Joint Combat Camera Center Iraq

U.S. Army Sgt Ben Chambers from Shoshone, Idaho, along with other U.S. Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, along with Iraqi soldiers conduct a cordon and search on Jan. 24 in Baghdad, Iraq.
Photo by Sgt. Edwin Bridges

Another Week of Progress in Iraq, Including Elections

The time has come for elections in Iraq once again and all the work put into place is showing.

“At this point, we’re trying to enable, not to direct, the Iraqis in how to accomplish their mission,” U.S. Army Capt. Nicholas Doerr, of 1st Armored Division’s Task Force 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, said recently.

In support of the U.S.-Iraqi status-of-forces agreement that took effect Jan. 1, U.S. Soldiers rehearsed election security plans with Iraqi security forces on Jan. 25 at Combat Outpost Meade, southeast of Baghdad, in an area once known for sectarian violence. In the past year there has been a significant decrease in attacks on Iraqi civilians as the “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group, the Iraqi army and the reconciliation program have greatly increased security and helped to reinstate a sense of normalcy.

Balloting opened on January 28, 2009 at 7 a.m. for around 3,000 detainees and continued until all eligible detainees passed through the polling stations.

Iraqi correctional officers and linguists who work with the detainees said they were honored to be part of the historic event and felt the elections are another sign that Iraq is moving forward as a democratic nation. Iraqi police also voted on January 28, 2009, at the Bilal Al Habashi School in Istaqlal Qada of northeast Baghdad.

“This is a good step for Iraq and the people. They have free opinions to vote wherever they want and for any person they want to give peace in Iraq,” Iraqi police Col. Majeed Khalil said.

The special round of voting was set aside to ensure that soldiers will be able to provide security for the general election.

“We have all the emergency stuff we need, and we are going to do our best to provide security to the people so that the people are able to vote free,” Khalil said.

For those who voted early, the importance of that decision was not forgotten.

“It is very good,” said Bakr Hdait, a hospital janitor from Adhamiyah, who was casting his vote. “We have to choose the person who is going to work for us. He’s going to make a lot of things good for us.”

According to U.S. military officials, January 28, 2009 in Iraq was an eventful and successful day. Iraqi security forces, aided by their U.S. partners, detained suspected criminals, seized illegal weapons and found and destroyed a “sticky bomb.”

Iraqi National Police officers on a combined operation with Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained a suspected criminal in the Jihad community of Baghdad’s Rashid district. The combined patrol transported the detainee, who was wanted for alleged car-bomb activity, to a joint security station for processing. Another bomb-building suspect in the Zubaida community was captured by a combined patrol.

Elsewhere in Iraq, Iraqi security forces acted on information provided by a detainee who had knowledge of recent attacks. They arrested two suspects believed to have conducted hand-grenade attacks on civilians that were resettling in northern Baghdad’s Ghazaliyah neighborhood.

Also last Wednesday, in Baghdad’s Rashid district, Iraqi security forces and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers seized weapons and found a bomb and unexploded ordnance in various operations:

Police and U.S. soldiers found a magnetic “sticky bomb” in the district’s Jazeera community and called in an Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal team to dispose of it.

Forces confiscated 15 AK-47 assault rifles in the Saydiyah community.

Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers found a bomb made of a 2.75 inch rocket and a 60 mm mortar round in the Masafee community.

In the Abu Tshir community, a combined patrol found a rocket-propelled grenade round that had been fired but hadn’t exploded.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers found an 81 mm white-phosphorus mortar in the Arab Jabour community. A coalition EOD team secured it.

January 27, 2009 in Iraq:

U.S. and Iraqi soldiers seized weapons in Baghdad that included two AK-47 assault rifles, an 82 mm mortar round, a 60 mm mortar round, a rocket-propelled grenade and a 22 mm anti-aircraft round. A coalition forces explosive ordnance disposal team responded to handle the munitions.

Meanwhile, to the East in Afghanistan (where things are ramping up as well), on January 29, 2009, Coalition forces in Afghanistan killed four militants and detained eight suspects during operations to disrupt Taliban bomb makers and militants in Kandahar.

In Arghandab district, just outside the city, the operation targeted a Taliban operator known to have employed roadside bombs aimed against Afghan National Police and coalition forces.

When coalition forces reached the compound where the Taliban member was located, armed militants engaged them with small-arms fire. Militants barricaded themselves in a building, endangering the women and children on the compound. Coalition forces precisely engaged the barricaded militants after they refused to surrender, while safeguarding the women and children. Other suspected militants on the compound followed instructions to surrender, and they were detained without incident.

Because a building damaged by the militants was deemed unsafe for occupants, coalition forces destroyed it after removing women and children to a safe distance. During the operation, the force found AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and blasting caps. Nine women and 17 children present on the compound were unharmed during the operation due to the precise actions of coalition forces, officials said.

Obama Thanks Troops, Pledges Support Following Meeting
President of the United States Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden greet service members during their first visit to the Pentagon on Jan. 28. Obama met with Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all of the service chiefs getting their inputs on the way ahead in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad McNeeley

Super Bowl and a Journalist Hero in Afghanistan; Getting it Done in Iraq

Sgt. Stryker here. As 2009 progresses (can you believe January is almost over already!?), the progress continues in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Here’s an update on everything from watching the Super Bowl (Arizona Cardinals take on the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XLIII) at FOB Tillman in Afghanistan to a journalist (Chris Jackson) who jumped into action to save a marine to the daily things being done in Iraq – I have your updates.

FOB Tillman, a remote base in the Paktia province of Afghanistan, is named in memory of Army Sgt. Pat Tillman. Tillman was a three-year starter for the Cardinals, but left the team before the 2002 season to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He became an Army Ranger and deployed to Afghanistan, where he was killed during a highly publicized friendly-fire incident in April 2004.

