Children Lead 1st Infantry Division Soldiers to Cache / TF 1AD Staying the Course

CJTF-7 ^ | April 13, 2004

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Children Lead 1st Infantry Division Soldiers to Cache

TIKRIT, Iraq - Task Force Danger Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment discovered a weapons cache consisting of 18 60mm mortar rounds near Kirkuk April 11 at around 9:45 a.m.

The Soldiers found the cache after following up on information from some children playing near a Coalition base.

The Soldiers have secured and transported the rounds to a storage facility for destruction.

Release #040412h

http://www.cjtf7.com/media-information/April2004/040412h.htm

Central Command, Task Force 1st Armored Division Staying the Course
By Sgt. Merrion Lasonde
122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD, Iraq – U.S. forces will remain in Iraq as long as necessary to bring peace and stability, according to the commanding generals of the U.S. Central Command and Task Force 1st Armored Division.
Speaking at an impromptu press conference following a mission briefing, Gen. John Abizaid, commander, U.S. Central Command, and Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, Task Force 1st Armored Division commanding general, addressed the current situation in Iraq April 8.
Abizaid said the current unstable situation in Iraq is due to insurgents who do not want to see a free and prosperous Iraq. Members of these bands include small groups of former Saddam Hussein loyalists, militiamen, terrorists and religious extremists. Battles between these groups and Coalition forces have taken place in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi cities of Najaf, Kufah and Nasiriyah.

“I feel it is a small group of people, anti-democratic in their outlook, that are trying to stop the forward movement of the Iraqi people,” Abizaid said.

Dempsey said battles between the insurgents and U.S. forces have been decisive and swift.

“There are militias seeking to intimidate the local populace,” Dempsey said. “When confronted, our attackers have been defeated. We have said that there will be no militias allowed. When we have encountered fights, they have been rapid, violent and very successful on our part.”

Task Force 1st Armored Division Soldiers are battle hardened, know their communities and have relationships with local leaders and residents, Abizaid said.

“We have some of the most experienced and battle-ready troops currently on the ground. If the troops’ stay here has to be extended to get the job done, so be it,” he said. “This is a slow campaign. We are trying hard not to harm innocent civilians. We will use U.S. and Coalition troops as needed to get the job done.”

About 15,000 1st Cavalry Division troops are joining the 25,000 Soldiers from the 1st Armored Division in and around Baghdad. This is roughly 11,000 more than before the troop rotation began in January.

Currently, about 134,000 total military personnel serve in Iraq, up from 120,000 in November.

“We have plenty of military capacity to deal with the problem,” Abizaid said. “We have a sufficient force on the ground to deal with the problem.”

In addition to U.S. and other Coalition forces, Iraqi defense forces – the new Iraqi army, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and Iraqi Police Service – are fighting for their country, he said.

“We have gotten these organizations effective to a point and we will continue to work with them,” Dempsey said.

“We need to empower the Iraqi leaders so that they can take control of their country,” Abizaid added.
 
Release #040412b

http://www.cjtf7.com/media-information/April2004/040412b.htm

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

    ~    First Infantry Division,   

  (....TF DANGER)

 

                              

                  First Armored Divison

 

Bad news for the baghdad ~ and Sunni Triangle ~ bad guys !  

 

                                 

[Blood of Tyrants]

And the little children shall lead the way.

[mabelkitty]

More children turning in "the toys" to our soldiers.

God bless them, indeed.

[boxerblues]

The kids have more smarts than some of the adults.


We missed you today, Berta Mae was asking about you.

[hershey]

Hmm, looks as if Iraqi kids are braver, not to mention smarter than Iraqi adult/police/soldiers.

[mabelkitty]

I'm out of here shortly. I'm going on vacation in a week, so I couldn't take off.

She's such a cutie - I talked to her last week-end and told her I would try.

[fidelis]

Hope this doesn't mean these kids or their parents are goners if certain other Iraqis found out who did it.

[blackie]

Allies and their children ~ Bump!

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[tiamat]

Go, Kids!

