Operation Phantom Fury--Day 655 - Now Operations River Blitz; Matador--Day 550

Baghdad services boosted with U.S. help

Capt. Eric Fedak, civil affairs team leader, Company B, 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, talks with residents in Ghazaliya Thursday about their essential service concerns, such as water, electricity, sewage and trash pickup. (Department of Defense photo by Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Lovel, 363rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

Wednesday, 23 August 2006

By Staff Sgt. Kevin Lovel - 363rd MPAD

BAGHDAD — U.S. Soldiers from the 412th and 414th Civil Affairs Battalions coordinated, supervised and checked on the progress of essential services projects Thursday in the Baghdad neighborhoods of Ghazaliya and Shula.

After monitoring the progress of contractors’ trash cleanup efforts in the two economically impoverished areas, the Soldiers, attached to 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, attended a meeting at the Neighborhood Area Council building in Shula where they listened to local community and religious leaders voice their opinions on the most pressing essential services needs.

“Today we’re doing a trash cleanup project,” said Sgt. 1st Class Peter Fernandes, civil affairs specialist and team sergeant. “The trash is unsafe and unsatisfactory, so we’re trying to give the residents a helping hand.”

Civil affairs Soldiers helped facilitate getting the contractors to areas where there is the most urgent need for cleanup, said Fernandes.

A local contractor's bulldozer scoops up a pile of rubble near a mosque in the Ghazaliya neighborhood Friday as part of a trash cleanup project coordinated between Multi-National Division - Baghdad civil affairs Soldiers, contractors and local community leaders. (Department of Defense photo by Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Lovel, 363rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

“We supervise and show the (contractors) the work we want them to do. We make sure they can get through checkpoints and that they get to the right streets where the work needs to be done,” continued Fernandes.

The populations of Ghazaliya and Shula are a mixture of Sunni and Shiite, and there has been a history of sectarian violence in those areas, the sergeant said.

“There’s a lot of satisfaction in helping out,” said Fernandes. “Most of the people are good people who want to get on with their lives.”

Capt. Eric Fedak, a civil affairs team leader, surveyed community residents as to what services they felt were most lacking.

“What I look for is issues with the sewage, water, electricity and trash cleanup,” said Fedak. “We want to work with the local government to make sure these issues get taken care of.”

Local residents said they are pleased MND-B Soldiers have shown a presence in the area, he noted.

“They’re happy about the cordon and searches, and they feel their security has increased greatly.”

A local religious leader speaks during a neighborhood council meeting Thursday in Baghdad’s Shula neighborhood. Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers, community leaders and local imams attended the meeting to discuss coordination of essential services for trash cleanup, sewage repair, water and electricity improvement. (Department of Defense photo by Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Lovel, 363rd MPAD)

Col. Michael Shields, commander, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and Lt. Col. Avanulas Smiley, commander, 1st Bn., 23rd Inf. Regt., traveled to Shula and joined the council meeting to gain input first-hand.

“What we are doing today is coming up with a system to help us identify the most important projects, then use our limited resources to take care of the problems and get them fixed,” said Shields. “We can take the problems to the government, who in turn can provide more resources. There are a lot of things we can do to help with the quality of life in Shula.”

Some council members voiced their concerns regarding cordon and search missions in their neighborhood.

“We’re treating everyone with dignity and respect. We talk every night about respecting the Iraqi customs,” assured Shields. “The majority of the people I’ve met on the street are pleased with the job that the Iraqi security forces have done.”

Overall, the mission was a success, said Capt. Rob Callaghan, fire support officer and effects coordinator, 1st Bn., 23rd Inf. Regt.

“The meeting was productive,” Callaghan said. “Any time we can ensure that good work is being done, and that there is coordination between Coalition forces, the Neighborhood Area Council and the Iraqi security forces, it is good for the communities.”

Coalition Refutes Taliban Claims; Terrorists Captured

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006 – A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan recently made several claims to the media that were proven false by coalition forces, and in recent operations three suspected terrorists were captured and two civilians injured by extremists, U.S. military officials reported.

An unnamed Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan has made several claims recently to Afghan media outlets. Coalition forces have compared each of the claims with facts and information reported by coalition troops on the ground in each of the provinces mentioned, officials said.

The unnamed spokesman reported that Taliban fighters killed eight coalition members during an attack Aug. 21 on a coalition convoy in Qala Bazaar of Alishang district, located in Laghman province. The coalition had already confirmed that an attack occurred; however, there were no casualties and no damage to coalition vehicles or equipment, officials said.