Half a world away, FOB Tillman stands as a more austere memorial to the fallen Ranger. A weathered sign at the entrance to the base bears his name.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who visited the base in 2007, said it reminded him of an Old West frontier town. “The area surrounding the base was desolate and forbidding,” he said, but he noted that morale among the troops was high.

These troops, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry “White Currahees” Regiment, serve as a trip wire to Taliban infiltrators attempting to cross the Pakistan border, less than two miles to the east.

Army Maj. Jason Westbrock, the unit’s executive officer, said he expects many of his soldiers to watch the Super Bowl, which will be broadcast live on American Forces Network. AFN-Afghanistan is coordinating with the Pentagon Channel to produce a video tribute to Tillman, and hopes to air it during the game.

But otherwise, Westbrock said, no commemorations or special arrangements are planned at FOB Tillman. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Moss is working to get the FOB’s sign replaced, but doesn’t expect it to be ready in time for the Super Bowl, he said.

Also regarding Afghanistan – Chris Jackson, who was with a Fox News cameraman embedded with a Marine Corps platoon last year, was traveling by Humvee down a dangerous road in Afghanistan on August 3, 2008 when it hit 50 pounds of homemade explosives. All of the vehicle’s passengers escaped the flaming vehicle, with the exception of vehicle commander Marine Corps Sgt. Courtney Rauch.

The blast severely injured Rauch and knocked him unconscious. Jackson, despite having received shrapnel wounds himself, rushed back to the vehicle, pulled Rauch out and carried him to safety.

“Without Chris’ quick thinking and heroic act, I would have lost my life that day,” Rauch said. “Chris forgot about being a reporter that day and became one of our brothers and acted as one of us. Chris went above and beyond his duty.”

Jackson, who now works for CNN/Turner Broadcasting, was presented with the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, the second-highest award given to civilians by the Navy, for his actions. Jackson received the award at Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory, outside of Baghdad, during a stop in Iraq en route to India. An audience of appreciative Marines was on hand during the ceremony.

Meanwhile, in Iraq:

According to Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases, Iraqi security forces and U.S. soldiers detained suspected criminals and seized weapons in Baghdad’s Rashid district on January 26, 2009.

Iraqi national police and U.S. soldiers yesterday discovered a cache of 60 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition in an abandoned house in the Risalah community. A short time later, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi police detained three suspected criminals in the Saydiyah and Risalah communities.

The troops also confiscated 15 AK-47 assault rifles in Saydiyah and a light anti-tank 66 mm rocket in the Aamel community.

January 25, 2009 in Iraq:

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers confiscated an anti-armor mine and nine AK-47 assault rifles in Baghdad’s Rashid district.

Iraqi national police and U.S. soldiers seized a weapons cache consisting of a rocket-propelled grenade, gun powder, grenade, a stick of dynamite, 1,000 rounds of machine-gun ammunition and 100 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition in Rashid’s Shurta community.

January 24, 2009 in Iraq:

Iraqi police and members of the “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group thwarted a homemade-bomb attack and arrested five suspected terrorists January 24, 2009 in Tarmiyah, northwest of Baghdad. The forces apprehended two suspects attempting to place a bicycle strapped with explosive devices near a funeral site.

After questioning, the suspects led forces to a nearby cache containing propaganda, magnets, timers, homemade explosives, mortar fuses and batteries. The suspects also led the forces to a site suspected of housing other members of a bomb cell where three more were arrested. All suspects are in Iraqi police custody.

This is Sgt. Stryker signing out.

1st Calvary Makes Stop in Kuwait Before Iraq

Soldiers from the Division Special Troops Battalion fire while moving during close-quarters marksmanship training, Jan. 22, at a range near Camp Buehring, Kuwait. The Soldiers will spend a few days training in Kuwait before heading to Iraq. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp

Progress and Updates in Iraq

Army Col. Todd McCaffrey, commander of the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, near the end of a 14-month tour in Iraq, told Pentagon reporters on Monday, January 26, 2009, that he is amazed by the progress made in Iraq.

“Being here to watch the Iraqis conduct these elections is a perfect conclusion to this tour, and marks an important milestone on this nation’s continuing development in democracy and freedom for its people,” he said from Iraq during a video news conference. “While the upcoming elections are a culmination of our tour, there has been much progress that’s brought us to this point.”

He said this week’s elections in Iraq are drawing overwhelming support and excitement that he didn’t see four years ago.

“Candidate posters seem to be everywhere, and there’s a palatable excitement in the air,” McCaffrey said. “The Iraqi security forces are well prepared, they’re well rehearsed, and I believe they have a very solid handle on election security. This is, without question, an Iraqi-led event, and we’re honored to be able to see the democratic process up close and personal.

“As we leave here, we can look back and view the acceleration of progress we’ve seen that’s now culminated in a remarkable month,” he continued. “From the successful implementation of the security agreement on Jan. 1 to the elections we will see in a few days, I’ll leave Iraq very optimistic about what we’ve seen, what we’ve been able to contribute and the direction in which this nation is headed.”

Also recently in Iraq, according to Multinational Corps Press Releases, Iraqi soldiers and police, “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group members and U.S. soldiers, seized several weapons caches and arrested two suspected roadside bombers during raids conducted throughout the Baghdad area on January 25, 2009.

The caches contained hundreds of rounds small-arms ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, boosters, artillery rounds, hand grenades, an anti-aircraft machine gun with ammunition, improvised explosive devices, explosives, timers, AK-47 assault rifles, rockets, fuses, blasting caps, and land mines. The two suspects were caught in the act of emplacing roadside bombs.

January 24, 2009 in Iraq

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers confiscated several AK-47s during operations in Baghdad’s Rashid district.

