Servants -- and Weapons -- of War

U.S.=20 forces rely on dogs to detect bombs in Iraq. Insurgents rig them = with=20 explosives.

By Borzou = Daragahi,=20 Times Staff Writer

BAGHDAD =97 These are the dogs of = war.

At a=20 checkpoint leading to the U.S.-protected Green Zone, Gordy stands = sentry.=20 The affable Belgian Malinois has a nose finely tuned to detect the = nitrates, plastic explosives, gunpowder and detonation cords that = suicide=20 bombers use to blow up people.

ADVERTISEMENT On=20 a barren stretch of road in northern Iraq, a dog rigged with = explosives=20 approaches a group of Iraqi police officers. Detonated by remote = control,=20 the bomb tears the dog apart but doesn't harm the cops.

In = a war=20 where the line between civilian and soldier is blurred, even man's = best=20 friend has been caught up in the combat. U.S. forces hail their = trained=20 dogs as heroes, but to insurgents, canines provide the means for a = more=20 sinister goal.

Iraqi police cite the recent use of dogs = rigged with=20 explosive devices in Latifiya, just south of Baghdad, in Baqubah = in=20 central Iraq and in and around the northern city of = Kirkuk.

Some=20 Iraqis are horrified by the ethics of dragging the animal world = into a=20 human conflict.

"How can they use these lovely pets for = criminal=20 and murderous acts?" asked Rasha Khairir, 25, an employee of a = Baghdad=20 stock brokerage. "A poor dog can't refuse what they are doing with = him=20 because he can't think and decide."

Despite a common = prejudice in=20 the Muslim world against dogs, which are considered unclean, even = the most=20 virulent clerical opponents of the U.S. presence in Iraq have = decried the=20 use of canines as proxies in the war.

Abdel Salam Kubaisi, = a=20 spokesman for the Muslim Scholars Assn., a hard-line Sunni Arab = clerical=20 organization sympathetic to insurgents, called the practice = un-Islamic.=20 "Our religion does not permit us to hurt animals," he said, = "neither by=20 using them as explosive devices nor in any other = manner."

U.S.=20 troops extol the virtues of their canine allies in the war against = the=20 insurgents.

"Dogs are vital in Iraqi counterinsurgency = efforts,"=20 said Staff Sgt. Ann Pitt, 35, of Buffalo, N.Y., a U.S. Army dog = handler=20 based near the southern city of Nasiriya.

"We have many = items to=20 help us do our mission, but I don't think we have a better = detection tool=20 than a dog," said Pitt, who cares for Buddy, another Belgian = Malinois, a=20 dog similar to a German shepherd. "These dogs are amazing. They = are more=20 dependable and effective than almost anything we have available to = us."

The Army has deployed dogs since World War I to locate = trip=20 wires, track enemies, stand guard at base perimeters and search = tunnels=20 for explosives or booby traps.

Even these dogs weren't = always=20 treated kindly. Of 4,300 dogs sent to Vietnam, 2,000 were handed = over to=20 the South Vietnamese army and 2,000 were put to sleep. Only 200 = managed to=20 make it home, said Ron Aiello, Vietnam War-era dog handler who = runs U.S.=20 War Dog, a 1,100-member Burlington, N.J., organization.

His = group=20 set up a website, http://www.uswardogs.org/ = , to=20 raise funds for a memorial to honor the dogs and their = handlers.

In=20 Iraq, dogs like Gordy and Buddy are posted at checkpoints and at = entrances=20 to government buildings.

They sniff for explosives among = reporters'=20 equipment at news conferences and passengers' bags at Baghdad's=20 international airport.

"What we do is prevent people from = getting=20 killed," said Artwell Chibero, Gordy's 29-year-old Zimbabwean = handler, an=20 employee of a private security firm hired by the Defense=20 Department.

Dogs have 25 times more smell receptors than = humans,=20 Pitt said.

"We smell spaghetti sauce and we think, 'Oh, the = spaghetti sauce smells good,' " Pitt said. "To a dog, they would = smell the=20 tomatoes, the onions, the basil, oregano. They smell all the odors = individually."

Insurgents have long stuffed roadside bombs = into the=20 carcasses of animals. But Iraqi security officials say they = increasingly=20 worry about the use of live animals.

"Dogs have been used = in many=20 areas by insurgents throughout Iraq" to carry explosive devices, = said=20 Noori Noori, inspector-general at the Interior Ministry. "They = used=20 mentally retarded people for operations during the elections, so = why=20 wouldn't they use animals?"

Last year in Ramadi, in the = vast desert=20 west of the capital, insurgents dispatched a booby-trapped donkey = toward a=20 U.S.-run checkpoint around sunset. "As one of the soldiers tried = to stop=20 it, the donkey exploded," said resident Mohammed Yas, 45. The only = casualty was the donkey.

"Before, they used to use car = bombs. Now=20 they are using people and animals," said Col. Adnan Jaboori, a = spokesman=20 for the interior minister. "They are finding new ways to use=20 remote-control technology."

The daily newspaper Al Mada = recently=20 published an editorial cartoon showing an insurgent who strongly = resembled=20 Saddam Hussein trying to persuade a dog to strap on a belt bomb to = advance=20 the cause of the Baath Party, which once ruled Iraq.

"It is = such a=20 simple task," the insurgent tells the terrified dog. "All you have = to do=20 is to put on this explosives belt, repeat the party's slogans, and = may=20 Allah have mercy on your father's soul!"

Times staff writers Zainab Hussein and Suhail Ahmad contributed = to this=20 report.

If you want other stories on = this topic,=20 search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.

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Photos

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Keeping watch

(Cpl. Tom Sloan / U.S. Marine Corps)

=20

(Staff Sgt. Suzanne Day / Reuters USAF)

=20

In an editorial cartoon, an insurgent tries = to=20 persuade a dog to don a belt bomb to aid the Baath = Party.

(Al Mada)