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Short video of the good in Iraq

IN A LITTLE-NOTICED DECISION in a New York courtroom on September 25, 2003, a man described as Osama bin Laden's "best friend" got some good news. U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Batts ruled that Mahmdouh Mahmud Salim could not be sentenced to life in prison. Salim--who was present at the founding of al Qaeda in 1989 and who was for years one of bin Laden's most trusted confidants--had been captured in Germany in 1998 and extradited to the United States for prosecution related to his role in the grand conspiracy that resulted in the 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in...

BAGHDAD - Under strong U.S. pressure, Iraq's presidential council signed off Wednesday on a measure paving the way for provincial elections by the fall, a major step toward easing sectarian rifts as the nation marks the fifth anniversary of the war. The decision by the council, made up of the country's president and two vice presidents, lays the groundwork for voters to choose new leaders of Iraq's 18 provinces. The elections open the door to greater Sunni representation in regional administrations. Many Sunnis boycotted the last election for provincial officials in January 2005, enabling Shiites and Kurds to win a...

BAGHDAD — After almost five years of war, many young people in Iraq, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach. In two months of interviews with 40 young people in five Iraqi cities, a pattern of disenchantment emerged, in which young Iraqis, both poor and middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives. “I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over...

Further survey work undertaken by ORB, in association with its research partner IIACSS, confirms our earlier estimate that over 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the conflict which started in 2003. Following responses to ORB’s earlier work, which was based on survey work undertaken in primarily urban locations, we have conducted almost 600 additional interviews in rural communities. By and large the results are in line with the ‘urban results’ and we now estimate that the death toll between March 2003 and August 2007 is likely to have been of the order of 1,033,000. If one takes...

Iraqi children eat candy canes and play together during a humanitarian aid drop in Mansuriyah, Jan. 13, conducted by the Iraqi Army and Soldiers of Troop G, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash. Photo by Spc. John Crosby, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. MANSURIYAH — Operation Raider Harvest, a large scale operation in the Northern Diyala River Valley involving more than 4,000 troops from 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., is shifting focus from a clearing operation to a rebuilding operation. The...

BAGHDAD – Pilgrims traveling from Iraq to Mecca in the annual observance of the Hajj experienced a peaceful travel period this year with no reported violent incidents. At the conclusion of the Hajj travel period, more than 30,000 Iraqi pilgrims will have traveled to and from Mecca by air and ground. Iraqis traveled through six ports of entry during the annual pilgrimage from Dec. 11 through Jan. 7. The pilgrims traveled by air transportation from Baghdad, Irbil, Mosul and Basra while others moved by ground transportation from Safwan and Ara’r. In preparation for Hajj travel, the Mosul airport reopened after...

WASHINGTON - U.S. admissions of Iraqi refugees are nose-diving amid bureaucratic in-fighting despite the Bush administration's pledge to boost them to roughly 1,000 per month, according to State Department statistics obtained by The Associated Press. For the third straight month since the United States said it would improve processing and resettle 12,000 Iraqis by the end of the current budget year on Sept. 30., the number admitted has actually slid, the figures show. The steady decline -- from 450 in October to 362 in November and 245 in December -- means the administration will have to allow in 10,943 Iraqis...

PATROL BASE CORREGIDOR, Iraq — When a platoon of soldiers returned to this small Army outpost in Iraqi farmland Thursday afternoon, the group’s leader had 30 requests for business grants. Sitting in a meeting room of Sheik Hatim Mehow’s house, 1st Lt. Wyatt Ottmar had a number of local residents lined up to be questioned why their micro-grant should be approved. Initially expecting 15 applicants, people kept arriving with grant forms filled in until double the number of applicants anticipated arrived, as Ottmar and his senior noncommissioned officer Sgt. 1st Class William Genthner took turns going through the forms and...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2007 – There must be a “full and complete” partnership between coalition and Iraqi security forces for success in the country, the coalition’s day-to-day commander of ground operations in Iraq said here today. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, spoke as the 1st Cavalry Division – commanded by Army Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil – transferred authority for Multinational Division Baghdad to the 4th Infantry Division – under Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond – during a ceremony here. Odierno said that when the 1st Cavalry took command of the Multinational...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi citizens are taking back their streets from extremists by taking security into their own hands. The Iraqi Security Volunteer program, an Iraqi project funded by the government of Iraq, allows volunteers from local communities to protect their own neighborhoods. The ISVs receive a three-day training program at Coalition Outpost War Eagle where they learn some basic vehicle checks and how to conduct themselves on the streets, as well as weapons training with an AK-47. “When you have local citizens patrolling their own streets, they have a sincere interest in keeping it safe,” said 1st Lt. John Suh,...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Oct. 31, 2007 – A signing ceremony at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office here yesterday marked the start of a Multinational Force Iraq initiative to improve the living standards of area citizens through increased employment opportunities. (Left to right) Navy Capts. John Moore and Lynn Brantley, Army Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson and Army Lt. Col. Danny Tilzey discuss the importance of the I-BIZ initiative during a signing ceremony at the Camp Victory, Iraq, Defense Reutilization Management Office, Oct. 30, 2007. Photo by Lt. Frank Solorzano, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Iraqi Business,...