Sons of Iraq members found an improvised explosive device during a search in the Ghazaliyah neighborhood of northwest Baghdad.

Iraqi soldiers discovered several rockets during a combat patrol in the Adl neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad’s Mansour district.

January 23, 2009 in Iraq

Iraqi and coalition forces killed a suspected al-Qaida insurgent and captured another during operations in Hawijah, west of Kirkuk.

Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers found several weapons caches and unexploded ordnance during operations in Baghdad’s Rashid district. The caches contained pistols, homemade bombs, AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, artillery and mortar rounds, rockets, anti-tank mines, and propane tanks.

Sons of Iraq members thwarted a group of suspected al-Qaida operatives from murdering their leader while he played soccer in the Mahmudiyah community. Two of the three attackers were wounded by the Sons of Iraq leader, who pulled out and fired his pistol in self-defense. One of the Sons of Iraq members was wounded in the incident. Some of the attackers fled the scene, and the Sons of Iraq leader emerged unharmed. The incident is under investigation, officials said.

Iraqi police and U.S. servicemembers teamed up to disarm bombs and seize weapons during operations in Baghdad’s Rashid district.

U.S. servicemembers and Iraqi police coordinated to disarm a bomb found in Baghdad’s Arab Jabour community.

Iraqi police and U.S. troops confiscated eight AK-47s and a pistol in the Shurta community.

Iraqi police and U.S. troops confiscated another AK-47, a bag of machine-gun rounds and an old bayonet during a search in the Saha community.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers teamed up to find several weapons caches of munitions, rocket launchers, hand grenades, and other ordnance in the Baghdad area.

In other news, Iraqi police discovered a weapons cache on a rooftop of a building in the New Baghdad district on January 22, 2009. The cache contained mortar rounds with fuses, some heat-seeking rockets, pistol parts, mortar tubes, and rocket and grenade launchers. Also, an Iraqi special weapons and tactics squad seized a weapons cache during a January 21, 2009 operation conducted north of Tikrit. The cache contained mortar and artillery rounds, fuses, and some mortar tubes.

This is Sgt. Stryker signing out.

New Facility Pours Needed Water Into Baghdad
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, speaks to a crowd of more than 200 people at the official opening of the Sadr City Rusafa Water Treatment Facility in the Hay Ur neighborhood of Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district, Jan. 21, 2009.
Photo by Army Maj. Michael Humphreys

Action in Afghanistan, Water in Iraq

Coalition forces detained nine suspected militants during an operation aimed at the Haqqani terrorist network in Afghanistan’s Khowst province on January 22, 2009, according to U.S. Air Force officials.

The operation in the province’s Khowst district, southeast of Kabul, targeted a Haqqani militant believed to facilitate attacks against local civilians and against Afghan and coalition forces.

Officials said intelligence also suggested the targeted militant has facilitated the movement of foreign fighters into eastern Afghanistan.

On January 21, 2009 in Afghanistan, coalition forces killed six armed Taliban militants and detained another during an operation to disrupt the Taliban’s foreign-fighter and roadside-bomb networks in Afghanistan’s Zabol province yesterday, military officials said.

In Daychopan district, northeast of Kandahar city, coalition forces targeted a suspected Taliban commander believed to have ties to the roadside-bombing network along Highway 1 and to recent attacks against coalition forces in Zabol province. He also is suspected of trafficking foreign fighters into the region.

As coalition forces prepared to search the compound, they instructed everyone to leave the buildings peacefully. Armed militants from surrounding compounds responded by engaging coalition forces with small-arms fire. Coalition forces returned fire, killing five armed militants, while protecting 23 women and 31 children.

During the skirmish, one armed militant left the building and engaged coalition forces from behind large rocks on a nearby hill. While taking enemy fire, coalition forces responded with precision air strikes, killing the militant.

A search revealed multiple AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons. Coalition forces confiscated the weapons.

Other good things are happening in Afghanistan as well. The members of agricultural development teams there are living examples of the symbol of the National Guard: a Minuteman with a musket in one hand and his other hand resting on a plow.

Army Secretary Pete Geren and Army National Guard Chief Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn spoke in Washington DC earlier this week about the capabilities these citizen-soldiers bring to development in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province.

The men were joined via video teleconference from Afghanistan by Army Col. Stan Poe, who leads a team from the Texas National Guard, and Sultan Huessen Abasyar, the director of Ghazni’s agriculture, irrigation and livestock office.

About 85 percent of Afghanistan’s population is involved in agriculture, and any way forward in the country must take into account the critical link between prosperity and farming, Geren said.

Security has not posed a problem for the teams to date, both Geren and Poe said, and members work closely with the U.S.-run provincial reconstruction team in Ghazni.

The teams have ties back to universities and organizations in the United States. The Texas team can call on state-of-the-art communications to contact world-class professionals at Texas A&M University in College Station. The A&M staff helped the Guardsmen with soil analysis and suggested crops that might succeed in the province’s arid conditions.

Water is the limiting factor in Ghazni, Vaughn said. “A lack of water is not the problem in Afghanistan,” the general said. “The management of the water is the problem.”

Mountain snowmelt runs out of the mountain ranges and off the land, with few catchments to stop the run-off and put it to work. Poe said his team has put in dams on some streams that lengthened the growing season in Ghazni by a month. The water-management activities also work to prevent floods and control erosion. The team also is working on micro-generators for farms and putting in place windmills and solar-power collectors to give Afghan farmers the current they need.

The team is looking to build jobs in industries that take their raw materials from farming as well, Poe said. Members are working with local government officials to put in a feed lot for cattle, and helping to construct a building that local butchers can use to slaughter animals. They are building a tanning facility for the hides and looking at methods to increase cold storage. They also are exploring the idea of a wool-washing facility. All of these projects will create jobs.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, the infrastructure is continuing to be built.