[sgtbono2002]

You can bet your bippy that if the kids know where the caches are the adults do too. We wont solve any problems in Iraq till the people themselves start taking it on themselves to help insure to a better country.

[smokinleroy]

On a related subject, I read some time ago that the US military was getting useful info out of ol' Saddam in exchange for sweets and strong coffee and tea. Why don't they just go ahead and offer him a case of Jack Daniels in exchange for the locations of his wmd caches? Weapons first, then JD. Win-win for all involved (except the dems).

[SAMWolf]

The children there are our only chance to turn that country around, the older people are for the most part already lost causes.

[Gamecock]

We are proud members of the oldest continuously serving division in the United States Army. Since 1917, we have kept our nation safe, making the selfless sacrifice to preserve freedom. From fighting with Gen. Pershing in Cantigny, to rebuilding nations in the Balkans, the 1st Infantry Division was there… We are the Big Red One! DUTY FIRST!

In the beginning when the Black Lions of Cantigny sought revenge against the Kaiser’s forces at Cantigny... From the Soissons and Meuse-Argonne till we crossed the Rhine on to Victory, we leaned forward… We are the Big Red One! DUTY FIRST!

With our reputation for 'no mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great,' FDR called upon us in '42, and once again we saluted proudly and moved out.
From Oran through Tunisia, we were there… we took a pounding at the Kasserine Pass, but pressed onward with Patton to Gafsa until the Afrika Korps bowed…Through mountainous terrain, I broke the back of German resistance in Sicily for… We are the Big Red One! DUTY FIRST!

From the beaches of North Africa, across the rocky terrain of Sicily, we stepped out of the surf onto Omaha Beach, where our leadership took charge of a desperate situation and said, "Two kinds of people are staying on this beach! The dead and those who are going to die! Now, let’s get the hell out of here!"
So on once again to Soissons, we helped liberate France and Belgium… and stood our ground at the "Bulge" in the Ardennes. Breaking through the 'impenetrable' Siegfried line we swept through Aachen and crossed the Roer and the Rhine, proclaiming... We are the Big Red One! DUTY FIRST!

We accepted a different challenge in '65 when we were the first division to set foot on the soil of Vietnam… Not only were we fighting a different enemy, we also fought the jungle… we cleared the Trapezoid, the Iron Triangle, the Catcher’s Mitt, both the Song Be and Saigon Corridors, and Thunder Road… we showed the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong they couldn’t win an all-out war against us, and won the hearts and minds of an entire nation for… We are the Big Red One! DUTY FIRST!

In the Persian Gulf, duty called and we answered. Over a span of 100 hours, we destroyed the will of an Iraqi army and Hussein’s elite Republican Guard units through sheer firepower and speed, for… We are the Big Red One! DUTY FIRST!

We wrote another chapter in our annals when we deployed as a covering force to the war-torn country of Bosnia- Herzegovina. Instead of fighting a war, we were fighting to enforce an unstable peace agreement between three former warring factions. We were tested at Celic and Gajevi, when an armed altercation threatened the fledgling peace process, but we kept our cool and focus, bringing a tense situation under control for… We are the Big Red One! DUTY FIRST!

From Brcko to Tuzla, and Doboj to Uglivic, we worked side by side with countries we trained for years to fight against. We brought families back together in Tuzla and helped rebuild schools and roads in Brcko. You were with me when I took command of Multinational Division-North... where we proved we were just as good as peacemakers as we are being warfighters, for… We are the Big Red One!






No Mission too Difficult!

No Sacrifice too Great!

Duty First!

If you have to be one, be a Big Red One!

[thiscouldbemoreconfusing]

U.S. forces will remain in Iraq as long as necessary to bring peace and stability, according to the commanding generals of the U.S. Central Command and Task Force 1st Armored Division.

Or until a jimmy carter clone gets elected President.

If carter hadn't screwed the Shah of Iran, we would not be fighting in Iraq now and there would have been no 9-11!

[SevenofNine]

COOLL Rack ittt

Well that what they said

Children always lead

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Bump!

[SandRat]

and a small child shall lead them.

[fatima]

Ragtime Cowgirl,Bump.