Free Republic

One of the reasons for the success of the surge in Baghdad was the construction of blast walls that separated Sunni and Shia neighborhoods. These walls gave a certain level of security to both sides who had been ravaged by sectarian violence for months. The walls come a tumblin' down. .. Market by market, square by square, the walls are beginning to come down. The miles of hulking blast walls, ugly but effective, were installed as a central feature of the surge of American troops to stop neighbors from killing one another."They protected against car bombs and drive-by attacks," said...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2008 – Just weeks after wrapping up his stint as the top commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said yesterday that progress there has become a little less fragile and more durable. The soon-to-be commander of U.S. Central Command spoke to the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, here. Petraeus finished his 19-month command of Multinational Force Iraq three weeks ago. But Petraeus qualified the statement, saying that enormous difficulties lie ahead for long-term stabilization in Iraq. The general said that violent attacks in Iraq spiked to 180 a day in June of 2007, but...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 8, 2008 – As Iraqi security forces across northwestern Baghdad’s Kadhamiyah district continue to take the lead in securing the local population, the effort of improving their skills continues simultaneously. Army Sgt. Jay Gillam demonstrates the kneeling firing position to local police officers in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah district, Sept. 26, 2008. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s Company D, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, spend many mornings honing the basic rifle marksmanship skills of the local police force in Kadhamiyah. By focusing...

The United States is preparing to hand control of Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace in Baghdad to the Iraqi Government in one of the most symbolic examples of the country's increasing sovereignty. Plans are also under way to turn over swaths of the green zone, which surrounds the palace, to the Iraqi authorities, with Iraqi forces expected to replace US troops at some checkpoints over the next year, according to sources inside the compound. The transition is part of a process in which the Iraqi Government has taken full responsibility for security in 11 out of 18 provinces as its police...

BAGHDAD — The Iraq ministry of interior’s Division of Border Enforcement graduated 1,538 border police in September, one of its highest monthly graduation rates this year. With the new graduates, the border police surpassed an assigned strength of 43,000. The graduating classes included 1,173 basic recruits. The border police graduates completed specialized skills training such as non-commissioned officer and platoon sergeant schools, and courses in internal affairs, immigration, and patrol tactics. “The Division of Border Enforcement now includes 13 brigades with 51 battalions, along with the Coast Guard for guarding Iraq’s ports and coastline,” said Ashford Mohammed, the DBE’s CPATT/DOIA...

JAMILLA, Iraq –This year the children of Iraq will have safer, refurbished schools thanks to the work of Renegade Soldiers.Before Company A, Task Force 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, arrived in Sadr City’s Jamilla neighborhood, the schools here were not even used for classes; militants were using the grounds as makeshift hiding places and torture cells. At the few schools that remained open, militants would kidnap children as they went to or from school and hold them for ransom.“The schools in Jamilla were places of terror, not places of learning,” said 2nd Lt. Nicholas Boykin, Co. A, TF 1-6, 2nd...

WASHINGTON -- The potentates on the Potomac have been so busy ranting about an imminent financial "catastrophe," dissecting Sarah Palin's debate debut and prognosticating John McCain's political demise that other news -- particularly about the war being waged against radical Islam -- has been hard to find. Here are some facts about the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan that haven't captured the attention of our so-called mainstream media: First, and most importantly, the campaign in Mesopotamia is all but won. This week, the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines arrived in Anbar province -- once the bloodiest place on the planet --...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2008 – With terrorists on the run and violence down, coalition forces are now also able to concentrate on areas other than the battlefield, thanks to the improvement of the Iraqi security forces, a military official said yesterday. Al Qaeda insurgents are “in disarray” and attacks are down 80 percent since June of last year, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, chief of staff of Multinational Corps Iraq told bloggers during a teleconference from Iraq. “The corps and our major commands have driven violence down to four-year lows and secured the Iraqi population in the process,”...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2008 – Continuing to build the capacity and the strength of the Afghan National Army is strategically important to progress in Afghanistan and eliminating the insurgency’s influence over the population, an official there said yesterday. If the Afghan army can provide security on its own, it would help to remove the relationship between the insurgents and the populations they still influence, Marine Corps Col. Jeffrey Haynes, commander of Regional Corps Advisory Command Central, said in a teleconference with bloggers. “As we continue to drive the wedge between the population and the insurgents, it will be harder and...