About 200 people, including Baghdad Mayor Navet Al Essawi and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker, attended the January 21, 2009 ceremony at the Sadr City Rusafa Water Treatment Facility, located in the Hay Ur neighborhood of Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district.

The modern facility will help shape the future of Baghdad and Iraq, Crocker said.

“This is truly a strategic project,” the ambassador said. “It provides 96,000 cubic meters of water to Baghdad per day, and the United States of America is proud and pleased to have financed this project and to see it through to completion with our close friends and our partners in the mayoralty and the government.”

The $65 million facility, completed in October, took three years to build. It provides 4,000 cubic meters of fresh water per hour to northeastern Baghdad, to include 27 sectors of Sadr City.

“This project is the most important and probably the biggest project for Sadr City,” Al Essawi said. “This project and others like it will clear the path of terrorism.”

This is Sgt. Stryker signing out.

Cobras Strike in Afghanistan
AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters sit on the flight deck of Camp Bastion, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Jan. 12, 2009. Marine Light/Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, a section of the air combat element of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Afghanistan, provides fire support, security and visual reconnaissance support to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment (Reinforced), the ground combat element of SPMAGTF-A and other alliance forces. Marines with SPMAGTF-A protect human rights, promote shared values, and respect Afghan culture, traditions and religion, while carrying-out the mission of conducting counterinsurgency operations, and training and mentoring the Afghan national police.
Photo by Lance Cpl. Brian D. Jones

National Security Agenda on the Web and Afghanistan Update

More and more it’s becoming a digital world, an online world. Shortly after Obama took the oath of office, the new president’s agenda (including his strategy for defense and his Middle East policy) was uploaded to the www.whitehouse.gov website.

According to the agenda on the website, the current administration will support the effort begun in 2007 to increase the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 27,000 to help units retrain and re-equip properly between deployments and decrease the strain on military families.

The new commander in chief also plans to create a Military Families Advisory Board to make senior policymakers and the public more aware of military families’ concerns. Meanwhile, a vignette on the site about first lady Michelle Obama states that supporting military families is an issue “close to her heart,” and an issue on which she intends to focus her efforts.

“Obama and Biden will end the stop-loss policy and establish predictability in deployments so that active duty and reserves know what they can and must expect,” the site states.

Another piece of Obama’s defense agenda is building defense capabilities for the 21st century by fully equipping troops including members of the National Guard and reserves for their missions, and balancing conventional and counterinsurgency weapons systems. The president also advocates reforming a corruptible contracting process while maintaining aerial and naval capabilities, and supporting a pragmatic and cost-effective missile defense system.

Obama and Biden have vowed to build up special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations, and other units and capabilities that are in chronic short supply; to invest in foreign language training, cultural awareness, human intelligence and other needed counterinsurgency and stabilization skill sets; and to create a more robust capacity to train, equip and advise foreign security forces.

This agenda item dovetails with the administration’s pledge to develop “whole-of-government” initiatives to spur global stability, in which military and civilian efforts are linked and a 25,000-strong Civilian Assistance Corps consisting of doctors, lawyers, engineers and police is formed as a deployable unit available in times of domestic or international need.

In Afghanistan, the Pentagon is expected to add about 25,000 additional troops over the next 12 to 18 months, according to defense officials. Some 32,000 American forces currently are deployed there.

Both Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who replaced Donald H. Rumsfeld as then-President George W. Bush’s defense secretary and whom Obama has retained as Pentagon chief, have spoken about the need to push for stronger commitment from NATO allies in Afghanistan.

Speaking of Afghanistan, the U.S. Troops over there are doing a great job. Coalition forces killed 22 armed militants, including two Taliban leaders, and captured 11 in eastern and southern Afghanistan on January 19, 2009, according to U.S. military officials.

In Kapisa province, coalition forces killed Taliban commander Mullah Patang and 18 other militants during an operation to disrupt the Taliban’s terrorist network in the Tagab Valley, north of the city of Kabul. Patang carried out orders from senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and abroad, including numerous roadside bombings and direct attacks against civilians, Afghan officials and coalition forces throughout the region, officials said.

As coalition forces approached Patang’s compound, multiple armed militants came out of several buildings and engaged the force with small-arms fire. Coalition forces returned fire and used close-air precision munitions to stop them.

A search yielded more than 20 AK-47 assault rifles, multiple hand grenades and bandoliers of full magazines. The items were destroyed, and eight suspects were detained. Coalition leaders are investigating Afghan news reports that civilians were killed in the operation.

In Kandahar, coalition forces killed a second Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Rahim Akund, and another armed militant while targeting the Taliban’s roadside-bombing network, officials said. Akund was known for planning, coordinating and carrying out bombings throughout the province.

Despite coalition forces’ efforts to peacefully empty the compound, the militants resisted and were killed. A search revealed a 105 mm artillery round that had the explosives removed, presumably to construct roadside bombs.

In Khowst province, Afghan and coalition forces netted a targeted Haqqani militant during a successful combined operation. The detained militant was believed to be in direct contact with senior Haqqani leaders outside of Afghanistan, coordinating activities aimed at destabilizing Afghanistan and harming civilians.

In Zabol province, coalition forces continued to apply pressure to the Taliban’s roadside-bombing network, killing an armed militant and detaining two others. The operation in Jaldak district, northeast of Kandahar, targeted a Taliban militant believed to carry out bombings and attacks against coalition forces along Highway 1. The targeted militant also is believed to be in contact with multiple Taliban commanders in the region.

During the operation, an armed militant was shot and killed after he attempted to engage the force.

This is Sgt. Stryker signing out.

