval Mobile Security Force (MSF) Detachment 21. "A terrorist attack here would send the country down the ...
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Source: HighBeam Research, Guarding Iraq's future: Standing guard over a country's lifeblood.