Operation Iraqi Sims

The U.S. Army Reserve 7th Psychological Operations (Psyops) group "is offering soldiers a crash course in Iraqi community relations intended to help them defuse potentially hostile situations when they arrive in the region." Over the past year, the group has trained more than 300 Army Reservists at three locations in California, using "simulated Iraqi towns populated by Arab-Americans hired by outside contractors to play the role of curious, sometimes disgruntled Iraqi citizens." Exercises include "simulated meetings with local tribal leaders," "attempts to enforce crowd control" and soldiers "coming under attack while traveling between towns." Lt. Col. Steve Goto said of the Psyops unit, "We're the military's version of Madison Avenue."