Martin Luther King Jr. Service in Baghdad
Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commanding general, Multi-National Corps – Iraq, offers heartfelt words, Jan. 19, at Al Faw Palace on the U.S.’s vast civil rights accomplishments due in a large part to Martin Luther King Jr. during a ceremony commemorating his work.
Photo by Lee Craker

U.S. and Iraqi Forces Detain Criminals, Discover Weapons, Continue Winning
According to the Baghdad Public Affairs Office, Iraqi security forces working with Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldiers discovered two weapons cache January 17-18, 2009 in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad.

“The Iraqi security forces continue to find caches and capture criminals showing the residents of the Rashid District the government of Iraq troops are the legal authority in the neighborhoods — not the terrorists,” said Maj. Dave Olson, spokesperson for the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B on Monday, January 19, 2009. “Soldiers of the Raider Brigade are committed to assisting the ISF with providing a safe and secure environment for the Iraqi people.”

January 18, 2009 in Iraq:

Around 2 a.m. January 18, Iraqi army soldiers from the 1st Bn., 53rd Bde., 14th IA Div., working with Soldiers assigned to Company C, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B, discovered a weapons cache in the Jihad community. The IA soldiers recovered an MP5 submachine gun, a 5 mm pistol, nineteen AK-47 assault rifle magazines, a 120 mm artillery round and a 60 mm mortar round and hauled the weapons to a nearby joint security station.

January 17, 2009 in Iraq:

At approximately 5:15 p.m. on January 17, 2009, Soldiers from Troop B, 7th Sqdn., 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, working with the Radwaniyah Iraqi police, discovered a bomb and a cache in the Radwaniyah community. The Soldiers contacted a coalition force Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit that safely dismantled the bomb. The MND-B Soldiers recovered two oxygen tanks and five blasting caps from the site.

January 16, 2009 in Iraq:

Iraqi security forces and U.S. soldiers seized weapons caches and arrested a suspected criminal in the Baghdad area Jan. 16, according to U.S. military officials. Iraqi and U.S. soldiers and Iraqi National Police confiscated 18 AK-47 assault rifles while conducting clearing operations in Rashid district’s Saydiyah community.

Also in the Saydiyah community, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers detained a suspected criminal.

North of Baghdad, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers found a large cache that consisted of eight 37 mm projectiles, 19 73 mm mortars, 10 60 mm mortars, three 82 mm mortars, a 75 mm rocket, two rocket-propelled grenades, 200 12.7 mm rounds, 20 mortar primers, 200 7.62 mm rounds, a 155 mm projectile and a 60 mm warhead.

Responding to a tip, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers discovered two homemade bombs in an abandoned home in the Abu T’shir community.

January 15, 2009 in Iraq:

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers detained a suspected murderer in the Saydiyah community. The criminal was apprehended using an Iraqi-issued warrant from the Baghdad Operations Center.

During three separate patrols, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers discovered a barrel containing four 57 mm rockets buried in the ground in Rashid district’s Karb De Gla neighborhood, two pipe bombs in Arab Jaboor, and confiscated two AK-47 assault rifles in the Saydiyah community.

While conducting operations in southern Baghdad’s Rashid district, U.S. airmen from the Police Transition Team and Iraqi police discovered a hand grenade.

In the Karb De Gla neighborhood, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers discovered a weapons cache that contained eight propane tanks, three mortar rounds and two homemade bombs. Soldiers safely removed and transported the munitions to a combat outpost for proper disposal.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers discovered an 82 mm mortar round during combat operations in the Saydiyah community. The patrol transported the round to a nearby joint security station for disposal.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers discovered a weapons cache consisting of a 60 mm mortar round, an anti-tank mine and several fuses, and detained four individuals in the Saydiyah community. The suspected criminals were detained on warrants issued by the Baghdad Operations Center. The patrol moved the ordnance and detainees to a nearby joint security station.

South of Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers seized a cache that contained 60 60 mm mortars, 50 hand grenades, a mortar tube, two mortar stands and homemade explosive ingredients.

Acting on a local resident’s tip, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers seized a cache that contained several small homemade bombs, a small amount of detonation cord and a magnetic homemade bomb in western Baghdad’s West Rashid neighborhood.

Iraqi soldiers found a cache in the West Rashid area that contained a 60 mm mortar, an anti-tank mine and an undetermined number of mortar fuses.
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

This is Sgt. Stryker signing out…

U.S. Marines with Regimental Combat Team 1 use a forklift to remove track from a damaged self-propelled artillery piece so it can be removed from Al Anbar University campus in Ramadi, Iraq, Nov 29, 2008. The tank removal is part of the ongoing effort to rebuild Iraq and beautify the country.
Photo by Lance Cpl. Albert Hunt

Bush, Obama and Peace in Iraq

President George W. Bush singled out military members for their selfless service and cited his administration’s accomplishments over the past eight years during his farewell address to the nation Thursday, January 15, 2009 from the White House.

“I have cherished meeting these selfless patriots and their families,” he said. “And to all our men and women in uniform listening tonight: There has been no higher honor than serving as your commander in chief.”

Bush remarked on the central event of his presidency, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed 3,000 Americans.

“I remember standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center three days later, surrounded by rescuers who had been working around the clock,” he said. “I remember talking to brave souls who charged through smoke-filled corridors at the Pentagon and to husbands and wives whose loved ones became heroes aboard Flight 93.

“I remember Arlene Howard, who gave me her fallen son’s police shield as a reminder of all that was lost,” he said. “And I still carry his badge.”

Soon after the 9/11 attacks, coalition forces went into Afghanistan to eliminate the safe havens from which al-Qaida terrorists planned, trained for and financed the attacks.