I received a press release from Baghdad today, which I know the mainstream media will not pass on to you all. Here is an example of Iraqi charity and gratitude which touched my soul. Imagine how incredibly generous these soldiers are. They have little to support their own families. It’s not enough that they are fighting daily to bring peace to their country. They are actually reaching out to help unfortunate Americans. ...Iraqi Army at Besmaya Installation Support San Diego Fire Victims By U.S. Army Sgt 1st Class Charlene Sipperly Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq...

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About 12,000 Iraqi refugees will be admitted into the United States over the next year as measures to speed up the process begin to take effect, government officials said yesterday. The new target represents an increase in the number and pace of Iraqi refugees entering the country and means that 17 percent of the 70,000 refugees expected to be admitted next year will come from Iraq, officials from the State Department told reporters... In February, State Department officials promised to expand their commitment to Iraqi refugees, but long delays in reviewing applications have drawn sharp criticism.. Officials said that of...

Thursday December 6 10:40 PM ET Iraqi National Executed in Okla. By ROCHELLE HINES, Associated Press Writer McALESTER, Okla. (AP) - An Iraqi national who stabbed his wife and her uncle to death in 1992 was executed Thursday. Sahib Al-Mosawi, 53, was sentenced to death in 1994. He did not request a clemency hearing and had no appeals pending. He was executed by injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. He met his wife and her family at a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia after they left Iraq in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War (news - web sites). Their marriage ...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Coalition troops teamed with Iraqi policemen and concerned local citizens to rid a major road of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and al-Qaeda cell members during a two-day operation in Tuwaitha. The purpose of the mission was to not just clear the route, but to also establish an Iraqi capability to keep the route safe for civilian and military traffic. Capt. Brian Gilbert, of Boise, Idaho, commander of Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd (Heavy) Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, currently attached to 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, was met by about 60...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2007 – When people ask him why the U.S. military should be helping Iraq establish a free and stable society, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jeremy M. de Vries cites how France helped the American colonies gain their independence from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. De Vries is one of eight servicemembers who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa who have been speaking to American community groups and businesses across the nation as part of the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve” public-outreach program. “If it wasn’t for the French support, with supplies and...

February 2, 2005 TIJUANA – An American man and two Iraqis arrested at the Tijuana airport last week have been charged with immigration violations, according to Mexican authorities. A Mexican federal judge will determine whether to dismiss the charges or proceed with a trial. The men are being held at a state prison in Tijuana. The three flew to Tijuana from Mexico City Jan. 26 on an Aeromexico flight, but they were stopped by Mexican immigration authorities who inspected their documents, according to Mexican authorities. The Iraqis – later identified as Steven Yohanan Kurkis and Kaml Meti Bashar – showed...

WASHINGTON - Overwhelming numbers of Iraqis say the U.S. troop buildup has worsened security and the prospects for economic and political progress in their country, according to a poll released Monday that provides a strikingly bleak appraisal of the war. Forty-seven percent want American forces and their coalition allies to leave the country immediately, the survey showed, 12 points more than said so in a March poll as the troop increase was beginning. And 57 percent — including nearly all Sunnis and half of Shiites — said they consider attacks on coalition forces acceptable, a slight increase over the past...

The Associated Press asked Iraqis for their reactions to some of the key points raised by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker about the situation in Iraq. ___ Abdul-Salam Ibrahim, 52, retired army officer and Sunni in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown: "What is new today is the American's frank admission, even if they knew that before, of their monumental failure. This is what made them acknowledge that there is Iranian intervention in Iraq. If they stay in Iraq, it will be a catastrophe. Anbar is not the place to judge. That place should be the capital Baghdad, where...

After leaving a ceremony to reopen the Al Aflaph Elementary School in Salhiyah, Capt. Joseph Guzowski, left, the commander of Troop A, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and Staff Sgt. Justin Miller, stop to play a game of foosball with some of the local children. Photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — One of the biggest changes that Capt. Joseph Guzowski has seen since his last deployment here three years ago is the dramatic transformation of the relationships between Coalition forces and the local...

