Two US soldiers defy order, marry Iraqi women

They met after the Iraqi women, both English-speaking doctors, took jobs working with the Americans. The women and soldiers could flirt and visit. But as friendships deepened into romance, US officers considered the relationships a security problem. The guardsmen were prohibited from ‘‘fraternisation’’ during ‘‘combat’’.

Nevertheless, a couple of weeks before the ceremony, the soldiers, National Guardsmen from the Florida panhandle, converted to Islam in an Iraqi court. Finally, with an American reporter watching, it took less than a half-hour in the morning sun to hear the judge’s recitations of the vows. The marriage-on-patrol was necessary because the soldiers’ superior officers were trying to block it.

‘‘We are accomplishing a mission on the street and protecting our forces. We cannot develop relationships with the locals unless they are mission-related,’’ Capt Jack McClellan, a spokesman for the Florida Army National Guard, one of three guard units in active combat, said in Baghdad.

Yet Sgt Sean Blackwell, 27, and Cpl Brett Dagen, 37, were determined. ‘‘I’ve done two years overseas on active duty and I never thought this would happen,’’ Blackwell said at the small wedding ceremony. ‘‘I love her.’’

Now, he is trying to figure out how to bring his wife — under Iraqi law but not yet American law — to the Pensacola area where they plan to hold another larger wedding with friends and family. Subsequent requests for interviews with the men were denied by the military, though Blackwell could answer questions by e-mail.

The women, who agreed to be interviewed, face their own problems. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said they fear that militants could target them just as they have targeted translators, police and other Iraqis cooperating with Americans.

Blackwell’s wife and her friend resent the common suspicion that they are seeking soldiers as tickets to America. They say they do not need American husbands to flee Iraq. They already have relatives and friends in Canada, Ireland and Australia. They are also disappointed by Iraqis who accuse them of betrayal. ‘‘You are marrying the occupation,’’ Blackwell’s wife recalls being told.

‘‘We are in combat operations,’’ said spokesman McClellan. ‘‘If they get married, how can we safeguard those women? How can he focus on his job if his wife or fiance is out there?’’ US officials have other concerns about operational information the women might learn. (NYT)