“Afghanistan has gone from a nation where the Taliban harbored al-Qaida and stoned women in the streets to a young democracy that is fighting terror and encouraging girls to go to school,” Bush said.

U.S. forces also participated in providing freedom to millions of Iraqis who lived under a brutal dictatorship. The country was once a sworn enemy of America, but is now “an Arab democracy at the heart of the Middle East and a friend of the United States,” the president said.

Bush admitted that there is legitimate debate about many of his decisions. “But there can be little debate about the results,” he said.

“America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil,” he continued. “This is a tribute to those who toil day and night to keep us safe, law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts, homeland security and diplomatic personnel, and the men and women of the United States armed forces.”

The president said the battles in Iraq and Afghanistan are part of a larger ideological conflict between two radically differing visions of the future.

“Under one, a small band of fanatics demands total obedience to an oppressive ideology, condemns women to subservience and marks unbelievers for murder,” he said. “The other system is based on the conviction that freedom is the universal gift of Almighty God and that liberty and justice light the path to peace.”

He spoke of Marine Staff Sgt. Aubrey McDade, who charged into an ambush in Iraq and rescued three of his fellow Marines, and of Dr. Bill Krissoff, a surgeon from California.

“His son Nathan, a Marine, gave his life in Iraq,” Bush said. “When I met Dr. Krissoff and his family, he delivered some surprising news: He told me he wanted to join the Navy Medical Corps in honor of his son.”

Krissoff was 60 years old – 18 years above the age limit, but his petition for a waiver was granted. “For the past year he has trained in battlefield medicine,” the president said. Now a lieutenant commander, he soon will deploy to Iraq where he will help save America’s wounded warriors and uphold the legacy of his fallen son.

“In citizens like these, we see the best of our country, resilient and hopeful, caring and strong,” the president said. “These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America. We have faced danger and trial, and there is more ahead. But with the courage of our people and confidence in our ideals, this great nation will never tire, never falter, and never fail.”

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to assume the role of commander in chief, one of the stated items on his list of priorities is to shape the U.S. military for the 21st century. To this end, the incoming administration has laid out the following focal points on its Web site:

Build the Military for 21st Century Tasks: Obama and Biden plan to build up special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations and other units and capabilities that remain in chronic short supply; to invest in foreign language training, cultural awareness, and human intelligence and other needed counterinsurgency and stabilization skill sets; and to create a more robust capacity to train, equip, and advise foreign security forces so allies are better prepared to confront mutual threats.

Expand to Meet Military Needs on the Ground: Obama and Biden support plans to increase the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 27,000 Marines to help units retrain and re-equip properly between deployments and decrease the strain on military families.

Leadership from the Top: Obama and Biden plan to inspire a new generation of Americans to serve their country, whether it be in local communities in such roles as teachers or first responders, or serving in the military to keep the nation free and safe.

Lighten the Burdens on Troops and Their Families: The administration plans to create a Military Families Advisory Board to provide a conduit for military families’ concerns to be brought to the attention of senior policymakers and the public. They’ve promised end the “stop-loss” policy that allows service members to be retained beyond the term of their enlistment and to establish predictability in deployments so that active duty and reserve service members know what they can and must expect.

This is Sgt. Stryker Signing Out.

Iraqi Lt. Col. Dhai’m of the 6th Iraqi Army Engineer Regiment and Lt. Col Joe Hargett, 890th Engineer Battalion’s Commander, offered Lt. Col. David Imhof, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion Commander, a tour of the compound after a Jan. 3 meeting. The 890th Engineer Battalion is attached to 926th Engineer Brigade, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.
Photo By: Sgt. Catherine Graham – 926th Engineer Brigade

Clinton and the Elections in Iraq

As the new year unfolds, attention is still focused on Iraq. Hillary Clinton, who is going to be Secretary of State, had some words about Iraq. A report has also come out confirming progress in Iraq. Finally, a division commander in Iraq warns about election meddling.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be top priorities for President-elect Barack Obama’s administration, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama’s nominee to be secretary of state, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at her confirmation hearing here yesterday.

“It is my intention that we will very quickly, in consultation with the Iraqi government and other agencies within our own government, put together the teams and activities that we will be offering that will support the withdrawal of our troops, and also fulfill the agreement that we have with the government of Iraq,” Clinton said.

The lack of essential services has replaced security as the major concern in Iraq, pointing to the progress the country has been making, according to a Defense Department report released Tuesday, January 2009.

The report, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq,” says the security situation in the country continues to improve. The report covers the period through the end of November, and does not address the change of responsibility to the Iraqi government for security under the status-of-forces agreement that went into effect on January 1, 2009.

“This period witnessed a nationwide reduction in civilian deaths by almost 63 percent compared to the same period in 2007,” the report says. Further, no increase in violence took place during or immediately following the holy month of Ramadan – typically a time of increased attacks.

The insurgency is declining, and al-Qaida in Iraq is increasingly isolated, the report says. Many Shiia extremists are seeking amnesty and leaving Iranian-supported militant groups such as Jaysh al-Mahdi and affiliated organizations, it notes, though both Sunni and Shiia extremist groups still are capable of conducting attacks despite their weakened condition.

Most of Iraq now is under Iraqi control. The status-of-forces agreement places Iraqi forces completely in the lead and calls for all coalition combat forces to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

That withdrawal has already begun, with one U.S. brigade combat team having left the country during the period covered by the report. Polish troops are ending their assignment in the nation, and troops from other nations – including Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Tonga and Ukraine — have completed their missions in the country.

Still, security gains in some areas of the country are fragile and reversible. For example, officials said, while overall deaths dropped, assassinations increased, and Iraq’s Ninevah province and areas in Diyala remain as problems.

Iran continues to pose a “significant threat” to Iraq, the report says.

