Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=3180
Iraqi Tips Lead to Bomb Factory Discovery
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2007 – Tips that led to the discovery of a bomb-making factory in western Iraq demonstrate that the Iraqi people are fed up with terrorists operating in their midst and stepping forward to help remove them, military officials in Baghdad told reporters today.
Officials from 3rd Brigade, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, briefed reporters about a search for weapons caches that ultimately led to the bomb factory Feb. 20 in Gharmah, about 10 miles east of Fallujah.
Army Capt. Matt Gregory, commander of Company A, described the materials uncovered during the raid: blasting caps, ballistic glass used in up-armored Humvees, and five vehicles, one full of propane tanks and initiation devices.
But only when the team continued its mission and found a chemical workshop and metal workshop did they realize the significance of their find, Gregory said. They found homemade explosives and “quite a sizable selection of chemicals,” including canisters of chlorine, several 55-gallon barrels of nitric acid and several bags of fertilizer, as well as a Russian bomb.
“At that point, we realized that this objective was a lot bigger than what we had planned for and what we had ever hoped to find,” he said.
The team returned after daylight to continue the search, he said, finding mortar and artillery rounds, rockets and enemy documents.
Army Lt. Col. Valery Keaveny, the brigade’s commander, called the cooperation that led to the find proof that the Iraqi people don’t like living under the intimidation campaign al Qaeda has imposed on them.
When the brigade first arrived at Camp Fallujah in the fall, “we quickly found the local civilians were terrorized and were threatened, and they did not like life under al Qaeda. They wanted a way out,” Keaveny said. “And we found very quickly that, once we showed our compassion and our professionalism, they would be willing to work with us.”
Over time, relationships built between the troops and the local Iraqis led to tips and information about al Qaeda that led to actionable intelligence. The effort began to have a domino effect as one raid led to more intelligence that led to even more raids -- most recently, the bomb-making factory.
“We continue to conduct more raids, recovery more documentation, more IED-making materials, more sniper capabilities,” Keaveny said.
Iraqis are demonstrating that they want to be a part of this effort and help clear their communities of terrorists, he said. “We are seeing the locals stand up more and more, working with us, working with the Iraqi security forces, police and army, for their road ahead,” he said. “The Iraqi people are standing up for their own freedom (and) … so that their kids can grow up without … oppression from al Qaeda.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070226.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 26, 2007
"President Bush Meets with the National Governors Association"
The State Dining Room
11:22 A.M. EST
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Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=3183
Iraq Key to Defense of U.S., Bush Tells Governors
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2007 – If the United States leaves Iraq before the job is done, the enemy will strike in America, President Bush told the National Governors Association at the White House today.
Bush told the governors, who are in Washington for their annual meeting, that his main priority is protecting the homeland.
Bush, a former Texas governor, explained his current strategy in the war on terrorism to the governors. “We've got a two-pronged strategy in dealing with (enemies),” he said. “One is to stay on the offense and bring them to justice, and two, spread the conditions necessary to defeat an ideology of hatred.”
He said the ideological war against extremists will be a long one. “That's the basis on which I'm making decisions to protect the country,” the president said.
Governors are commanders in chief for their states’ National Guard units. Bush praised the contributions of Guard units in the war on terror. He also thanked the governors for visiting their troops deployed to hotspots around the world. “It matters to those troops that you take time, as a commander in chief, to thank them,” Bush said. “And it matters to their families that people are paying attention to them.”
Bush told the governors that Afghanistan and Iraq are the most visible theaters in the struggle against terror. He said he understands that people disagree with his course in Iraq and respects their opinions, but he will continue forward. “The main reason why is because I understand the consequences of failure in Iraq,” he said. “If we leave before that country can govern itself and sustain itself and defend itself, there will be chaos. And out of chaos will come vacuums, and out of vacuums will come an emboldened enemy that would like to do us harm.”
To protect America, it is important to “get it right” in Iraq, Bush said. “And so I made a decision that I think is more likely to succeed than any of the alternatives that were presented to me,” he said.
Bush said that funding for the National Guard in his fiscal 2008 budget request is strong, and he hopes it stays that way. “I know you're concerned about the funding for your troops. So am I,” Bush said.
He said people can honestly disagree, and that debate is healthy. “On the other hand, I think it's important for people to understand the consequences of not giving our troops the resources necessary to do the job,” he said. “So I'm looking forward to a healthy debate. I'm also looking forward to defending – strongly defending -- the budgets we send up to Congress, to make sure those troops who are in harm's way have the resources … and our commanders have the flexibility necessary to execute the plan we've laid out.”