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WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2007 – The new security plan for Baghdad is progressing as planned, with Iraqi brigades arriving as promised and the first elements of the U.S. “surge” force operating with them in the capital city, Defense Department officials told Pentagon reporters today. Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, director of operations for the Joint Staff, joined Mark Kimmitt, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Near East and South Asian affairs, in reporting during a Pentagon briefing that the Iraqis appear to be rising to their commitments as the new security plan for Baghdad is implemented. “Early progress has...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki complained Tuesday that the long-awaited Baghdad security operation was off to a slow start and warned insurgents are taking advantage of the delay to kill as many people as possible. But he reassured Iraqis that security forces will live up to their responsibilities. The statement came as new checkpoints were erected and increased vehicle inspections and foot patrols were reported in some neighborhoods — providing the main evidence so far that U.S. and Iraqi forces were gearing up for a major neighborhood-to-neighborhood sweep to quell the spiraling sectarian violence in the city of...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2007 – Iraqi army and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers uncovered more than 1,100 81 mm high-explosive mortar rounds yesterday at a cache near Route Tampa, the main highway leading into Baghdad, officials said Troops from 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and Troop B, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment “Wolverines,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), made the discovery during Operation Wolverine Alesia near Yusufiyah, just 10 miles southwest of the capital, officials said. Acting on a tip from a local resident, the troops conducted a search of the area, which...

CAMP ADDER — Thirty seconds. Within a short sliver of time, a dozen U.S. soldiers, conducting a routine convoy operation, endured an engagement with the enemy under the Baghdad twilight, quickly and safely quashed the threat with a textbook reaction, and came away with a war story they will be able to take home and tell to their grandkids one day. Answering to the radio call sign "Earthpig 66," the 12 members of the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment convoy logistics patrol team regularly escort supply trucks and other vehicles to and from countless locations throughout Iraq. During...

AR RAMADI — U. S. officials are working with the Iraqi Government to reopen various production factories to stimulate the local economy here. Mohammed Abdullah, the deputy minister of industry, met with Bob Love, the director of Iraqi operations for the Defense Business Transformation Agency, during a Jan. 31 visit to ceramics and glass factories to discuss the future of the businesses. “The factories in Ramadi are important to the government of Iraq and the United States,” Love said. “We have to move quickly.” Love said that meetings like this would speed up the process of opening the ceramic factory’s...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Feb. 1, 2007 — Two 15th Sustainment Brigade supply soldiers have a not-so-average supply job here. Staff Sgt. Marie C. Taylor, and Sgt. Shawntrese D. Peak are the only brigade representatives working alongside about 50 Iraqi nationals in the Class IX yard here. Class IX is the Army's supply designator for all vehicle repair parts. The unique part is the yard provides all the military tactical vehicle repair parts in Iraq for the Iraqi Army - not the U.S. Army, said Taylor. The U.S. Army intends to train up Iraqi soldiers to take over and operate the...

BAYJI, Iraq, Feb. 1, 2007 — When the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, deployed last August in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, leaders saw fit to place the task of providing security for the Bayji Oil Refinery to the paratroopers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, in hopes of preventing corruption and ensuring security. "I am beginning to get a sense that the people are fed up with it, especially the average Iraqi. They are tired of their day-to-day lives being interrupted by this fuel process," Capt. Kwenton Kuhlman, Company B’s commander...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2007 – An Iraqi neighborhood north of Ramadi celebrated the reopening of its school Jan. 23, U.S. and Iraqi forces provided aid to citizens in Adhamiyah this week, and students in Tal Afar received cold weather gear from Iraqi forces Jan. 22, military officials reported. Visiting Iraqi army soldiers and coalition forces attended the celebration for the school reopening north of Ramadi. Community leaders asked Maj. Derek Horst, civil affairs team leader with the 4th Civil Affairs Group, to cut the ribbon for the Al Haitham School, which provides classes for the Abu Jassim tribe. The...

HH: Pleased to welcome Chief Warrant Officer Chris to the program. Chris has completed three tours in Iraq. Thank you for your service, Chris. What’s on your mind? Chris. Thank you, sir. Well, I wanted to comment on your last, and a number of other callers. His first point, to keep the soldiers in the Green Zone, and your counter, keep them on other bases, not an option. As soldiers, we know that it’s not a safe job. If we wanted a safe job, we’d do a checkout at a grocery store or some similar job. We know it’s a...

Zahra Kamer, an 8-year-old girl, is placed into her new wheelchair by her father, Kamer Falih at the Taji Qada Qada Jan. 7. Kamer was one of 19 people to receive a new wheelchair from the Soldiers of Co. C, 414th Civil Affairs Battalion. U.S. Army photo. TAJI -- Building relationships with the local population is the first step in building a safe, secure and stable environment for the people of Iraq. The Soldiers of Company C, 414th Civil Affairs Battalion spent Jan. 7 doing just that by helping people, providing them with wheelchairs and sewing materials. The day...