“Despite persistent promises to the contrary, Iranian behavior continues to reflect a fundamental desire to oppose the development of a fully secure and stable Iraq,” the report reads. “Countering malign influence and balancing soft Iranian influence remain priorities to stabilize Iraq and ensure the sovereignty of its people.”

The gains in security allow the coalition to concentrate on infrastructure in the nation, officials said. The Iraqi economy grew by 9 percent in 2008, according to International Monetary Fund figures.

The 2008 Iraqi budget was $72.1 billion. The government is investing in quality-of-life projects, and also is working to counter unemployment and under-employment in the nation, officials said.

On Wednesday, January 14, 2009, Army Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, commander of Multinational Division Center, said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has pledged that Baghdad will do all it can to prevent defrauding of the Jan. 31 provincial elections by internal and external forces.

“We agree with [Maliki] that everybody should let Iraqis make their own decisions in this election,” he told reporters at a news conference in Baghdad. “What’s important to Iraq is that elections be seen as credible, and my only concern is that outside influences may interfere.”

U.S. forces around the country are preparing to support Iraqi security forces in the event of possible violence surrounding the balloting. Army Col. Burt Thompson, commander of the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, discussed potential election saboteurs in a Jan. 12 media briefing. “It’s pretty clear what they’d be going after,” he said. “It’s to sway the hearts and the minds — to intimidate those civilians from going and voting.”

In the news conference, Oates said Multinational Division Center troops are prepared to work with Iraqi security forces, which have taken the lead to ensure the elections occur safely and smoothly. The most likely security threat facing the electorate in his area of operations, the general said, comes from splinter groups of militia members who are disobeying a ceasefire order from the Iranian-influenced Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The general said a small number of such groups are responsible for much of the region’s violence. He added that the fact that attacks aimed at coalition forces are decreasing while violence aimed at Iraqi forces rises indicates the groups’ intention of fomenting internal chaos.

Meanwhile, Oates said, al-Qaida’s role has become “severely degraded” in the southern part of his jurisdiction, despite the terror organization’s attempts over the past months to regenerate. But he cautioned that al-Qaida still is capable of launching “spectacular attacks.” In large part, though, members of Jaysh al-Mahdi, Sadr’s armed constituency, are complying with their leader’s order to lay down arms, he added.

Oates expressed some concern that some of Iran’s influence in Iraq takes the form of humanitarian aid. Helping Iraq’s Shiite poor and supporting hospitals works to provide “significant influence in terms of soft power” for Iraq’s neighbor to the east among Iraqis. But extremist Iranian elements might be motivated to ramp up “lethal activity” as elections near, he added.

Still, Oates predicted a safe election, and said that the challenge afterward will be ensuring a smooth transition of power.

“My hope is that those who are disappointed don’t take out their disappointment in violence,” he said.

This is Sgt. Stryker signing out.

Wasit Iraqi Police Celebrate 87th Anniversary

Members of the Kut Special Tactics and Weapons Team lead the vehicle parade during the 87th anniversary of the Wasit General Police Department at the Wasit IP Headquarters, Jan. 11.
Photo By: Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson – Multi-National Division-Central

Combined Forces Capture Criminal Suspects, Find Weapons in Iraq

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers and Iraqi National Police have detained suspected criminals and seized weapons in operations in Baghdad over the last few days according to U.S. military officials. Here’s a look at some of what’s happened in Iraq over the last few days.

January 11, 2009 in Iraq:

In the city’s Rashid district, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers arrested a suspected insurgent with a fake identification card, bomb-making materials and CDs that allegedly contained insurgent plans.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers served a warrant for the arrest of a suspected weapons trafficker with alleged ties to criminal organizations in Rashid district’s Hadar community.

In Rashid district’s Saydiyah community, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers served warrants for the arrest of two Iraqis suspected of serving as informants for criminal elements.

In northwestern Baghdad, Iraqi National Police and U.S. soldiers confiscated a cache yesterday that contained 10 projectile fuses, propellant, small-arms rounds, two 130 mm high-explosive projectiles and a 122 mm high-explosive projectile. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the cache.

Iraqi National Police and U.S. soldiers seized an unexploded artillery round in Rashid district’s Shurta community. The patrol transported the round to a nearby national police headquarters for disposal by an EOD team.

January 10, 2009 in Iraq:

In Rashid district’s Saha neighborhood, a tip from a local civilian led Iraqi National Police and U.S. soldiers to a suspected criminal wanted for acts of violence, murder, extortion and kidnapping in connection with known terrorist groups operating in Baghdad.

In Rashid district, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers confiscated three AK-47 assault rifles from three different houses and moved the weapons to their headquarters.

Also in Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi forces in Iraq’s Diyala province are preparing for rising violence amid upcoming provincial elections, an Army commander in Iraq said at a Pentagon news conference today.

Army Col. Burt Thompson, commander of the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, said he anticipates an increase in violent activities as the Jan. 31 polling date nears.

“It’s pretty clear what they’d be going after,” Thompson said, referring to potential election saboteurs. “It’s to sway the hearts and the minds, to intimidate those civilians from going and voting.”

Thompson, speaking via video teleconference from Forward Operating Base Warhorse, said Diyala province experiences about one “security incident” per week. A typical occurrence includes a bombing with homemade explosives targeting civilians in market areas.

He identified members of al-Qaida and Jaysh al-Mahdi, the militant constituency of the Iranian-influenced Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, as the main perpetrators of violence in the region.

To mitigate potential threats, Thompson said, Iraqi security forces have detailed plans for securing polling sites and the routes leading to and from them.

“Al-Qaida, the enemy, the opponent, obviously, has a vote. And he will look for those critical vulnerabilities, if he can find them, and he’ll try to exploit those,” he said. “Our job is to prevent that from happening.”