CAMP TAJI — Residents are slowly returning to the city of Sab al Bour, northwest of Baghdad. But they are coming back to homes with barely enough power to run their air conditioners, a necessity in the stifling heat of Iraq. Sab al Bour was once a thriving city of almost 200,000 residents, but criminal violence made the city a ghost town by 2006, chasing out all but approximately 20,000. “Getting electricity back to the town is a necessity, and it will give the people a reason to come back to their homes,” said Capt. Mark Gillman, a native of...

CAMP STRIKER — Coalition forces handed over Patrol Base Shanghai to the Iraqi Army during a ceremony here, Sept. 30. Company B, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) traded places with 3rd Co., 1st Bn., 23rd Bde., 17th IA Division. “Today is an honor for us [to receive] Shanghai,” said 2nd Lt. Muhammad, commander of 3/1/23/17th IA Div. In spite of the pomp and circumstance and VIPs, the commander of Co. B, 3-187th Inf. said the day was just an official recognition of what the IA troops have been doing all along. “Today...

BAYJI — The Iraqi Army took full control of the Bayji National Ammunition Depot from Coalition forces during a turnover ceremony here, Sept. 29. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Steven Salazar, Coalition Army Advisory Training Team commanding general, turned over the golden key to Iraqi Brig. Gen. Mohammed Ali Madlom, Commander, Iraqi Army ammunition command, to mark the event. “This is a historical day – the day we receive full responsibility,” said Gen. Madlom. “It’s an honor for me, and we thank our Coalition friends for the supplies and equipment needed for the [Iraqi] Army to perform their duties.” The depot...

Maj. Gen. Khadim Hamed Sharhn al-Muhamadani, Baghdad provincial director of police, cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of the Al Mustafa Expedient Local Police Station, Sept. 25, 2008. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs. CAMP STRIKER — A ceremony marked the grand opening of the Al Mustafa Expedient Local Police Station, Sept. 25. “[Without] cooperation between the tribes, residents, Iraqi Police, 17th Iraqi Army Division under the leadership of Staff Maj. Gen. Ali … we would not be able to open the Al Mustafa Iraqi Police Station,� said Brig. Gen. Abed Muhammed...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 1, 2008 – A new organization is improving the Afghan National Army’s ability to move capable forces from its training center to the operational commands. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jesse Edwards, senior mentor and team chief for the Afghan National Army’s Consolidated Fielding Center, stands with ANA leaders during a graduation ceremony at Pol-e-Charki Garrison, Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 20, 2008. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The sense of urgency for this new concept has increased following the announcement of plans to grow the Afghan National Army past the initial authorization of 82,000...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2008 – Trends across the security, political and economic landscape of Iraq continue to improve, but the fundamental character of the conflict remains unchanged, according to a Defense Department report submitted to Congress yesterday. The improved security in Iraq has opened the doors for dialogue between the leading parties in the country’s government and communities and has made room for other institutional developments. But results are still tenuous and long-term stability will only be realized if the Iraqi government continues to build its legitimacy and take on existing challenges, the report says. The quarterly report is...

BAQUBAH — A ribbon cutting ceremony recently took place in a western Baqubah neighborhood to reopen a road that had been closed to the locals in the area for more than a year. "This was in the workings since early May," said Capt. Kevin P. Ryan, the officer behind coordinating the opening. "My idea is to transition this area of operations (AO) back to the Iraqi people and to open the roads up, to give something back to the people." To do that, though, he had to work with Iraqi security forces (ISF) to set up some conditions, which were...

QUDS — One… two… three—the signal is given; with a fierce kick, the door crashes open. Before the door makes contact with the adjacent wall, the Emergency Response Battalion 4 flood into the living room of a house in a small village in the eastern region of Mosul, Iraq. The ER 4 is one of several special tactics units within the Iraqi National Police. ER 4 is comprised of approximately 100 Iraqi Police. ER 4 applied the training provided to them by Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment during a clearing operation. We’ve trained units on vehicle searches, marksmanship,...