The spokesman also claimed that 50 Afghan and coalition forces were killed during the last 10 days of fighting in the Laghman province. The spokesman went on to say that 15 coalition vehicles had been destroyed and 10 coalition weapons had been seized. These claims are not true, officials said. The only other incident that has occurred in Laghman province since Aug. 15 resulted in only one U.S. military member injured.

Finally, the Taliban spokesman claimed that an attack was conducted Aug. 21 on a U.S. patrol in the Lotta area of the Manoogi district in Kunar. The spokesman said that 14 U.S. military members were confirmed dead by Taliban fighters, and that two Taliban fighters were killed and four others were wounded during the attack.

An attack did occur in Pech district, Kunar province on Aug. 19, and coalition forces confirmed that three U.S. military members were killed and three wounded in that incident. The U.S. patrol was actually struck by an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire, officials said.

In operational news, Afghan and coalition forces conducted a pre-dawn raid on a compound housing suspected terrorists yesterday near Paru Kheyl village, in Khowst province. Three suspects were taken into custody. Assorted weapons and ammunition were confiscated in the operation. Weapons included automatic and bolt-action rifles, a shotgun and ammunition-carrying chest racks.

Three other men found in the compound were released after questioning. More than 20 women and children also were located within the facilities.

This operation was to capture a known al Qaeda facilitator. Credible intelligence linked the targeted individual to suspected terrorist activities and attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Khowst province, officials said. The coalition is assessing information taken from the raid and determining the level of involvement of the three suspected terrorists taken into custody.

Elsewhere, several rockets fired by Taliban extremists struck a nomad encampment, injuring two civilians in Gardez on Aug. 21. Coalition medical personnel are treating the injured. Their condition is not known, officials said.

(Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)

Related Sites:

Combined Forces Command Afghanistan

Marines May Recall Some Recent Veterans to Active Duty

By Kathleen T. Rhem - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006 – President Bush has authorized the Marine Corps to call up Marines from the service’s Individual Ready Reserve, which may mean a return to duty for some recently discharged veterans.

“We are telling the American people that there is a chance that … those individual ready reservists will be recalled,” Marine Maj. Steven O’Connor, reserve liaison officer with Marine Corps Public Affairs, said.

The Individual Ready Reserve includes 59,000 Marines who have completed their initial enlistment, but are still within their mandatory eight-year military service obligation. All enlistees in all services incur an eight-year commitment in some capacity, generally a combination of active or reserve and then IRR service.

Marine officials couldn’t say how many Marines from the IRR could be activated, or when that might happen. Bush authorized call-ups from this pool July 26. The authorization allows up to 2,500 Marines to be on involuntary active duty at any time. But the actual number will depend on how many Marines volunteer for deployments within the global war on terrorism. The service has set up a Web site, https://mcmps.manpower.usmc.mil/MCMPS/GIDA/, to allow IRR Marines and recent retirees to volunteer for war on terror assignments.

Officials envision a much smaller number of involuntary activations than the maximum authorization. “There is that chance (of calling up the maximum authorized), even though it seems rather slight,” O’Connor said.

Involuntarily activated Marines will receive at least five months notice before they have to report for an average of 12 to 18 months of additional active duty, officials said. The service is specifically targeting Marines in the combat arms, communications, intelligence, engineer and military police career fields.

In addition, the service is excluding Marines who are in their first year of IRR service. Officials are deliberately avoiding activating Marines who have recently been in a combat zone. Only Marines in their second or third year of IRR service are being involuntarily recalled, O’Connor said.

Marines in the IRR are a proven asset as the military works to manage its resources during heightened demands posed by the war on terror, O’Connor said. “These are Marines that have already been trained,” he said.

Service officials said the authority does not signal a problem with recruiting. “It’s just a matter of the Marine Corps accessing its total force,” O’Connor said.

He noted that about 2,600 Marine reservists are serving within U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility. “They’re part of our total force,” he added. “They’re a resource we should be able to tap into in times of war and contingency.”

The Marine Corps drew on its Individual Ready Reserve in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, involuntarily calling up roughly 2,000 Marines, and in the 1991 Gulf War, when about 8,300 IRR members were involuntarily activated, O’Connor said.