U.S. Marines with Viking Red Section, Mobile Assault Platoon, Regimental Combat Team 2, observe an Iraqi personal security detachment fire AK-47 rifles on a firing range at Camp Gannon. The Iraqis are training to be personal security officers for local judges. Viking Red Marines Train Iraqis to Keep Judges Safe Troops employ visual cues to bridge language barrier. By Cpl. Eric C. Schwartz 2nd Marine Division CAMP GANNON, Husaybah, Iraq, Aug. 31, 2007 — It’s not news to read that politicians, famous athletes and even entertainers have bodyguards protecting them from dangerous people, but in Iraq, their judges need...

BAGHDAD, Aug. 28 — Despite a stepped-up commitment from the United States to take in Iraqis who are in danger because they worked for the American government and military, very few are signing up to go, resettlement officials say. The reason, Iraqis say, is that they are not allowed to apply in Iraq, requiring them to make a costly and uncertain journey to countries like Syria or Jordan, where they may be turned away by border officials already overwhelmed by fleeing Iraqis. The United Nations, which defines a refugee as someone who has fled his or her home country, has...

Angelina Jolie is in Iraq to witness firsthand the humanitarian crisis there, the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR has announced. The actress and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, 32, flew from New York to Syria on Monday. In Damascus, she visited a UNHCR registration center and spend hours talking to Iraqi refugees in their homes. Tuesday's journey took her to Iraq to meet with 1,200 refugees camped out in a makeshift outpost at the border, because they are unable to leave the country. She also witnessed dozens of Iraqis crossing into Syria. "I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2007 – Seven Iraqi citizens found their way to a coalition patrol base near Khan Ban Sa’ad, Iraq, yesterday after escaping a makeshift prison, military officials reported. The alleged captors were linked to an earlier operation yesterday when attack helicopters patrolling the area observed three individuals moving in a tactical formation through a ditch. Coalition forces positively identified the individuals as hostile enemy forces and fired on their position, killing all three. The escapees identified the remains of the three individuals as their captors and led coalition ground forces to the makeshift prison, officials said. Inside the...

8/23/2007 - ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Approximately 80 Iraqis from the city of An Nasiriyah interacted for the first time with Airmen and Soldiers at the Ziggurat historical monument Aug. 21 at Ali Base. It has been more than 10 years since any Iraqi native has been allowed to visit the Ziggurat of Ur, which is the most dominant landmark on Ali Base, because during the reign of Suddam Hussein the installation was used by the Iraqi army. The Ziggurat was constructed more than 4,000 years ago by worshipers of the moon god Nanna living near the ancient city...

U.S. intelligence chief says in El Paso he's worried about "terrorist gateway." National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell told the El Paso Times in an interview following his talk to a Border Security Conference last week that he's worried that terrorist groups, such as the newly regrouping al-Qaida organization, are paying more attention to the Southwest border as a way to enter the United States and cause "mass casualties." Recently declassified intelligence summaries show that al-Qaida is regrouping in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan and is looking for ways to penetrate the United States, McConnell told the Times....

FALLUJAH, Iraq, Aug. 5, 2007 – Weary of the violence to which their community has been victim, residents of the Andaloos district here have organized a Neighborhood Watch to keep watch against insurgent activity. Iraqi men of the Andaloos district of Fallujah wait in the hot sun July 30, 2007, to be selected as recruits for the new Neighborhood Watch program set up in their community through the efforts of Marines, Iraqi Army, Iraqi police and local community leaders. The program is part of ongoing Operation Alljah to transform the communities within Fallujah to provide security, civil assistance and...

COMBAT OUTPOST CLEARY — Using a school in the city of al Wahida, Soldiers from a Fort Bragg, N.C., Civil Affairs battalion attached to the 3rd Infantry Divsion set up a one-day clinic for Iocal residents July 28. Known as a cooperative medical engagement, the operation requires Coalition and Iraqi forces to come together and provide medical treatment in prescribed areas, said Staff Sgt. Patrick R. Weston, special operations medical noncommissioned officer, Civil Affairs Team Alpha 712th, Company A, 97th Civil Affairs Battalion. Physician assistants and unit medics out of COP Cleary diagnosed and provided medicine to those in need....

Warren Mayor Mark Steenbergh claims the federal government is looking to relocate more than 16,000 Iraqi refugees to Warren and Sterling Heights -- and there's no way his city can handle it.

