Police chief adjusts to being home from Iraq

Friday, October 21, 2005

BREWER - When he first got back from the Iraq war zone last month, Steve Barker still felt uneasy when local folks pulled alongside his vehicle.

A year spent in a combat zone under continual threat of attack can do that to a guy.

"It takes time to adjust," the Brewer police chief admitted Thursday while sitting in his empty office. Back home "you don't have to worry about who's pulling up to you as you pull into Wal-Mart."

It takes time to let your guard down.

"Over there, you live on the edge all the time," said Barker, who took a leave of absence as chief to work as an adviser in support of the new police force in Iraq. "You have to constantly be aware of your surroundings.

"We were a big target," he added. "Every time we left the compound and were out in what we called the 'red zone' we never knew when the attacks would come. It happened all the time."

Barker arrived home Sept. 24 and will return to his Brewer post Monday. He already knows one thing that will decorate his blank office walls - an Iraqi flag hand-embroidered with gold thread that he received as a thank-you from the Iraqi people who live in the region of Mosul for which he was responsible.

"I'm very confident knowing we're doing the right thing over there," he said. "We're not imposing our values on them ... and I've seen some positive things happen in their police service.

"Our ways work for us over here, and it will work for them, when they get the training and respect of the communities," Barker said, adding that the process will take time.

The Iraqi police force was created after former President Saddam Hussein was captured nearly two years ago and the country took its first steps toward democracy. Under Saddam's dictatorship, the police were under a branch of the military.

The 28-year Brewer Police Department veteran volunteered his time in Iraq as an international police liaison officer, or adviser, under contract with the U.S. Department of State.

For the first six months, Barker worked with two other police advisers at the International Zone police station, located three miles from the Baghdad hotel he called home, before he was promoted to bureau commander for the regions of Iraq located north of the Iraqi capital.

Because of political unrest in Iraq, both the U.S. civilian police advisers and the Iraqi police cadet volunteers are targets for insurgents, Barker said.

"That was a big problem over there," he said. "They see the Iraqi police as partnering with the United States and that's a strike against them, and they see the Iraqi police as establishing democracy, and that's another strike against them. They're a prime target in Iraq."

While in Iraq, Barker was witness to numerous instances of suicide car bombers or suicide bombers strapped with jackets filled with improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs.

"The Iraqi police themselves have suffered thousands of casualties," Barker said. "That's something that's not represented in the media."

The police officer even e-mailed one of the attacks, caught on digital video, to City Manager Steve Bost.

The 15-second video shows a massive explosion with debris flying through the air ahead of the convoy of black SUVs used to transport the advisers. Bost said last week that he's happy Barker is now safe at home.

Lack of resources was a major barrier to the mission and a source of frustration for Brewer's chief, a post Barker had held since 1994.

"I've seen police stations with 200 to 300 police personnel with two or three patrol vehicles," he said. "Resources are very scarce.

"Back home we have a tremendous amount of resources available to us [including] people, finances, equipment and training," he added later. "It makes you appreciate everything we have."

Many of the Iraqi police cadets joined the force because they "couldn't find a job doing anything else," which differs from the U.S. where civic duty usually is a reason for becoming a law officer.

Arriving in Iraq, Barker found he also had to let go of his beliefs that things could be done in only one way. The cultural differences between Iraq and the U.S., and even northern and southern Iraq, forced him to learn a different approach and kept him constantly on his toes.

"You start thinking, 'This is wrong' or 'This is different,' but you soon learn it's an entirely different culture," he said. "A lot of their laws are based on religious beliefs. We would never attempt to base laws on religious beliefs in the United States.

"After a while you get good at recognizing the cultural differences and you temper your advice, always keeping in mind [that] it's nothing more than advice."

Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil Jr., commander of the advisers in Baghdad, praised Barker's service and thanked the city for allowing him to serve, in a letter read at the Oct. 11 Brewer City Council meeting.

Barker also thanked the city for approving his leave of absence, especially since it's the second time he has volunteered for service overseas in recent years. He also served as a police monitor in Bosnia for the United Nations in 1998.

Since his recent return to the states, Barker has been de-programming himself by spending time with his family, boating, fishing and taking day trips around beautiful Maine.

"I'm decompressing," he said. "I'm doing nothing except enjoying life in the real world."

Nok-Noi Hauger

nhauger@bangordailynews.net

A copyright article from the Bangor Daily News, Friday, October 21, 2005.