Army Engineers Working Tirelessly in Gulf Coast Region

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006 – Since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast a year ago next week, the Army Corps of Engineers has worked tirelessly with federal, state and local officials, industry partners, and thousands of volunteers to repair damage done in the area and prepare for future disasters, the corps’ chief said here yesterday.

“Not a day goes by that I do not reflect on the tragic loss of life and property as a result of this devastating storm; and we also, in the Corps of Engineers, recognize how vital it is that we accomplish our missions, to really set the conditions for the full recovery of this area, of the Gulf Coast,” Army Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, Army Corps of Engineers commander and chief engineer, said at a White House news conference.

Since September, the Corps of Engineers has restored or repaired 220 miles of the 350 miles of levees in New Orleans, Strock said. The corps also has isolated the three very vulnerable outfall canals that caused many problems during Katrina, and installed interim gated closures and temporary pumping capacity to operate those during a hurricane surge, he said.

All the work the corps has done was with the intent of having the New Orleans levee system back to pre-Katrina standards or better by the start of the hurricane season, June 1, and the corps has been largely successful at that, Strock said.

At the same time the work was going on, the Corps of Engineers has led an effort to find out what exactly occurred after Katrina and why it occurred, so lessons can be applied to long-term planning for the gulf region and the entire country, Strock said. That effort involved more than 150 experts from around the world, and it resulted in a report of about 6,000 pages that will be reviewed by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Research Council, he said.

Congress has asked the Corps of Engineers to form a proposal by December 2007 on what it would take to provide Category 5 hurricane protection for the Louisiana coast, Strock said. While the proposal is being formed, if the corps finds a promising component of the ultimate solution, it will move ahead on those solutions with appropriate funding and authorizations, he said.

“That will be a very long-term process, but I think we have a good plan to get there,” he said.

An important lesson Katrina provided is that it is impossible to totally eliminate risk where nature is concerned and that people must heed state and local officials' advice when storms are approaching.

“It's critically important that people understand the risks involved, and we're working very hard to make sure that the people in (the) area understand the residual risks that face them today,” he said.

Aug. 29 marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall on the Gulf Coast. In a brief statement after meeting with the St. Bernard Parish president, who lost his home to Katrina, President Bush today said that the anniversary is a time to remember the tragedy, but also to refocus continued reconstruction efforts in the area.

“It's a time to remember that people suffered, and it's a time to recommit ourselves to helping them,” Bush said. “But I also want people to remember that a one-year anniversary is just that, because it's going to require a long time to help these people rebuild.”

Related Sites:

Army Corps of Engineers

9/11 firefighter volunteers to do his part in Iraq

Sgt. Sean Cummins, civil affairs team sergeant, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion from Fort Dix, N.J., attached to 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, offers his hand to a young Iraqi child in the town of Ayabachi, Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Paul J. Harris, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office)

By Pfc. Paul J. Harris - 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

Aug 22, 2006

AYABACHI, Iraq -- In the early morning of Nov. 12, 2001, residents of the sleepy neighborhood of Rockaway, N.Y., awoke to a thunderous sound. American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in the area and filled the beachside community with thick black smoke. For a firefighter this scene was all too familiar.

Sgt. Sean Cummins, civil affairs team sergeant, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion from Fort Dix, N.J., attached to the 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, and an 11-year veteran of the New York Fire Department, lived near the crash site in Queens, N.Y. He was home on his first day off since the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. Cummins raced to the scene and began pulling hoses off the fire trucks already there to help tame the raging fire. Though many were saved, 250 people died that Veterans Day.

“If September 11 was an earthquake here in this neighborhood, this is an aftershock,” said the area’s congressman, Rep. Anthony Weiner to a CNN reporter following the plane crash.

Two months before, on Sept. 10, Cummins switched days off with two firefighters from Rescue Company 1 so he could drive his mother to the airport and finish his scuba certification class to become a rescue diver on Sept. 11.

Both firefighters, including 10 others from Rescue 1, were killed when the World Trade Center towers collapsed.

“It was actually easier to go dig for guys than to go back to the firehouse and face the wives,” Cummins said.

It was emotionally tough for Cummins to face the two wives of the firefighters he switched shifts with.

“One of them came up to me at a memorial service,” Cummins said. “She went and gave me a big hug and she said ‘listen, he would have been there anyway.’”

Between the two deceased firefighters they had nine children as opposed to Cummins’ three. He often struggles with the fact that it could have been three children without a father instead of nine.

