Knee Deep in the Hooah!

I have decided to do a blessed blitz each week. Our troops are doing so much good work, and the majority of it is swept under the rug by the MSM. Well, who needs them when we have so many other avenues of information open to us now? If this post doesn’t put a smile on your face for the weekend, then I don’t know what will.

So, here’s a handful of my favorite finds this week:

Iraqi Police Regional Training Center Opens in Diyala Province

(Excerpt)

TIKRIT — The Iraqi Police Regional Training Center celebrated its grand opening in Diyala Province, commemorating the establishment of an Iraqi Police professional training academy May 1.

Coalition forces built the interim facility in order to make possible the immediate training of thousands of Iraqi Police and to help place additional police forces throughout communities in Diyala.

“We would like to thank Coalition forces for helping stand up this academy,” said Staff Maj. Gen. Ghanem abbas Ibrahim Hasan al Qarayshi, the Diyala Provincial Director of Police.

Sons of Iraq Help Secure Fuhail Village

PATROL BASE YATES — As part of their commitment to keeping insurgents away, members of the Sons of Iraq built a checkpoint on a narrow stretch of road through Fuhail Mujeer Village, 25 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, last week.

As recently as December, Rakkasan Soldiers of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), established a presence in the area, which was previously an insurgent safe haven.

Iraqi Police Hone Skills with Coalition Help

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKAN — A team of motivated and well trained Iraqi Policemen honed their skills and gained more in-depth training from a small group of 3rd Infantry Division Soldiers at FOB Iskan.

Soldiers from 4th Platoon, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Inf. Div., teamed up with the Tahrir Iraqi Police Station to reinforce basic police procedures, including vehicle and personnel searches.

“My soldiers were pretty impressed with the knowledge and proficiency that these IPs possessed,” said 1st Lt. Greg Hope, 4th Platoon leader. “We definitely underestimated their abilities, and we were pleasantly surprised by their performance.”

Christians Sign Up to Join Iraqi Police

(Excerpt)

MOSUL — Scores of Christian men lined up to join the Iraqi Police force during a recruiting drive in Tall Kayf, 15 km north of Mosul, April 28.

The goal of the three-day event was to recruit up to 700 Christians to join the police force to help protect their respective communities in Mosul.

Four terrorists killed, 10 suspects detained in Coalition operations

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ
PRESS DESK
BAGHDAD, IRAQ
Press Release A080502d
May 2, 2008

(excerpt)

BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed four terrorists and detained 10 suspected terrorists during operations targeting the al-Qaeda in Iraq network around Mosul Thursday and Friday.

Thursday, Coalition forces targeted members of an AQI bombing network 70 miles south of Mosul. As they prepared to stop a vehicle, Coalition forces were engaged with small arms fire from another vehicle. Responding to the hostile threat, Coalition forces engaged the vehicle, killing three terrorists and destroying weapons and ammunition inside.

Despite Coalition forces’ warnings to stop, the driver of the target vehicle refused to comply. Perceiving hostile intent, Coalition forces engaged the vehicle, killing the terrorist inside. Coalition forces later found heavy machine guns and other weapons inside.

Friday, Coalition forces targeted members of the same network in Mosul and detained four suspected terrorists.

Also in Mosul Friday, Coalition forces captured an alleged member of an AQI cell that targets security forces with indirect fire attacks. Coalition forces also detained another suspect and discovered a cache of weapons near a house. Coalition forces moved a nearby family to safety while they destroyed the weapons on site.

Coalition Forces Seize AQI Propaganda, Destroy Weapons Caches

Press Release A080502b
May 2, 2008

BAGHDAD – A three-day operation culminated with Coalition forces seizing al-Qaeda in Iraq computers and information storage devices, and destroying three weapons caches near Samarra.

Coalition forces targeted terrorists responsible for financing terrorist cells and coordinating suicide attacks in the area. During patrols, Coalition Forces discovered three weapons caches consisting of weapons common to the AQI arsenal: multiple rockets and an improvised rocket launcher, five bags of homemade explosives, bomb-building materials, and a heavy machine gun with 700 rounds of ammunition and nine assault rifles.

Coalition forces moved civilians out of the area, gathered the weapons together and safely destroyed them on site.

Additionally, Coalition forces discovered several computers and electronic storage devices that contained AQI propaganda and materials for forging documents.

“The outcome of this operation significantly degrades AQI’s ability to inflict pain and suffering on the Iraqi people,” said Cmdr. Scott Rye, MNF-I spokesman. “We will continue our quest to rid Iraq of Al-Qaeda networks and bring peace and stability to this country.”

Ancient War Booty Finding Its Way Back to Iraq
From Arwa Damon and Mohammed Tawfeeq
CNN
(Excerpt)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Stolen by smugglers and now returned to the cradle of civilization.

Iraqi authorities welcomed back 701 ancient artifacts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The pieces, some up to 5,000 years old, were plundered in the chaotic aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion and eventually seized from traffickers in Syria.

In 2003, the world watched looters ransack Iraq’s National Museum, pilfering artifacts that recorded millennia of civilization’s development. U.S. soldiers were blamed by the international community for not doing enough to protect these treasures.

The only pieces that survived were those too heavy to carry.

