Knee Deep in the Hooah!

According to all of the skeptics there has been little to no progress in Iraq, and the Iraqi government has not lived up to the demands put on it. The good news recon this week will debunk those rumors. Have a great weekend, and remember our fallen heroes this Memorial Day weekend!

3/6 Kilo Preplans Improvements in Fallujah

05.23.2008 at 07:31pm by Cpl. Chris Lyttle
Regimental Combat Team – 1

(Excerpt)

FALLUJAH, Iraq – Coalition forces and Fallujah officials are currently engaged in discussions to develop proposals for the improvement of the city’s Jolan District.

Company K, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team-1 met with local Iraqi leaders and Iraqi Police Maj. Rashid Hamid Calih Mobarak al-Ajely, during a district meeting, May 19, to determine the main priorities of the district included school renovations, installation of water lines and restoring half-demolished buildings to enhance the area’s aesthetics.

To compliment the current government of Iraq reconstruction efforts, coalition forces use commander’s emergency response funds to address safety, security and other issues within the local communities.

“All of the schools in Jolan are in need of clean up, which will be done by using day laborers,” said Sgt. Joseph Gaines, Team 5 sergeant of operations with the Civil Affairs Group (CAG) supporting the battalion’s area of operations.

The day labor program serves two functions. It provides Iraqis with short-term employment and income for the local economy, and it improves living conditions and infrastructure. Read MORE

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Government of Iraq Making Progress

By Gregory Dubin
Multi-National Division – Center
Posted on 05.23.2008 at 03:53PM

(excerpt)

BAGHDAD – A safer and more secure environment has not only brought Iraqis and their neighbors out of their homes to enjoy life, but has given the government of Iraq a chance to reconnect with its citizens.

Over the last 15 months, leaders with the Multi-National Division – Center have seen where the GoI has made significant headway in its administration of security, governance and reconstruction.

“There have been positive steps: better budget execution, better distribution of services, more involvement with civil organizations. The list goes on,” said Brig. Gen. Edward Cardon, deputy commanding general for support for MND-C. “There is still much work to do, but clearly the security situation has opened a window of opportunity for the government to work and we are seeing progress.”

These developments are particularly evident in MND-C, the region south and southeast of Baghdad.

This secured environment has allowed the GoI to extend its reach to provincial, qada and nahia levels. Task Force Marne Soldiers and U.S. Department of State provincial reconstruction teams have helped develop a system that bridges these local institutions with GoI ministries and representatives.

Iraqi officials routinely fly to rural communities to meet with councils and labor organizations to learn about the challenges they face and coordinate GoI resources to address these problems. Read MORE

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Soldiers Bring Hope to Urs’ Last Standing Primary School for Girls

Story by Spc. Joseph Rivera Rebolledo
Posted on 05.19.2008 at 04:34PM

(Excerpt)

UR, Iraq – Multi-National-Division – Baghdad Soldiers are working with a local headmaster to improve the last standing primary school for girls in a northern Baghdad neighborhood.

The Soldiers, from 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, visited the Al Murooa school for girls in Ur, May 12.

During the visit, the Soldiers met with the school headmaster and discussed the conditions of the school as well as other needs and ways in which improvements to the quality of life can be made for the students and teachers of the school. Read More

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Iraqi Police Graduates Move on to the Force

Story by Sgt. Daniel West
Posted on 05.23.2008 at 05:48PM

(too short to excerpt — public domain according to website policy)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – A group of 436 graduates from the department of border enforcement academy entered the ranks of the Iraqi police force on May 22.

The graduates will be under the command of provincial director of Police Maj. Gen. Hannin al-Ameer, and will be stationed throughout Wasit province.

“They will be a welcome addition to our manpower,” said Cpt. Hayder Ali Adnan, liaison officer for coalition forces and member of the IP. “This is the best training in the country …. They are ready to fight and protect their country.” Read More

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Troops, State Dept. aid Iraqi mill owner

by Jason Stadel 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs
(excerpt)

FOB KALSU, Iraq (May 20, 2008) — A Sayafiyah, Iraq, feed mill owner received a U.S. State Department micro-grant May 16 to get his business going.

The mill had been inoperable because of insurgent activities in the area.

“We always had to stay in our house,” Thamer Hussain Kashkool said, adding that insurgents had stolen the mill’s motor.

With most of the extremists driven out, the community is safer, and the focus has changed to rebuilding the agricultural-based economy.

Mike Stevens, Baghdad 7 embedded provincial reconstruction team agricultural advisor, said the mill’s main purpose is to help area chicken farmers. Read MORE

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Security Pays Dividends As Surge Brigade’s Tour Winds Down

Friday, 23 May 2008 By Sgt. David Turner

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

[b]FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU[/b] — The numbers only begin to tell the story: 5,943 houses cleared, 1,433 suspects detained, 1,241 small-arms fire engagements, 577 weapons caches found and 532 improvised explosive devices safely destroyed.