BAGHDAD —Troops from 3rd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (Mechanized), led a combined operation with Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment to bring medical care to the people living in Hor Al Bosh, Iraq, July 15. During the event, more than 400 local citizens were treated at a local school for, primarily, minor ailments. Iraqi Army medics, an Iraqi Army doctor from the 4th Brigade, 9th IA Div., several medics and physician’s assistants from both 2nd Bn., 8th Cav. Regt. and Charlie Medical Company, 115th Brigade Support Battalion treated everything from minor burns to colds, ear infections, headaches...

WASHINGTON - The harder President Bush has pushed to win in Iraq, the closer he has come to losing. The question no longer is whether the U.S. military can fully stabilize Iraq. It cannot. That was a possibility four years ago, immediately after Saddam Hussein's government fell. Before the insurgency took hold. Before U.S. occupation authorities lost any chance to avoid the sectarian strife of today's Iraq. Now only the Iraqis can save Iraq. They need the U.S. military's help, no doubt. But the Bush administration has made no secret of the fact that the U.S. troop buildup in Baghdad...

BAGHDAD - American soldiers rolled into Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City slum on Saturday in search of Iranian-linked militants and as many as 26 Iraqis were killed in what a U.S. officer described as "an intense firefight." But residents, police and hospital officials said eight civilians were killed in their homes and angrily accused U.S. forces of firing blindly on the innocent. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the raids and demanded an explanation for the assault into a district where he has barred U.S. operations in the past. Separately, two American solders were charged with the premeditated murder of three Iraqis,...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2007 – Soldiers of Multinational Division - Baghdad saved two Iraqi civilians while discovering two insurgent safe houses, one of which contained two car bombs, in the West Rashid district of the Iraqi capital Monday. Upon entering a building Monday evening, soldiers of Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, rescued a man who was handcuffed to a pipe in a bathroom. Two suspects were detained. The troops had received information from residents that an extremist group was using the house as a base from which to launch a campaign of intimidation in northwest Rashid. Troops from...

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2007 – The Iraqi people are taking a stand against al Qaeda beyond Anbar province, Multinational Force Iraq’s new spokesman said today. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, who spoke during a phone interview today, called the Iraqis’ stance against the terror group the “Anbar Awakening.” In the past six months, local tribal leaders and sheikhs in the Sunni province have disavowed the terror group’s tactics and have turned to the Iraqi government. Violence in the province has plummeted, and local men are flocking to police and army recruiting stations. Now Iraqis outside Anbar are experiencing their...

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2007 – Local Iraqis were instrumental in helping coalition and Iraqi forces liberate 42 men from al Qaeda custody in Iraq’s Diyala province, the coalition commander in the area said. Amy Lt. Col. Morris Goins, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, said local Iraqis are getting tired of al Qaeda intimidation and threats and are cooperating more with Iraqi and coalition forces. The operation, south of Baquba on May 27, liberated 42 men, most of whom worked with the Iraqi government. Al Qaeda kidnapped the men and held them in the area. “The men were...

In its first deployment to Iraq, one of the Army's newest modular light infantry brigade combat teams is making its mark under the president's troop plus-up plan, the brigade's top officer said in a May 25 briefing to Pentagon reporters. The 1st Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team from Fort Riley, Kan., is deployed as part of the troop plus-up to the east and west Rashid security districts in the Multinational Division Baghdad area. It is partnered with the 2nd Infantry Division's 3rd Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash., and three Iraqi security force brigades. Together, the troops are clearing...

BAGHDAD — Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces conducted patrols in Al Suleikh Wednesday.For more than three months, U.S. Soldiers have been living and working side-by-side with the Iraqi Police and Iraqi Army at the Joint Security Station to coordinate security efforts in Al Suleikh.“They know we’re here to support them, but at the same time, they’re getting to a point where they know security as a whole is in their hands,� said U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Jesse Bowman, an Alpha Battery platoon leader from Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.The difficult part will...

LSA ANACONDA, Iraq, May 31, 2007 – Rifles, pistols and tanks are a few tools of war. Active listening, patience and cooperation are a few of the tools used by Capt. Glen A. Stambone, a civil affairs officer with the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m., the Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC) lets the people’s voices be heard. Most of those voices are speaking Arabic. In order to provide good customer service, the civil affairs office here uses two interpreters. Stambone said one is more of a “street smart” interpreter, the other is...

1st Lt. Larry Rubal (kneeling), of Old Forge, Pa., a platoon leader with Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, watches as Lt. Col. Ahmed Abdullah, the local police commander, asks an Iraqi woman some questions during a joint patrol May 18, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mike Pryor Iraqis Taking the Security Lead U.S. soldiers maintain a quieter role at Al Suleikh Joint Security Station By Sgt. Mike Pryor Multi-National Division – Baghdad Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 30, 2007 — Capt. James Peay was starting to feel like a third wheel. Peay, a battery...