COP NIMUR — Troops from 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, spent four days training Iraqi security forces in first aid, and provided them with some advanced medical techniques at Combat Outpost Nimur. The class consisted of 28 Iraqi Army soldiers, four Sinjar area Iraqi police and five Iraqi border policemen. One of the instructors of the course was Sgt. Richard Kyle, combat medic, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3-4 Cavalry, a unit based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. “We were teaching them the Combat Lifesaver course,” he explained. “This was an...

Salman Pak Iraqi Police and U.S. soldiers patrol the area together. U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Bronco Suzuki. Troops Help Iraqis Secure Neighborhood Joint U.S and Iraqi Forces operation uncovers cache of rocket launchers and small arms. By Spc. Shea Butler 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD, Jan. 10, 2007 -- The ramp drops, the sun rises and the troops emerge. The missions vary and everyone has a different, but equally important job. The troops on the ground in Baghdad work every job from quick reaction force to humanitarian missions. The mission for soldiers with Company B, 1st...

Cpl. Joseph Casiano, a native of San Antonio, and Spc. David Tunstall, a native of Alexandria, Va., both with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, search through a bag they found on top of a vehicle in Baghdad Thursday. BAGHDAD -- The ramp drops, the sun rises and the troops emerge. The missions vary and everyone has a different, but equally important job. The troops on the ground in Baghdad work every job from quick reaction force to humanitarian missions. The mission for Soldiers with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Iraqi citizens filed a $200 million lawsuit Friday against a prominent European bank and an Australian wheat exporter, saying they were cheated out of humanitarian goods when the companies permitted the U.N. oil-for-food program to be corrupted. The lawsuit, which sought class-action status on behalf of northern Iraqis, said the bank, BNP Paribas, and AWB Limited, the largest humanitarian goods provider under the oil-for-food program, cheated the citizens of Iraq from June 10, 1999, to June 3, 2003. <-snip-> The lawsuit said the companies stole from the Iraqis ''by engaging in a brazen kickback scheme'' in...

IRBIL, Iraq -- The Iraq Study Group's recommendations will accomplish nothing in Iraq. Its expressions of "gratitude" to those of us Iraqis who fought on the battlefield for freedom and liberty ring hollow. The report ignores our accomplishments, dreams and sacrifices in favor of a concern for those whose ultimate goal is the destruction of democracy. Our federal constitution, which the majority of the Iraqi people voted for, is treated flippantly, as though it were a negotiable document rather than the hard-fought result of lengthy negotiation among those willing to participate in the new Iraq. Further, the study group's approach...

FOB PROSPERITY – One of the benefits of teaching Iraqi Soldiers is the opportunity to learn from them as well. Military Training Teams, while providing instruction and mentorship for the Iraqi Army, are also learning as they go. The MiTT of the "First Team's" 2nd Brigade Combat Team works a seemingly endless schedule to ensure 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division runs the way they should be. They lay the foundation, point them in the right direction and the Iraqis do the rest. Although the training team is relatively new, they do well, according to First Sgt. Joseph McFarlane, the...

Iraqis Donate Clothing Policemen deliver three truckloads of clothing for displaced Sunni Muslims. By Sgt. Tony White 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment SAMARRA, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2006 -- Members of the largely Shiite Iraqi National Police made a clothing donation to the Sunni-dominated Red Crescent, Dec. 12.In a show of good faith, the predominantly Shiite national police force presented the Red Crescent, an organization similar to the Red Cross, with three truckloads of clothing to be distributed among the nearly 1,500 displaced Sunni Muslims living in the Samarra area. Meant as a way to promote positive relations between the...

Iraqi Soldiers from get ready to enter a suspected insurgent's home during a massive cordon and search operation. Official Department of Defense photo. WASHINGTON -- The commander of a U.S. Army brigade that partners with and trains Iraqi Soldiers and police in Iraq’s Diyala province today praised the recent actions of local security forces and civilians there. Terrorists in Diyala province continue to try to destabilize the democratic Iraqi government through the use of improvised explosive devices, snipers, kidnappings and threats to innocent Iraqis, Col. David Sutherland, commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite news conference...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2006 -- Coalition forces are stepping up their efforts to make Iraqi security forces capable enough to take over security for their own country, which is something the Iraqi and U.S. governments both want, a coalition spokesman in Iraq said today. “In the end, only Iraqis can provide solutions to Iraqi problems,” Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a coalition spokesman, said in a news conference from Baghdad. “We continue to work closely with the government of Iraq to develop an Iraqi security force that is both operationally capable and has the confidence of all Iraqis, regardless...

Airborne over southern Iraq. There is a pilot and a co-pilot, who manages the communications, cameras and radar. BASRAH -- For the last two years, 70 Squadron Iraqi Air Force has been in operation over the skies of southern Iraq providing much appreciated air support to colleagues on the ground. Their presence is a welcome addition to the familiar rumble of the Hercules, the defiant role of the C-17s and the deafening Antonov. Working from Basrah Air Station (BAS) in southern Iraq, the mission of 70 Squadron Iraqi Air Force is to provide an ‘eyes in the sky’ capability and...