BAGHDAD — Soon, hundreds of Ghazaliyah’s Sons of Iraq, or Abna’a al Iraq, will come under new management. In an effort to reorganize and integrate these concerned citizens, known locally as the Ghazaliyah guardians, they will fall solely under the control of the Government of Iraq. Though the change will be quite transparent to the citizens who cross these volunteers’ checkpoints daily, it will have a profound effect on the direction and authority of the regions Iraqi Security Forces. “Today we are transferring you from American authority to the Iraqi government,” said Capt. Thomas Melton, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault),...

TAJI AIR BASE — The vaguely comforting scent of oil and mechanical parts drifted through the air as an Mi-17 Hip helicopter sat in the shade of a hangar here, Sept. 11. Its rear door lay open, and panels along its tail boom were lifted away and stowed as Iraqi Airmen crawled through the vehicle's innards. Two Airmen straddled the tail, about a meter from the tail blade, while a third had shimmied inside the tail boom, inspecting the inside. On a nearby table sat an Mi-17 technical order -- a step-by-step repair and maintenance manual that is just one...

KHARMAR — When he speaks, they want to listen. That is how respected Sheik Fares Mohammad Al Taha is to his people of the Al Jehaishi tribe. So when Iraqi Soldiers stopped by to deliver food and water to his village, Taha delivered an unprecedented speech. Addressing many of the village head-of-households, Taha, surrounded by Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers, publicly declared his support for the Government of Iraq along with the Iraqi security and Coalition forces. “Having this [food] campaign only brings us closer to the Government of Iraq,” Taha told the men and women present from his tribe. “We...

CAMP TAJI — Iraq has seen remarkable gains in security during the last nine months, due in part to the hard work of the Iraqi Army (IA). Until recently the IA only dealt with kinetic-type missions such as kicking in doors, serving arrest warrants, patrolling and defending security sites. However, the continued growth of the IA, both in terms of numbers and operational experience, allows them to take on missions formerly handled exclusively by Coalition forces. Now, due to the increased confidence and experience of IA Soldiers and their leaders, they are beginning to tackle missions through diplomacy, public relations...

But the way ahead is becoming clearer, with a road map provided by men such as Col. Dominic Caraccilo, a brigade commander in the 101st Airborne whose men patrol a patch south of Baghdad that used to be called the Triangle of Death. The soldiers now laughingly refer to it as the "Triangle of Love." A year ago, there were as many as 50 attacks every week; now there are just a few. Caraccilo is overseeing a drawdown of U.S. forces; his brigade of about 4,000 soldiers is shipping out, to be replaced by a task force of fewer than...

FOB LOYALTY — Justice and the institution of law in Iraq took a large step forward recently when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki officially opened a new courthouse in the Rusafa District of eastern Baghdad. Iraqi Chief Justice Medhat al-Mahmoud, along with Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing commanding general of Multi-National Force – Iraq, joined al-Maliki and other distinguished visitors for the courthouse grand opening. After al-Maliki and al-Mahmoud cut a ribbon at the courthouse entrance, they entered the building to address those in attendance. Al-Maliki spoke about the importance of re-establishing the...

BAGHDAD — A large Iraqi security force (ISF) convoy, which included several Iraqi Army Humvees, exited the international zone in Baghdad at midday, Sept. 10, 2008. At the front and back of the convoy was an Iraqi Police (IP) patrol vehicle providing escort security for the convoy. “That says something in itself,” said Capt. Nathan Brookshire, a Military Police commander, while viewing the long line of Humvees exiting the international zone. “Iraqi Police pulling security for an Iraqi Army convoy, you don’t see that every day.” At least you don’t in Baghdad, where until recent months the local populace security...

COB ADDER — An Iraqi Army (IA) training center in southern Iraq graduated nearly 200 new Soldiers, Sept. 4, 2008. The new troops are set to fill positions in the 10th and 14th IA Divisions. “I give credit to my officers for training me into being a better Soldier,” said Pvt. Talal Maki, a recent graduate of Camp Ur’s truck driving school. Maki is scheduled to join the 39th Brigade, located in Samawah. “They prepared me and my fellow troops to fight and defend our country.” The IA is putting better trained troops into its operational divisions in the southern...

