Free Republic

BAGHDAD - Government troops began house-to-house searches for al-Qaida in Iraq militants in Mosul on Thursday, part of a major security operation to cleanse Iraq's third largest city from cells of the terror network. Described by the U.S. military as the last major urban base of al-Qaida in Iraq, Mosul has become the site of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's third security drive in two months as he attempts to defeat Shiite militants and Sunni extremists. Al-Maliki flew to Mosul on Wednesday to take charge of the operation by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. On Thursday, he sought to enlist the support of...

A new agreement between Iraq and the US will curtail American military operations and confine our troops to primarily support and logistics efforts. NBC News reports that the long-simmering bilateral security agreement would keep American bases in operation but with substantially reduced troop levels. Iraqis want their own forces in lead roles for security operations: The United States and Iraq will soon begin negotiating a power shift for U.S. forces, nearly five years after they invaded Iraq and installed a new government, Iraqi and U.S. officials told NBC News on Thursday. Both countries are working on assembling negotiating teams to...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 28 — Iraqi forces backed by American helicopters and tanks battled hundreds of gunmen hiding in a date palm orchard near the southern city of Najaf on Sunday, exchanging fire for 15 hours in what appeared to be one of deadliest battles in years, Iraqi officials said. An American helicopter was shot down and 250 bodies were found where the clashes occurred near the village of Zarqaa, about 120 miles south of Baghdad, by a river and a large grain silo that is surrounded by orchards, the Iraqi officials said. Col. Ali Numaas, a spokesman for the Iraqi...

CAMP HABBANIYAH, Iraq (Oct. 17, 2006) -- More than 1,500 Iraqi soldiers who were absent without leave returned to duty by reporting here between Sept. 20 and Oct. 1. Top Iraqi military officials approved the full reinstatement of the soldiers due to troop shortages throughout the Iraqi Army, said Col. Juan Ayala, senior advisor to the 1st Iraqi Army Division. “The fact that they came back on their own volition shows that they want to serve,” said Ayala. “It’s going to give this division a much needed influx of soldiers.” The Iraqi Army is a voluntary force but unlike American...

Forget What You Heard By Published 12/20/2005 12:09:33 AM SAMARRA, Iraq -- If only those so eager to disparage Iraqi Security Forces as a sham could see these brave, war grizzled men head out on patrol, packed nine or ten in the back of a Toyota pick-up truck that has been spray-painted camouflage, traveling the same roads American soldiers get killed on riding in up-armored Humvees. They go without complaint, armed with old Kalashnikovs and what look like massive Cold War-era Soviet machine guns jury-rigged to their vehicles. We're talking tough, tough guys. The lives some of them have...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2005 – A Pentagon report detailing the readiness of Iraqi security forces should not be interpreted to mean that Iraqis aren't meeting expectations, a military official in Baghdad said today. In a briefing from Baghdad, Air Force Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said the report -- which shows that the majority of Iraqi forces aren't ready to operate independently -- should be assessed using all the facts and the history of the situation. "The reality is, we've been building an army from scratch for the past year under combat conditions," he said. "These...

The war in Iraq is a clash of cultures in ways that are often not reported. For example, the United States is very keen, compared to their opponents, on protecting the lives of its troops, and insuring their comfort. This means much effort and resources goes into building and staffing well protected camps. American infantry are very well trained and equipped, by any standard, and when they leave these camps, they are ready to fight, and win, against any hostiles they encounter. But in order to keep the troops as safe as possible, they do not mingle with Iraqis in...

WESTERN IRAQ -- "These Marines are great. America ought to be very proud of its Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen; they're doing great work out here." So Marine Col. Stephen Davis, the commander of Regimental Combat Team 2 (RCT-2), told me once we had a chance to talk near al Qaim, Iraq. Davis is in charge of Operation Matador, an effort to bring law and order to the bulk of Iraq's vast, western al Anbar province, which makes up one-third of the country. What these Marines are doing now near the Syrian border is what they did months ago in...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, Iraq — Two years after it disbanded Saddam Hussein’s military, the U.S. Army is trying to build a new Iraqi army. The sooner that fledgling army can take care of itself and protect its country, the sooner U.S. troops can go home, military leaders said. But don’t pack your bags yet. U.S. trainers say American soldiers could be in Iraq for the next decade, a sobering assessment of a fragmented, though rapidly evolving, effort. “It’s a five-to-10-year solution,” said 1st Sgt. J. T. Brown. Until last month, Brown was the commander and a trainer at The...

U.S.-trained Iraqi forces failed to support U.S. troops By Matthew Schofield BAGHDAD, Iraq - (KRT) - In Ramadi, U.S. troops gave two-way radios to Iraqi forces, not for communications, as they claimed, but so they'd know when their allies were phoning Marine positions to the enemy. In Sadr City and Najaf, Iraqi police asked permission from Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - the man they were expected to capture or kill - before they reported to work. In Fallujah, at least two Iraqi battalions refused to join the fight against insurgents. Coalition forces fighting for the hearts and minds of Iraqis...