“9/11 was one of those things that happened; it wasn’t one of those things you just did, it wasn’t like you prepared for it,” Cummins said. “There were 87 guys who I knew who died that day. What do you do? Do you roll over and die? Or do you get up and keep moving on?”

Cummins and his family did move on and from all of the support he received from the community and his country he felt like it was time to give something back.

“In all honesty I look at this as penance, that is why I volunteered for a year tour (in Iraq),” Cummins said.

His mission has changed somewhat in Iraq. Instead of putting out fires, he and his two civil affairs teammates are trying to help the Iraqis rebuild their country.

Cummins deployed with Capt. Anthony Coppola, team leader, and Sgt. Jeffrey Scotti, civil affairs sergeant, both from the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, two men he had never met before he received orders to deploy. It turns out; they did not live far from each other in New York and became close friends after driving 12 hours each way to Fort Bragg, N.C., for deployment training.

“You know he’s always got your back,” Scotti said. “You know he is motivated to be here. He does his job and does not ask for much.”

Helping people is helping people, Cummins said, while taking a break from assessing a water treatment facility in the Tigris riverside village of Ayabachi. The easiest part of working in Iraq, he said, is dealing with the people; the hardest part is dealing with politics and paperwork.

Cummins’ job is to assess villages in 1-8 CAB’s area of operation on four key areas: water, sewage, electricity and transportation.

Water is a main concern in most towns because the water comes directly from the river untreated. Cummins will order chlorine to be delivered to the town so Iraqis can learn how to treat the water themselves.

Cummins equates this job to fighting an uphill battle. With civil affairs you will not see the end result for 10 to 20 years, he said, compared to the instant gratification he receives as a firefighter.

Gratification he received Sept. 8, 2005, nearly four years to the day of Sept. 11. Again Cummins was called into action when fires inside a six story apartment building threatened its residents. 85 year old Maria Estrada was trapped on the 5th floor and could not get out. Thick smoke was burrowing its way through the halls blocking her escape. Cummins went up the fire escape and crawled through a window to reach Estrada and found her barely conscious. She was unable to move so Cummins picked her up and carried her out the building and down the fire escape to safety.

Despite the smoke and intense heat, Cummins returned to the building and searched the hallway and assisted the other residents in their evacuation.

As a result of his actions, Cummins was presented the Captain Denis W. Lane Memorial Medal for bravery, in a ceremony he was unable to attend because he was in Iraq.

“Sgt. Cummins is a walking volume of novels, good novels,” Coppola said. “The constant stories, the lighthearted humor to break the tension sometimes, you come to expect it (from him). If someone were to come up to me and say he saved a thousand people in his life it wouldn’t surprise me. The life that he has lived and the work he has done at 43, I admire it.”

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

Sgt. Sean Cummins, civil affairs team sergeant, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion from Fort Dix, N.J., attached to 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, listens to a Iraqi man about his village’s needs in the town of Ayabachi, Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Paul J. Harris, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office)

Sgt. Sean Cummins, civil affairs team sergeant, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion from Fort Dix, N.J., attached to 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, pulls security as the rest of his teammates talk to the locals in the town of Ayabachi, Iraq about their infrastructure needs. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Paul J. Harris, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office)

Small Diameter Bomb ready for war on terror

ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England — Staff Sgt. Randy Broome (left) and Airman 1st Class Robert Branham unload a Bomb Rack Unit 61 from a munitions trailer at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, on Aug. 1. The bomb rack fits on F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets and holds Guided Bomb Unit-39 small-diameter bombs. The SDB was one of four new capabilities recently delivered to warfighters, eight weeks ahead of schedule and $26.9 million under budget, by the Air Force Materiel Command enterprise team at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. (Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Lance Cheung)

By Capt. Bob Everdeen - Aeronautical Systems Center Public Affairs

Aug 22, 2006

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — Four major acquisition programs—developed in parallel—have come together to provide U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle crews with a revolutionary capability that combines accuracy and reduced collateral damage.

Military and civilian employees in seven different locations worked together developing the four new capabilities—Small Diameter Bomb, Advanced Display Core Processor, Joint Mission Planning System and the Operational Flight Program software, better known as Suite 5. The final, combined product, which includes four additional smart weapons stations, was delivered to Air Force pilots stationed at RAF Lakenheath, England last month, eight weeks ahead of schedule and $26.9 million under budget.