Three young Iraqi children bearing a platter holding an Iraqi flag surrounded by roses wait to present the flag to the Iraqi color guard during a ceremony at Combat Outpost Cleary Sept. 9, 2008. Photo by Pfc. Michael Schuch, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Public Affairs. FOB HAMMER — The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, handed authority of Combat Outpost Cleary to Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 34th Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division in a ceremony at the outpost near Salman Pak, Sept. 9. Iraqi Soldiers celebrated with song and dance after raising the Iraqi flag,...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2008 – When security responsibility for Iraq’s Anbar province was turned over to the Iraqi government this month, it validated the security model that has been applied throughout the country, a coalition spokesman said Sept. 11. Successful coordination of a surge in U.S. forces, the emergence of the Awakening movement, and political movement by the Iraqi government resulted in the weakening of the al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist network into a more containable scattering of individual cells, said Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, deputy chief of strategic communications, Multinational Force Iraq. Anbar province, Driscoll said, is “now kind...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2008 – At the end of 2006, Iraq seemed on the verge of a civil war. Al-Qaida was inciting divisions between Sunni and Shiia Iraqis. The newly elected government seemed ineffectual. Militia groups roamed neighborhoods and intimidated those who did not agree with them. More than 100 U.S. servicemembers per month were being killed in fighting in the country. Today, that number has dropped dramatically, thanks largely to the troop surge and a new strategy that senior military officials credit with laying the groundwork for success throughout Iraq. U.S. officials understood the challenges in Iraq and studied...

While a Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier searches a vehicle, an Iraqi policeman pulls security in the northwestern Baghdad community of Ghazaliyah, Iraq, Aug. 29, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Matthew Vanderboegh, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs. BAGHDAD --- During a joint patrol with Iraqi Police, Capt. Michael Kolton, a native of Fairfax Station, Va., stopped to talk with a group of men standing in the shade of a cluster of trees. The conversation went from questions regarding security, to the future of Iraq, elections and the Iraqi Police. “The Iraqi people would rather have Iraqis fix their own problems,�...

Navy Lt. Mickey Deel listens to an Iraq boy's lungs during a combined medical engagement Aug. 30, 2008. Photo by Lance Cpl. Scott Schmidt, Regimental Combat Team 1. JIKO --- Local City Council leaders successfully planned and executed a combined medical engagement at the Jiko medical clinic, providing care to the people of Jiko, Mukalan and Sattack, Aug. 30. Almost 400 Iraqis received care from Capt. Kadhim Ali Kadhim, an Iraqi battalion surgeon, and U.S. doctors and corpsmen.“This has been the largest Iraqi-lead event in the area,� said Mohammed Hussein, Jiko’s medical nurse and member of the Tri-Cities City Council.Hussein...

BAGHDAD — It was a grand opening without any grandeur. No ribbons were cut, and no speeches were given. But an Iraqi Assistance Center (IAC) opened Sept. 1 in Baghdad’s Sadr City district nonetheless. The center, housed in a trailer near the Sadr City District Advisory Council building, is where Iraqi citizens go to file damage and condolence claims for losses suffered due to combat between Coalition forces and enemy elements in this northeastern Baghdad district. The second client for the IAC at its new location was a father seeking help for his son. The father was going over documents...

Iraq War: We interrupt coverage of Bristol Palin's pregnancy to announce that the U.S. has turned over control of Iraq's wild, wild west to Baghdad. Memo to Barack Obama: Soon you will have nothing left to surrender.On Monday, while Democrats waited to see if Hurricane Gustav would be another Katrina and the GOP juggled its convention schedule, U.S. commanders formally returned responsibility for security in Iraq's Anbar province to the Iraqi Army and police. Maybe you missed it. The New York Times Web page had three stories on Bristol Palin. The Washington Post's online magazine, Slate, is running a "Name...

