Guardsman: Iraqi police gradually inspired confidence
 |  Capt. Joe Lyon of the Florida Army National Guard |
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| | ON CNN TV |  Stay with CNN for live reports from Iraq as well as correspondents' updates and ongoing analysis on the coalition's efforts to quell the Mehdi Army and dramatic new violence in the embattled country.
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 Wounded U.S. Marines emerge from a burning tank in the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Fallujah.
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TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- U.S.-led coalition forces are battling insurgents throughout Iraq as attacks escalate and the deadline for returning power to Iraqis looms nearer.
Capt. Joe Lyon of the Florida Army National Guard has returned home after serving as a company commander in Ramadi, Iraq, where 12 Marines were killed this week. He spoke Friday morning with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
COOPER: How surprised were you by the scope and the level of the violence there in the last several days?
LYON: Well, as far as the scope of violence, we faced small attacks throughout the year that my company was present in Ramadi but not on the large scale, the size that the Marines have faced recently.
COOPER: Yes. Twelve Marines [were] killed on Tuesday. Apparently hundreds of Iraqis have died, although the numbers really are not clear at this point. How big of concern is it? ... This of course [is] a Sunni stronghold. Now there's word that posters of this Shiite cleric [Muqtada al-Sadr] have appeared in [Ramadi]. Did that surprise you?
LYON: It didn't surprise me. The information operations that we faced were quite extensive. However, there was constant -- what we call graffiti in America -- on walls trying to persuade the neutral civilians in Ramadi toward their sides and their actions against us.
COOPER: How much confidence did you have? I know you worked very closely with Iraqi security forces trying to bolster the Iraqi police. How confident are you in their abilities to aid U.S. forces?
LYON: Early on ... around May 2003, [I had] no confidence at all in their security forces. They would show up to work, and it sometimes was very hard and difficult to get them on the streets. However, [we were] working through the training program with them. ...
And we hired 2,500 new police officers and put them to work on the streets. [We had] joint patrols with them, [and we were] very confident toward the end. However, it wasn't an easy task.
COOPER: What is it like for you personally when you -- you know we've all seen some of these images from Ramadi. We've all heard the casualty figures. You have been on these streets, you know these streets, you probably recognize where some of these pictures have been taken. What's it like watching this stuff?
LYON: Oh, it's not easy right now. I could tell you that. You invest so much with the civilians and the people, particularly the police force. I've made many friends and many Iraqi friends, and seeing what is taking place is very difficult for me to sit back and watch.
We're action people and to not be on the ground right now is -- I'm not saying it's a bad thing to be at home with my family, but it's very difficult to sit back and watch what's happening.