BASRAH — In an upbeat assessment General Ali Hamadi, Head of the Basrah Emergency Security Committee, has voiced his growing confidence in the Province's security situation and the capability of the Iraqi Security Forces as they assume greater security responsibility and moves towards Provincial Iraqi Control. At a press conference held jointly with Brigadier Tim Evans MBE, Commander 19 Light Brigade, at General Hamadi's headquarters, the Provincial Joint Coordination Centre, in the centre of Basra City, General Hamadi praised the significant progress made to date, but admitted more needed to be done. "I will not say to you there is...

NEW YORK Former Los Angeles Times Baghdad Bureau Chief Borzou Daragahi says he doubts the "surge" in Iraq will work, and describes Iraq citizens as "hostile" and "humiliated" after four years of war. Asked by Brian Lamb, in a forthcoming C-SPAN interview, about his personal views on the war, he replied: "I think at this point, it just – it seems like it’s become a disaster. I mean, I don’t think anyone could dispute that. It’s just going very, very, very, very badly." He said he had mixed feelings about the invasion but "As time wore on, though, as the...

Members of the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), conducted a medical operation in Khatad Village, Iraq. April 20. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. KHATAD VILLAGE — U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers teamed up April 20 to provide Iraqi citizens with basic medical care during a medical operation in Khatad Village, Iraq.“The MEDOP allows us to see a perspective very foreign from the battlefield,� said U.S. Army Maj. Dimitri Cassimatis, a surgeon with the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division...

KIRKUK — The sound of emergency sirens streaked through the K-1 Iraqi Army Base as fire trucks and ambulances escorted by military vehicles rushed outside the base to respond to a simulated catastrophic event with massive casualties. The recent MASCAL training exercise was a joint effort between the Iraqi army and medical personnel and 25th Infantry Division Soldiers from nearby Forward Operating Base Warrior. In addition to providing urgent medical care to actors playing casualties on the ground, the responders had to deal with the real-world risks of operating outside the security of the base. With Iraqi and U.S. military...

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2007 – Coalition forces detained 10 suspected terrorists in Iraq today, and three Iraqi civilians and six policemen were killed and 49 people were injured in car bomb attacks yesterday and today, military officials reported. Coalition forces detained 10 suspected terrorists and uncovered a cache of weapons in several operations in central Iraq today. Three coordinated coalition forces raids apprehended 10 individuals suspected of operating with al Qaeda in Iraq and facilitating foreign fighters southeast of Fallujah. In Baghdad, coalition forces discovered a weapons cache containing rockets, mortars, terrorist propaganda and improvised explosive device-making materials. Explosive...

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2007 – Success in Iraq is possible, but achieving that success will ultimately be the task of Iraq’s new government and its people, the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq told reporters in Baghdad today. “The road ahead is going to be a tough one. I don’t begin my tour here with any illusions,” Ryan C. Crocker said during his first news conference as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq. However, “success is possible (in Iraq),” he emphasized. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here.” The purpose of the U.S.-Iraqi surge of troops into Baghdad and Anbar province...

BAGHDAD, April 20, 2007 – The United States is committed to the success of the fledgling Iraqi government, but not to the indefinite use of American troops to secure Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. “The United States sees Iraq as an important regional ally and a vital partner in the global war on terrorism,” Gates said in a news conference at the Iraq Ministry of Defense, in Baghdad’s heavily fortified International Zone. “Our commitment to Iraq is long-term, but it is not a commitment to have our young men and women patrolling Iraq’s streets open-endedly.”...

BAGHDAD, April 18, 2007 — Although the Emerald City gates and a yellow brick road are nowhere to be found, these “Sunflower State” soldiers are definitely not in Kansas anymore. With family and friends back home wanting to help the cause and the Iraqi people needing so much help, one Topeka, Kan., Army National Guard unit stepped up to the plate and killed two birds with one stone with Operation Ruby Slippers. “Operation Ruby Slippers is a result of being outside in the battle space and recognizing the humanitarian aid piece with the Iraqi people that isn’t being provided right...

4/18/2007 - ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNEWS) -- The challenge for those assigned water system reconstruction work in Iraq's desert environment is not lack of water with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers running through the heart of Iraq. Rather, the challenge is water treatment. For the Air Force Office of Scientific Research's senior reservist, a civil engineer background helped him focus on water treatment during his latest deployment to the desert. Lt. Col. Joseph Fraundorfer served as deputy chief of Water Sector for the Gulf Region Division in Iraq. He worked alongside Air Force, civilian and Iraqi civil engineers in a construction...