One-third (32%) of Americans believe the situation in Iraq is getting better, two in five (41%) say things are staying the same and 16 percent say things are getting worse. This is better than in May when only one in five (22%) said things were getting better; and,

BAGHDAD in 2008 is a city tantalisingly close to a genuine transformation. The first impression after an absence of two years is the stunning reduction in the appalling level of violence that had torn the city's suburbs apart over the past four years. A relative calm has now descended. On the day I arrived, there was not a single serious security incident across the whole of Baghdad. As Ramadan begins, it seems Iraqis are increasingly weary with war and yearn for a more normal life. Last week, 60,000 people crowded into a city stadium for a major football match. Rocket...

The U.S. military Monday handed control of Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi security forces. U.S. forces will withdraw to bases and rejoin Iraqi operations in Anbar only at the request of the provincial governor. Anbar is a Sunni-dominated province whose inhabitants turned against U.S. forces soon after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Anbar towns, such as Fallujah and Ramadi became insurgent strongholds, where militants waged fierce battles against U.S. troops. Violence in Anbar began to subside in 2006 when Sunni tribes became weary of al-Qaida's brutality against the local population. The tribes formed councils and joined U.S.-led forces...

NAJAF, Iraq - The city's first airport is weeks away from opening, but already a bigger one is talked about. Land prices are soaring. Merchants say they don't remember business ever being so good. Four years ago, Najaf was an urban battlefield, with American troops fighting Shiite militiamen loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Today, the Shiite holy city is a hot spot of a different kind, thanks to improved security, a free-for-all market economy - and a direct pipeline to the Shiite-led government.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2008 – Improvements in the security situation south of Baghdad have enabled economic and political progress, and the continued development of the Iraqi security forces will advance those gains, a U.S. commander said yesterday. Progress across those multiple fronts is interconnected, Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, deputy commanding general for operations for Multinational Division Center, explained during a call with military bloggers. “If this were an organism, it would be a symbiotic effect that we have through these different factors operating in concert with each other to achieve an overall more positive effect,” Buchanan said. The general...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2008 – Coalition forces in the Madain community south of Baghdad are shifting their efforts from predominantly offensive operations to improving central services and further developing the local government, a military official posted in Iraq said today. “Progress in Madain is absolutely phenomenal,” Army Col. Pat White, commander of the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, known as the Iron Brigade, told Pentagon reporters via teleconference. The Iron Brigade’s main mission in Madain may suggest heavy combat, as they’re responsible for filtering the flow of insurgents and munitions entering Baghdad. But attack levels are down from...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Aug. 28, 2008 – Iraqi army maintenance soldiers were honored for their recent achievements and progress during a ceremony at the Taji Level III Wheeled Vehicle Maintenance Facility Aug. 26. Staff Gen. Nasier Abadi, the Iraqi Army deputy chief of staff, stops and talks with one of the Taji Level III Wheeled Vehicle Maintenance Facility soldier as he walked the line of nearly 130 wheeled vehicles and 20 track vehicles that were recently repaired here. Nasier was genuinely proud of the progress made and was the guest of honor at the ceremony on Aug 26, 2008....

BAGHDAD — Leaders from Task Force Mountain, Multi-National Corps - Iraq and other units working with the Iraqi Security Forces met with Iraqi Army commanders for a one-day conference, Aug. 20. "What we are trying to do is identify force generation needs. We are looking at the way ahead," said Capt. Steven Chadwick, an ISF coordinator with 10th Mountain Division. The conference focused on manning, equipping and training the ISF to be a more effective and self-sustaining force. "We already know where we are going to be in six months. We are looking two years-plus, trying to figure out what...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Aug. 26, 2008 – Sealing off a cornerstone time capsule marked a new beginning for the farmers in the northern portion of Iraq’s Babil province. Sheik Kudair Ulawi al-Jubori, chairman of the Central Euphrates Farmers Market and Agricultural Center Management Board, signs the official document that was placed in a time capsule during a foundation-stone ceremony in an open field just north of Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Aug. 23, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Agriculture leaders, provincial government officials, Iraqi security forces...

