Iraqi Army receives donation from NATO

Multi-National Forces-Iraq ^

[SandRat]

AD DIWANIYAH – In an official ceremony on April 3, the NATO Training Mission - Iraq (NTM-I) turned over four Bozena mine clearance vehicles and a large quantity of ammunition to the Iraqi Army. This donation is estimated to be worth a substantial amount of money and was given to the 8th Iraqi Army Division, which is based in Ad Diwaniyah in Southern Iraq.

During the past two years, NTM-I has coordinated donations of equipment to Iraq from a number of NATO countries worth more than $100 million. These donations include personnel transport and general-purpose cargo trucks, various types of ammunition, refurbished T-72 tanks and BMP armored personnel carriers as well as personnel protective equipment.

NATO coordinates donations from member countries to Iraq after NTM-I defines the needs and requirements of the Iraqi Security Forces in close consultation with the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and the Iraqi Ministry of Defence. NATO Training, Equipment and Coordination Group (NTECG) in SHAPE, NTM-I HQ and Training and Equipment Synchronization Cell (TESC) coordinate all donations.

Czech Army Lieutenant Colonel Petr Koziel led a three-man NTM-I team to Southern Iraq to ensure the successful handover of the equipment.

Lt. Col. Koziel said that the handover went smoothly and that the Iraqis were happy to receive it.

“Iraqi soldiers are being trained in big numbers but equally important is that the Iraqi Army has the equipment it needs to support those soldiers,” he said. “NATO members have donated a wide variety of equipment to the Iraqi Army that are of vital importance and enable the soldiers to do their job and provide for a more secure Iraq. It gives me a huge personal satisfaction to see how happy the Iraqis are to receive this equipment and I am sure it will help them in a real way to do their challenging job.”

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News at Home and Abroad You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

Or if they do report it, without the anti-War Agenda Spin!

[alloysteel]

Oh, man, is this expiation of the highest order. We will give you all our instruments of war, just as long as WE don’t have to be the ones to use them. Outdated, subject to deterioration, and many cases damaged and unusable, but hey, our hearts are in the right place, right?

Go sic’em, boy.

[hsalaw]

Okay, I admit I don’t understand this. I understood that Afghanistan is now a NATO operation, which means we, the Brits, the Aussies, and our reliable allies in the former Soviet Bloc countries are doing all the fighting on the ground, but is Iraq now a NATO operation as well? Or is this just a gesture - giving machines but not troops?

[SandRat]

It’s a mixed bag. Many of the newly admitted to NATO former Soviet Satellite States have both troops and are contributing equipment. You don’t hear that from the Old-Media do you or from the Dems either.

Many of the more original NATO nations (FRANCE for one) only send platitudes or equipment.