“If you would have put all of us in a room last summer and asked us how we were going to make it (the deadline) we probably would’ve said, ‘This is new territory for all of us,’” said George Spencer, 912th Aeronautical Systems Group director who’s in charge of F-15 systems at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. “Because of all the things going on, there were some significant hurdles we had to overcome, but we had a team of seven organizations that were fully committed to making this program succeed.”

The key capability delivered to warfighters is the GBU-39 250-pound SDB—a munition capable of raining pinpoint precision explosions on enemy targets from 60 miles away while minimizing collateral damage.

“Previously in urban warfare, forces surrounding a building with insurgents or terrorists inside had two choices: air strikes to destroy the building, which created significant damage to nearby structures, or sending in ground troops, putting their lives at risk,” said Col. Richard Justice, 918th Armament Systems Group commander and SDB program manager at Eglin AFB, Fla. “U.S. military rules of engagement dictate that we avoid or minimize death or injury to innocent people ‘next door.’ F-15s equipped with these four new capabilities can send in a much smaller bomb, which can strike within six feet of the aim point.”

In July, the first F-15Es were fitted with a training version of SDB bomb racks with electronics that allow the jets to drop simulated bombs. After one of the sorties, Lt. Col. Will Reese, 494th Fighter Squadron commander at RAF Lakenheath said, “Our four-ship (of F-15s) hit 16 targets with 16 bombs in one pass. In Operation Desert Storm you could expect one plane loaded with six bombs to destroy one target. Now we can use one bomb per target, and each aircraft can carry up to 16 bombs.”

Getting to that milestone was not easy. One program had a multitude of technical and programmatic problems to be resolved; and simultaneous development of two major software packages and two complex hardware programs was full of challenges for everyone. Behind all of the troubles was an unrelenting reminder that if one of the four programs wasn’t ready on time, the entire endeavor was at risk.

“It was a tremendous effort by the overall Air Force Materiel Command enterprise team that required a phenomenal amount of communication and coordination to bring all these interrelated capabilities together at the right time,” said Lt. Col. Ed Offutt, 912th AESG Strike Eagle team leader. “If any team member made a change, it had to be communicated to everyone else because it could affect their progress as well.”

The allocation of requirements to the contractor team at Boeing and their major supplier, Honeywell, to develop the new capability was driven by a vision of weapon system capability for warfighters.

“Integrating a new, complex (operational flight program) with a new core processor and precision weapon was a great challenge,” said Nanette Soehngen, Boeing’s F-15 Development Programs manager. “Boeing and Honeywell are very proud to be part of the Air Force team that got it done.” At the same time, the SDB team was completing a development program of 42 launches with a 95 percent success rate, on cost and on schedule.

With their new brain (ADCP), the software to think (Suite 5), a good plan (JMPS) and a rock-solid punch (SDB), about a dozen F-15Es are fully mission capable for their next mission in the Area of Responsibility next month, and they’ll deploy with cutting-edge gear.

“This is an important event for us,” said Col. Daryl Hauck, 951st Electronic Systems Group commander at Hanscom AFB, Mass. “The F-15 is the threshold platform for JMPS, which will also be used for nearly every other Air Force and Navy aircraft.”

Diyala governor visits FOB Warhorse to discuss Iraqi law issues

Diyala Province’s Governor Ra’ad Rashid Mulla Juwad Al-Timimi talks with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Anne Patterson International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, as Col. Brian Jones, commander, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, takes notes during a conference on the state of the judicial system in Diyala Province Aug. 14 at Forward Operating Base Warhorse. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Paul J. Harris, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office)

By Pfc. Paul J. Harris - 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

Aug 22, 2006

BAQUBAH, Iraq – The Diyala Province’s Governor, Ra’ad Rashid Mulla Juwad Al-Timimi, joined Anne Patterson, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, on Aug. 14 at Forward Operating Base Warhorse to talk about the condition of Diyala’s legal system.

Col. Brian Jones, commander, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, hosted the discussion which focused on how to bolster Iraq’s judicial system and the status of the police force in Diyala Province.

The State Department’s Provincial Reconstruction Team, which works with local governments to foster economic development and infrastructure repair, is working with Iraqis to find resources to improve their courthouses and other infrastructure.

To facilitate law enforcement, Lt. Col. Chris Johnson, deputy team leader, PRT, 3rd HBCT, 4th ID, said Iraqis need training, computers and various other infrastructure improvements. Additional training could provide a marshal force to secure judges who preside over high profile cases such as the prosecution of insurgents. Judges who preside over these cases are routinely targeted by the insurgency in Iraq.