RAWAH — The town of Rawah has had many improvements since Coalition forces arrived. With their help, and the assistance of several organizations from Colorado, the local residents will soon be able to see the progress a little better. Coalition forces recently delivered over 700 prescription eyeglasses to help provide the residents of Rawah with badly needed prescription lenses. “We are helping increase the quality of life for many of the people who could otherwise not afford prescription glasses,” said Navy Lt. Malcolm Brown, battalion surgeon for 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5. “There have been instances...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2008 – Washington and Baghdad are close to reaching a status of forces agreement, but negotiations on the deal to determine the future U.S. military role in Iraq are ongoing, a Defense Department official said today. “We’ve made good progress on it; we are close,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. “There are still some issues to work out, but … it’s very premature at this point to say that we have an agreement.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a surprise one-day visit to Baghdad today, said the discussion about the status of forces is possible only...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, Aug. 20, 2008 – When Army Staff Sgt. David Cox looks at a map of Baghdad and sees the neighborhoods that form a little block in the southern part of the city known as Abu Tshir, he realizes how tenuous a position his platoon and fellow soldiers are in. Army Staff Sgt. David Pena, a section leader from Grand Junction, Colo., and Army Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Yaudas, platoon sergeant, both assigned to Red Platoon, Troop C, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, conduct an...

Maj. Peter Colt, 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion, plays with young Iraqi children in Gaydah village, which is in the Kirkuk province of northeastern Iraq. Colt, along with 2nd Battalion, 22nd Inf. Regt. Soldiers, met with the village leaders recently to discuss developments and projects that will benefit the area. Photo by Spc. Jason Jordan. KIRKUK — In the southern Rishad valley of Kirkuk province lies the remote village of Gaydah, located several miles off the nearest main road and even further from the nearest substantial city or district. Already accustomed to seclusion, the village residents were surprised when Soldiers from...

Madrid, 2008 In 1936, during the great Socialist Terror of the early months of the Civil War, the large monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Cerro de los Ángeles, near Madrid, was attacked and demolished, a symbol of one of the harshest large-scale persecutions of the Church in History. From one of the stones of the demolished statue, a small sculpture of the Sacred Heart was sculpted and placed in the public garden outside the Parish Church of San Antonio de la Florida, in Madrid - otherwise a very famous building due to the extensive paintings of...

Sheik Saeed Jassim, sheik council chairman and local head of Tarmiyah government, displays photos of a recent al-Qaida in Iraq attack to local clergy and government officials at the Bukhari Hall in Tarmiyah, Aug. 14, 2008, as he condemns their acts and calls those gathered to action against terrorist activities. Sgt. Whitney Houston. BAGHDAD — Sheiks, local government officials and Iraqi Security Forces from the Tarmiyah area banded together to publicly reaffirm their stance against al-Qaida in Iraq at the Bukhari Hall in Tarmiyah, Aug. 14. The reaffirmation was a reaction to a recent attack by AQI forces in the...

CAMP FALLUJAH — Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, visited service members and toured the local battlefield shared by Marine units of Regimental Combat Team 1 on Aug. 16. During his visit, the commandant spoke with Col. Lewis A. Craparotta, commanding officer, RCT-1, and surveyed progress service members are making in Fallujah and the surrounding regions. “I don’t think anyone would have predicted that the al-Anbar province would become a model for elsewhere in the nation,” said Conway, during a town hall meeting aboard the camp. Conway and Craparotta convoyed with a group of Marines from Camp...

BAGHDAD — In January 2008, Multi-National Division – Baghdad’s 18th Military Police Brigade developed a new method to further improve the surging Iraqi police force by implementing the enhanced Police Transition Teams to concentrate on supporting IP systems in Baghdad. The ePTT is a group of Soldiers who have subject matter expertise in: personnel, communications and logistic operations and techniques in support of large organizations; their mission is to assess the IP organization and provide assistance to better the organizational management of the IPs in these areas. Since then, the ePTTs have been embedding with the IP force at the...

Iraqi Army Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division, sort through a large cache discovered in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Aug. 14, 2008, after a resident informed the unit of its location. Photo by Sgt. Zachary Mott. PATROL BASE COMANCHE — In the three months since the Iraqi Army began patrolling inside the Sadr City district of Baghdad, the Soldiers conducting these patrols have worked hard to cultivate a relationship with the people there. Constant patrols, handing out food and water as well as providing medical services have helped advance this new relationship. In...