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Skinny, reedy boys who appeared to be still in their teens complied. The Marines searched them and sat them down. Across the road, three Iraqi lieutenant colonels sprawled briefly on the asphalt to be searched. An Arabic-speaking Marine searched the papers of the officers for intelligence information, then handed back their personal effects. "Man, I've been in country two hours, and already I've got two wounded and a truckload of prisoners," one Marine, standing guard over the prisoners with weapon ready, told another.
The Marines rolled bales of concertina wire toward the prisoners and planned to keep them in a temporary facility until camps could open up. Some of the Iraqis who gave themselves up were wearing T-shirts and other civilian clothes instead of military uniforms. Lt. Col. Rob Abbott of Camp Pendleton, Calif., said the situation matched the expectations he had after seeing Iraqi troops surrender en masse in the 1991 Gulf War. "I think they're just glad to be out of the fight," Abbott said. "I'd much rather have them come surrender than have me have to go hump them out of holes."