“Ideally we would like the judges in the provinces to try the insurgents, but for now they are being tried in Baghdad,” said Maj. Alyssa Schwenk, brigade judge advocate, 3rd HBCT. “Provincial judges are trying straight criminal cases.”

“Rule of law is a foundation for democracy, if there is no law or respect for peoples rights you do not have a democracy,” said Johnson. “People have to feel safe and feel that their government is empowered.”

Schwenk added that it was important for the rule of law to be equally representative in all areas of Iraq and not just in Baghdad.

“Unless we can establish a rule of law that works Iraq will not be able to stabilize,” Schwenk said. “If they (the Iraqi people) have no faith in the system then it will result in anarchy.”

Under more than 30 years of rule under Saddam Hussein, Iraqis floundered on the global scene because they had limited access to knowledge and advances in technology.

They have plenty of bright and educated people but these people have not been in contact with the latest developments in their professions, commented PRT leader Kiki Munshi.

“We can put up the odd courthouse or jail but what they really need at the police and judge level is more access to knowledge,” she said.

However she was quick to add that the governor, who is pleased with the efforts of coalition forces, does not want a wholesale American judicial system.

“The governor asked Ambassador Patterson to take the message back to Washington ‘they need us stay the course in Iraq,’” Munshi said. “But they also wanted us to work with them, fully recognizing their unique Iraqi culture, its value and their desire to retain that culture.”

ADDITIONAL PHOTO:

Diyala Province’s Governor Ra’ad Rashid Mulla Juwad Al-Timimi speaks at a conference on the state of Diyala Provinces’ judicial system in Iraq Aug. 14 at Forward Operating Base Warhorse. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Paul J. Harris, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office)

US Military: More Than 100 Iraqi Terror Suspects Captured In the Last Week

By VOA News

Aug 22, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An American commander says U.S. and Iraqi forces have captured more than 100 suspected terrorists in the past week.

Major General William Caldwell was speaking to reporters Tuesday in Baghdad.

The U.S. military also says 500 Iraqis have joined the police in al-Anbar province - a region west of Baghdad considered a hotbed of Sunni Arab insurgency. A senior American military officer, Major Lowell Rector, called it the "most successful" recruiting drive for U.S. and Iraqi forces in the region.

Meanwhile, British military officials say they could hand over security responsibility for southern Iraq to Iraqi forces next year.

In Amarah, southern Iraq, Tuesday, British troops fought with insurgents, and two civilians were reported killed in the crossfire.

In Madaen, south of Baghdad, the bodies of eight men kidnapped on Monday were found on a roadside. A bomb in Baghdad killed two people.

On Monday, President Bush acknowledged that the violence in Iraq and mounting U.S. casualties are "straining the psyche" of the United States. But he warned that withdrawing American troops before Iraq is stabilized would be disastrous.

British officials said they could cut British forces in Iraq in half (to between 3,000 and 4,000 soldiers) when they hand over security responsibility in southern Iraq to Iraqi forces.

ISF paves way for Baghdad security

Iraqi Army Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division detain and question a suspect who was located at the home of a suspected improvised explosive device maker in Mussayib, Aug. 16. (Department of Defense photo by Navy Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sandra M. Palumbo)

Wednesday, 23 August 2006

By Steven Donald Smith - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON — The quick response of Iraqi security forces to terrorist gunmen who opened fire on a large crowd of religious worshipers in Baghdad Aug. 20 demonstrates their improved capabilities, a senior U.S. military officer said Tuesday.

“This was a tremendous demonstration of the increased capabilities of the Iraq security forces and the leadership of the Government of Iraq,” Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, a spokesman for Multi-National Force - Iraq, told reporters during a Baghdad news briefing.

He said the Iraqi government has shown its commitment to providing the conditions for citizens to practice religious freedom without persecution or attack.

To ensure the safety of the participants in the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of eighth-century imam Musa al-Kadhim, Iraqi security forces from the Iraqi National Police, Iraqi Police and Iraqi Army set up a joint operations center enabling them to coordinate efforts, Multi-National Corps - Iraq officials said.

According to MNC-I, the joint forces developed and implemented a comprehensive security plan, which included the establishment of 23 traffic checkpoints around Baghdad and closing off some bridges to control the flow of pedestrian traffic into the Kadhimiyah neighborhood. The government also implemented a vehicle ban in Baghdad Aug. 18 through Aug. 20.

