NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

Marines Pay Out Leases to Fallujah Citizens

by Lance Cpl. Bryan Eberly

Marines with Regimental Combat Team 5 handed Iraqis millions of dinar in lease payments for properties being used by Marines.

The payments were made at the Fallujah Development Center Dec. 18.

Sgt. Tron R. Bosse, a 25-year-old disbursing agent with Combat Logistics Battalion 5, from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, hands $100 to an Iraqi woman at the Fallujah Development Center Dec. 18. The Iraqis received the money as lease payments for allowing Coalition Forces to use their property for combat maneuvers in Fallujah. More than 100 Iraqis showed up at the FDC to collect their pay. (photo by Lance Cpl. Bryan Eberly)

Marines from RCT-5's legal office gave the Iraqis the money for allowing Coalition forces to occupy their property for combat maneuvers in Fallujah.

Cpl. Matthew G. Densley, a 22-year-old legal clerk for the regiment from Boise, Idaho, explained that the payments were made because Marines must use the homes of Iraqi citizens for ongoing operations. The use of the properties are considered long-term leases when Marines stage at locations for extended periods of time.

More than 100 Iraqi citizens arrived at the FDC to receive their compensation. Marines ushered them into the office, one by one, to give out the money.

When the Iraqis entered, Marines examined their records. They ensured documents were complete and authorized so they could hand out the money without any doubt of who was receiving it.

The amount that the Marines gave out ranged from $1,000 to $12,000. Most leases were paid in Iraqi dinar, Densley said.

Paying the Iraqis was split into phases which took a few months to accomplish. The first phase was to gather the information from the Iraqis at the FDC, Densley said.

"We went out there, collected everybody's leases," he said. "From out there we took them here, reviewed every lease, made sure they were valid."

The valid leases were then processed by the comptroller from 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, who controls the funding to pay the Iraqis, said Sgt. Jose A. Resendizortiz, the 30-year-old legal chief with RCT-5, from Chicago.

Marines sent the information to Baghdad where the leases were drafted, Resendizortiz said.

"Once Baghdad confirms that the property is in place, they draft the lease, send it back to us," he said. "At the same time we have the lease and the funding for that property."

"And then we end up paying them," Densley said. "So all in all, it's about a month-long process, if everything goes smoothly."

Compensating Iraqis helps them keep faith in the operations of the Coalition Forces, Resendizortiz said.

"They appreciate all the efforts that the Coalition Forces are doing in conjunction with the Iraqi forces," he said "And they know that pretty much what we're doing is on the behalf of them."

The payments also demonstrate mission progress, Densley said.

"We get to see from where we started at the beginning, with nothing; creating the databases, creating everything, creating the leases," he explained. "Now we get to actually see the people we saw in the beginning, saying, 'hey, we're going to pay you.' So now we get to actually see we're paying them, and they're happy and they're grateful for what we're doing for them."

Marines hope that by compensating the Iraqis relations between them and Marines will remain strong.

"Hopefully that will keep them happy with us and keep the good relations between our grunt units and the Iraqis," Densley said.