Admiral: ISF fight well in Basra, Baghdad battles
by Gerry Gilmore
DefenseLink

(Excerpt)

BAGHDAD (April 28, 2008) – Iraqi security forces fought and performed well during recent battles against insurgents in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Basra, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said Monday. “We’ve had significant achievements in the fight against criminal groups over the last several weeks,” Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, a Multi-National Force – Iraq spokesman, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. “In Basra and Baghdad, Iraqi security forces have demonstrated bravery and professionalism and have made great strides in securing those areas where Iraqis were held hostage by those who oppose the rule of law and commit acts of violence that endangered innocent Iraqis.”

Iraqi and coalition security forces have cleared hundreds of roadside bombs and other deadly ordnance from the streets and byways of eastern Baghdad’s Sadr City sector, which houses 3 million Iraqi residents, noted Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, an Iraqi military spokesman who accompanied Driscoll at the news conference.

The roadside-bomb removal improves safety and security and also “alleviates the traffic jams and also provides more freedom to the citizens to move from one neighborhood to another in Baghdad,” Atta said.

Poultry means prosperity in Hawr Rajab
by Sgt. David Turner
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
FOB KALSU (April 30, 2008) — Two Iraqi poultry farmers received 3,000 chicks each April 27 in a bid to jump-start their industry in Hawr Rajab, a rural community south of Baghdad.

The farmers, Mohammed Hussein and Amman Kameers, accepted the chicks from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and the Baghdad-7 embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team.

“It’s meant as a start-up packet,” said Mike Stevens, the ePRT agriculture adviser. “It’s just to cut back on their input costs so they can make a profit and become self-sustaining.”

Local citizens fend off AQI attack

TIKRIT, Iraq (Apr. 28, 2008) – Defensive actions by local citizens of the Diyala Province against al Qaeda in Iraq resulted in the death of 12 insurgents April 28.

Freedom of movement once exercised in the Bani Zaid Tribal region, south of Kanan, by AQI was stifled when local leaders and citizens, along with the village’s Sons of Iraq members fought back against an enemy attack.

The SOIs’ ability to repel the initial attack provided Iraqi Security Forces enough time to conduct a hasty offensive operation with minimal Coalition force support.

Marines open up ‘Road to Peace’
by Cpl. Chadwick deBree
2nd Bn., 3rd Marines

Excerpt

KARMA, Iraq (Aprl 28, 2008) – The small Iraqi city street clamored with singing, dancing and rejoicing. It was a time of celebration.

Marines of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1 and local Iraqi security forces and community officials celebrated the opening of al-Tareq Ela al-Salaam, which translates to “The Road to Peace,” here, April 14.

Karma Mayor Kamal Abd Al Salam Abd Al Wahid, spoke to the crowd of people including local Iraqi security forces, Iraqi government officials, and Marines.

Sheikh Mishan, the preeminent sheikh in the area, then blessed the road as the Iraqi police moved the barriers that have been there for approximately three years.

“Due to the (observation post) being so close to the road, in the past there was a great threat of (vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices) and (suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices),” said Capt. Phil Dykeman, commanding officer, Company F, 2nd Bn, 3rd Marines. “The road needed to be closed to protect the Marines that lived and operated out of OP Omar.”

Sons of Iraq capture key terrorist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20080430-10
April 30, 2008

Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

BAGHDAD – The strong working relationship between Multi-National Division – Baghdad and the Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq) led directly to the capture of key terrorist at approximately 9 p.m. April 28.

During a meeting with a local sheik and other citizens, a Sons of Iraq member indicated that a known key terrorist was nearby. The SoI member detained two suspects and turned them over to MND-B soldiers for further identification.

One of the suspects was positively identified as a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda of Iraq. The captured terrorist is a prominent member of an al-Qaeda in Iraq cell that operates in Baghdad and the southern outskirts of Baghdad.

The suspect is reportedly known for vehicle-borne improvised-explosive device attacks, improvised-explosive device attacks, sniper attacks on Coalition Forces, the kidnapping and murder of Iraqis, and weapons trafficking. He has been directly implicated as a key operator in an attack on Coalition forces at a checkpoint in which a vehicle-borne improvised-explosive device, under his direction, was responsible for the killing of three MND-B soldiers.

“The Abna al-Iraq again prove to be heroes of the day; they found this extremely dangerous terrorist and took him off the streets,” said Maj. Al Hing, spokesperson for 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. “His actions directly led to the deaths of both U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi citizens.

“Detaining him and taking him out of the al-Qaeda terrorist network will hamper the foreign-led group’s ability to carry out indiscriminate attacks against the Iraqi people, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition forces. The partnership between the Abna al-Iraq and Coalition forces, working together to capture this known terrorist, makes for a safer and more stable Iraq.”

Soldiers from MND-B continue to work with the Iraqi Security Forces and conduct operations to maintain pressure on al-Qaeda in Iraq and any other foreign terrorists and Special Groups criminals by targeting their leadership, networks and sanctuaries.

Well, believe me when I tell you that these are only a small sampling of the good news out there. I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Let’s see one more good story. This one is from Afghanistan.:

Troops treat Afghans near Tag Ab
by Capt. Elizabeth Casebeer
(excerpt)

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (April 29, 2008) – Several hundred citizens from a village near Tag Ab Valley, Kapisa province, swarmed a makeshift hospital hosted by Task Force Gladiator service members, April 19, during a village medical outreach.

The event’s primary goal was to connect Afghans living near Tag Ab to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan through humanitarian-aid operations, with the assistance of village elders and Afghan National Police.