Additionally, both Iraqi Sunni and Shiite leaders actively supported the security plan and communicated details of it to the populace to help ensure a peaceful pilgrimage.

“Their professionalism in providing safe passage for the participants is a great success story for the government of Iraq and its security forces,” said Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commanding general, Multi-National Division - Baghdad.

“Their success is a direct result of the coordination and integration efforts of the Iraqi National Police, Iraqi Police and the Iraqi Army. They did an excellent job,” said Thurman.

While initial media reports indicated small-arms attacks by terrorists killed 20 participants and injured upwards of 300, those early numbers included heat casualties.

Later figures showed terrorist attacks accounted for the deaths of only seven pilgrims. Twelve more were wounded, in addition to twelve injuries among Iraqi security forces. “More than 99.9 percent of the participants were unharmed and experienced a safe celebration,” MNC-I officials said.

Terrorists use such attacks to make the Iraqi government look inept and incapable of protecting its people, Caldwell said.

Iraqi Army and U.S. Army Soldiers make their way through overgrown alleyways during a search through Baghdad, Aug. 16. (Department of Defense photo by Navy Gunner's Mate 1st Class Martin Anton Edgil)

The critical task of providing security in Iraq continues, “not only to rid the county of terrorists and insurgents, but to tackle the problem of violent extremists,” the general added.

Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to pursue people intent on using violence to impose their beliefs on others, he said. Operations by joint forces over the past week resulted in the capture of more than 100 known and suspected al-Qaeda terrorists and associates and multiple weapons caches.

“All of these captures have severely disrupted and disorganized the capability of al-Qaeda in Iraq,” Caldwell said.

The captures also enable Iraqi and Coalition forces to better understand the terrorist network and how to best defeat it, he explained.

However, capturing terrorists is only the first step in the process of justice. Terrorism suspects are processed through the Iraqi judicial system, from which punishment is meted out.

“To date, the central criminal court of Iraq has held 1,365 trials of insurgents suspected of anti-Iraq and anti-coalition activities,” Caldwell said.

To date, there have been 1,171 convictions, with sentences ranging up to death.

Meanwhile, Iraqi and Coalition forces also continue to target death squads. Twenty operations were conducted just in the past week specifically against these groups, he said. Operations have been focusing on the most violent areas of Baghdad.

As a result, the general said, there has been progress, and economic opportunities are on the rise.

“Every day there are additional shops opening,” he said. “We are cautiously optimistic and encouraged by all the indicators we are seeing. What we are seeing in these areas is life coming back to some normalcy.”

**TALK SHOW RADIO HOSTS**

01:00am ET - 05:00am ET - Coast to Coast AM with George Noory
12:00pm ET - 03:00pm ET - The Rush Limbaugh Show
G. Gordon Liddy Show (10:00 AM-1:00 PM ET)
The Rush Limbaugh Show (12:00 PM-3:00 PM ET)
3:00PM ET-6:00PM ET -- Sean Hannnity
Neal Boortz -- 9:00AM ET-12:00PM ET
06:00pm ET - 9:00pm ET - The Michael Savage Show
9:00am ET - 12:00pm ET - The Laura Ingraham Show
11:00pm ET - 01:00am ET - Fox News LIVE with Alan Colmes
11:45am ET - 12:00pm ET - Paul Harvey News & Commentary
Paul Harvey News Radio Archives
SUNDAY ~ 10:00pm ET - 01:00am ET - Matt Drudge-LIVE!
4:00pm ET - 5:00PM ET ~~ The Kyle Warren Show
6:00PM ET - 8:00PM ET ~~Mark Levin
10:00PM ET - 12:00AM ET~~John Batchelor
12p.m. ET - 2 p.m. ET~~Bill O'Reilly
6:00am ET - 10:00am ET~~Imus in The Morning
9am ET -12pm ET ~~ Glenn Beck Show (Audio Feed)
10:00pm ET -1:00am ET ~~ The Jim Bohannon Show

Click Rollin Down the Road ~~ 12:00am ET - 5am ET
Thr Michael Reagan Show~~ 9:00pm ET - 12:00am ET
The Mike Gallagher Show~~12:00am ET - 3:00am ET
The Hugh Hewitt Show ~ 9:00pm ET - 12:00am ET
Michael Savage Show ~ 9:00pm ET - 12:00am ET (Click Bitcaster)
*Click News & Talk Radio List*

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.