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, is already busy with the task of preparing for the journey home. As the last of the “surge brigades,” arriving in the south Baghdad area last June, 2nd BCT Soldiers had a difficult but important mission to fulfill.

Now, as they prepare to hand the torch to those who will continue the mission, they can look back and see a place not only made safer, but ready to reap the benefits of security.”When we entered [the area], our task was to go in and stay,” said 2nd BCT commander Col. Terry Ferrell. “We were to go in and block accelerants from entering Baghdad, protect the population and defeat the sectarian violence that was going on in the area.”

In the summer of 2007, the area south of Baghdad on the west bank of the Tigris River was considered one of the most dangerous places in all of Iraq. The majority-Sunni population had largely boycotted the 2005 elections, and soon began to feel the effects brought by lack of government representation. Read MORE

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Four wanted bombing suspects, 13 others detained (Baghdad)

Saturday, 24 May 2008

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ

BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained 17 suspected terrorists, including four wanted bombing suspects, during operations Friday and Saturday targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Coalition forces captured two wanted men and one additional suspected terrorist during an operation Friday in Baghdad. The wanted men are believed to be car bombers tied to an AQI bombing facilitation network that smuggles explosives into the country.

Saturday, Coalition forces captured two men wanted for their alleged connection to AQI car bombing networks in Baghdad. Information from an operation conducted on May 5th led Coalition forces to one of the wanted men in Baghdad who was allegedly involved in a suicide bombing attack that killed five U.S. Soldiers. The second wanted man was detained near Balad, about 60 kilometers north of Baghdad. Two additional suspected terrorists were detained in the operations.

Coalition forces continued their ongoing targeting of AQI terrorists in the Tigris River Valley Saturday during a series of operations between Bayji and Tikrit, detaining eight suspected terrorists. As Coalition forces arrived at one target building, three armed terrorists attempted to evade the force. Coalition forces fired warning shots, but the terrorists continued toward the security perimeter. Coalition forces responded to the hostile threat by engaging and killing the three terrorists. In their vehicle, Coalition forces discovered additional weapons, including a machine gun, grenades and bomb-making materials, which they safely destroyed on site.

In Mosul, Coalition forces conducted two operations targeting AQI elements and detained two suspected terrorists. Despite clearly identifying themselves, as Coalition forces approached one of the target locations they received small arms fire from two separate positions. Responding in self-defense, Coalition forces returned fire. Discovering an Iraqi Police patrol in one of the positions, all firing ceased. During the three-way engagement, a man in the area was struck by gunfire. A Coalition forces medic treated him on site, but the man died of his wounds before Iraqi emergency services arrived. Read MORE

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IA seize weapons cache at schoolhouse in Sadr City

Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20080524-01
May 24, 2008

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Army Soldiers discovered a weapons cache hidden in a schoolhouse in Sadr City May 23.At approximately 8 a.m., IA Soldiers from the 34th Brigade, 9 IA Division, discovered a weapons cache consisting of a remote-controlled improvised explosive device, six 155 mm artillery rounds, an artillery warhead, an anti-tank mine, four hand grenades, an unknown grenade, two PKC light machine guns, 450 PKC rounds, a 92 mm charge, a Katusha rocket launcher, two bottles of chlorine poison, eight Tamoud brand radios and five radio chargers.

“Criminal elements are trying to destabilize Iraqi society through indiscriminate violence and criminal activity,” said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, MND-B and 4th Infantry Division spokesman. “By taking these weapons off the streets, we are making Baghdad safer.” Read MORE

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US: Mosul attacks down 85 percent

By KIM GAMEL
Associated Press Writer
4:34 PM EDT, May 21, 2008

(Excerpt)

BAGHDAD – The number of daily attacks in Mosul has dropped at least 85 percent since U.S.-Iraqi forces began an offensive against Sunni insurgents in the city earlier this month, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq said Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling said U.S. and Iraqi forces have not met fierce resistance since the operation began on May 10. He attributed this mostly to the large numbers of troops on the streets, an initial curfew, extensive preparations and construction of new checkpoints.

Iraqi commanders have said some al-Qaida fighters fled in advance of the operation, meaning they would be able to fight another day.

But Hertling said he did not believe many had escaped and that some who had been in regions outside Mosul before the crackdown were moving toward the city to take up the battle. He said intelligence indicates “many of their leaders have been pushing fighters to Mosul because they see it as a critical fight as well.”

Read MORE