Iraqi forces are culling “human intelligence” — word-of-mouth information from local people — to inform their preparations leading up to the elections.

“The individuals that you talk to on the street are the greatest values, because quite frankly, most of the folks in Diyala province … want peace, they want stability, they want to move ahead, they want to get this behind them,” he said.

Thompson added that combined forces are emphasizing the security of ballots to ensure the accountability and responsibility of the process.

Participants responsible for election security met for six hours yesterday ahead of a rehearsal planned for this week, Thompson said. Iraqi police will act as the “inner cordon” at voting sites and other sensitive locations, with Iraqi soldiers serving a support role as U.S. forces provide the “outer layer.”

The colonel characterized the upcoming vote as a moment of great historical and political significance for Iraq, marking the first real opportunity to seat a representative government at the provincial level.

“The 2005 election was to prove that, ‘I’ve got some ink on my finger, and we can actually do this election,’” he said, alluding to iconic images of Iraqis displaying ink-stained fingers indicating a ballot cast in national elections.

While the voting in January 2005 represented the first general election since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, reports of widespread boycotting by Sunni Arabs called into question the vote’s legitimacy.

“The 2009 elections are a little bit different,” Thompson said. “This is an opportunity to seat governance, [which makes it] a critical period in the history of Iraq, certainly the history of Diyala, to move this place forward, to continue the growth, to continue the stability and prosperity that we’re starting to see now in Diyala province.”

Paratroopers assigned to the Troop C, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad, partnered with Iraqi security forces to provide security for the national police graduation Jan. 9 in the Rusafa district of eastern Baghdad.
Photo By: Pfc. Mitchell Taylor – 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

An Apology for Letters and More Progress in Iraq

The Army’s adjutant general apologized for the Army on January 8, 2009 for a printing error that resulted in the delivery of 7,000 letters without a by-name salutation to family members who lost a soldier in operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. The letters, which included the placeholder greeting of “Dear John Doe,” were printed and sent by a contractor in late December to inform families of private organizations that offer services and assistance.

Brig. Gen. Reuben Jones expressed his disappointment in the error and his team’s concern for the recipients during a special blogger’s round table hosted by the New Media Directorate of Defense Media Activity.

“I can tell you, I know our pain isn’t what our family members’ pain is about receiving this, but I have a team of dedicated young Americans who are on a first-name basis with many of these survivors, and they feel this hurt just as bad,” Jones told the bloggers and online journalists. “But they are marching on because they know that their intent was to connect with them and provide them information on the generosity of our nation that has come to the Army and said, ‘We want to help.’”

“We work so hard to build that trust and a relationship with our families so they know that they’re still part of this Army team, because they have been strong families for this strong Army,” Jones said.

The program not only reaches out to families, but also offers families the means to reach out to the Army with their needs and suggestions.

“We continue to connect with our families, receive their comments and feedback on what we can do better,” Jones said. “This is a program that we say, hey, tell us what else we can do.”

Jan. 9, 2009

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police and “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group members seized several weapons caches in Baghdad this week, military officials reported.

January 8, 2009

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers, working on a tip, seized four 60 mm rockets and three warheads in Baghdad.

U.S. soldiers seized a 107 mm rocket, bomb-making materials and an assortment of small arms near Taji, north of Baghdad.

Iraqi security forces working with U.S. soldiers discovered a mortar round and roadside bomb in Baghdad’s Rashid district.

Police in Baghdad’s Risalah community, working with U.S. soldiers, found a 60 mm mortar round while on patrol.

On a combined patrol with U.S. soldiers, police found a roadside bomb in Baghdad’s Saha neighborhood.

In earlier Iraq operations:

North of Baghdad on January 7, 2009, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers found a cache that contained two 155 mm projectiles, a 107 mm rocket, 17 57 mm rockets, 12 60 mm mortars, two 60 mm mortar tubes, 12 rocket-propelled grenades, 8,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, 12 blasting caps, a radio and 200 feet of detonation cord.

Sons of Iraq members seized 19 57 mm projectiles in Baghdad’s Tarmiyah area Jan. 6 and transferred them to local police.

Speaking of the Sons of Iraq, The coalition will follow through with its commitment to place “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group members into permanent jobs as they are transferred under Iraqi government control, Multinational Corps Iraq’s chief of reconciliation said yesterday.

“We don’t intend to transfer [the Sons of Iraq] and abandon them,” Army Lt. Col. Jeffrey Kulmayer said in a teleconference with military bloggers. “We intend to transfer them and ensure that they are provided meaningful employment in the future.”

The Iraqi government has assumed responsibility for some 94,000 Sons of Iraq volunteers since the coalition began transferring the program by province, Kulmayer said. The transition began in October in Baghdad province, he said, which accounted for more than half of the Sons of Iraq with 51,000 transferred.

The Sons of Iraq assist coalition and Iraqi security forces by performing critical infrastructure security duties in their communities, such as manning checkpoints, guarding roads, providing intelligence and identifying enemy weapons caches.

“They thicken the battlefield because … they know their neighborhoods, and they know who’s who, and they know where the caches are,” Kulmayer said. “By securing the infrastructure and the roads and the key points, they freed up the coalition and Iraqi security forces to go on the offensive after al-Qaida.”

Kulmayer attributed the decrease in violence — “at their lowest levels since 2003” — in part to the contributions and sacrifices of the Sons of Iraq volunteers. More than 500 Sons of Iraq members were killed and more than 750 were wounded in 2008, he said.

“We really see [ensuring employment] as a commitment on our part to the Sons of Iraq who have helped us here and really, frankly, stood up for their country,” he said.

This is a great way to start the new year, eh?

This is Sgt. Stryker signing out.