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Five-year-old Ahmed and his father, Warrant Officer Othman Mallouki, an Iraqi policeman with Fallujah Headquarters District, get ready to leave the Joint Command Center after a visit with Marines from Company B, Police Transition Team 8, Regimental Combat Team 1, June 21. Marines with the team are working with the family to arrange transportation for Ahmed's surgery in Jordan. Photo by Cpl. Chris Mann. FALLUJAH — Sounds of joy and laughter resonate through a police station’s narrow hallways. A young boy slowly enters through a doorway at the end to greet the boisterous group of Marines, but the sounds of...

RAMADI — Ramadi was regarded by many to be one of the most violent cities in Iraq for much of the last five years. The thought of rebuilding the troubled city during that time was improbable, the risks were too high. Now, Ramadi is much safer and rebuilding the city is no longer just an impossible idea but an everyday reality in the recovering region. The country is now transitioning from violence and fighting, to healing and freedom. The focus in Ramadi, and all of al-Anbar province, is no longer on warfare but on reconstructing the region’s damaged infrastructure. “Ramadi...

FALLUJAH — Marines geared for war walk in tactical columns through the once mean streets of Fallujah, ready for what may lay around the next corner. “Mister, mister shokalata! Shokalata!”shout exuberant children from a crowded neighborhood as Marines and Iraqi police pass out candy. Marines with Company B, Police Transition Team 8, Regimental Combat Team 1, have been working diligently over the past few months to help train Iraqi police to take over their respective areas and become self-supportive in day-to-day operations in the city. Recent increases in the number of Iraqi police have drastically subdued the violence in the...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2008 – A pair of Defense Department reports published today on Afghanistan describe progress with regard to the country’s security and national forces. The studies, which analyze results of Operation Enduring Freedom through March, were mandated by Congress and represent the first installment of what are slated to be semi-annual progress updates. The Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan depicts a “fragile” security environment in much of the country. It concludes, however, that coalition forces’ counterinsurgency approach has demonstrated how a hybrid of military and nonmilitary resources can create stability and connect Afghan citizens...

Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of Americas small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government. "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and that was slipped into the bill.Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like...

FALLUJAH — The Joint Security Station (JSS) in the Khadairy District of Fallujah is now home solely to Iraqi Police, as Company K, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, detached from the station in a step toward transitioning security to IPs. IPs will continue their daily tasks here on their own as part of the transition of security from Coalition forces. “We really didn’t ‘de-militarize’ it, we more or less unpartnered,” said 1st Lt. Cory Colistra, platoon commander, 3rd Platoon. “We left the station intact. It’s an IP station now instead of a joint security station. We...

The GAO and Pentagon cited less violence but also Iraqi forces unprepared to go it alone. WASHINGTON - Two new government reports, one by the Pentagon, pointed Monday to encouraging security improvements in Iraq but were pessimistic about prospects for political and economic progress and warned that costly military gains remain fragile.One report, by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, concluded that many political reconciliation efforts have stalled, that Iraq's security forces remain largely unable to operate without U.S. assistance and that its central government has not fulfilled commitments to spend its own money on reconstruction efforts....

(CNSNews.com) - Progress in Iraq has been so substantial that by the end of this year, the U.S. may be able withdraw forces from Iraq to support its troops in Afghanistan, where violence has been rising, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Monday. "I am hopeful that if the turnaround in Iraq continues as it has in recent months, then we will be able to create some additional force [in Afghanistan] at the same time that we are growing the Army and the Marine Corps," he said at a Pentagon news briefing. "Through that...

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The US military is to hand over security control of the former Sunni insurgent bastion of Anbar province to Iraqi forces in the next 10 days, a US military spokesman announced on Monday."The handover of Anbar is expected to take place in the next 10 days," Lieutenant David Russell told AFP, declining to provide an exact date.Anbar would be the tenth of Iraq's 18 provinces to be handed back to Iraqi forces by the US-led coalition amid a push to transfer security control of the entire country back to Baghdad.Anbar province in western Iraq, the country's largest,...

FALLUJAH — Marines geared for war walk in tactical columns through the once mean streets of Fallujah, ready for what may lay around the next corner.“Mister, mister shokalata! Shokalata!�shout exuberant children from a crowded neighborhood as Marines and Iraqi police pass out candy.Marines with Company B, Police Transition Team 8, Regimental Combat Team 1, have been working diligently over the past few months to help train Iraqi police to take over their respective areas and become self-supportive in day-to-day operations in the city.Recent increases in the number of Iraqi police have drastically subdued the violence in the city.According to...

BAGHDAD – At first glance it doesn’t look like much: a construction site with a large wooden box strapped to a forklift, a crane, approximately 15 Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, and a small pile of equipment. Such were the humble beginnings of a project that involves installing solar-powered street lights in order to deter militant and criminal activity, improve public safety and security, and ease the burdens on the growing Iraqi infrastructure. “The 4th Infantry Division has been the driving force through this project,” said Capt. Adam Levitt, currently on a military transition team from 4th...

TIKRIT, Iraq – Leaders from the provincial government of the Salah ad Din province along with their Coalition partners from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, met in Tikrit XXXXX to discuss broadening the reconciliation process in the area. The meeting established a common understanding between Coalition Forces and Salah ad Din leadership regarding coordination mechanisms between Qadah, provincial and national governments, and CF. Governor Hamood Shekti, Maj. Gen. Hamed, provincial director of police, and other regional and provincial leaders met with the 1st BCT, 101st Abn. Div., commander and other Coalition leaders to further establish a common...

BAGHDAD — What’s going right? And can it last? Violence in all of Iraq is the lowest since March 2004. The two largest cities, Baghdad and Basra, are calmer than they have been for years. The third largest, Mosul, is in the midst of a major security operation. On Thursday, Iraqi forces swept unopposed through the southern city of Amara, which has been controlled by Shiite militias. There is a sense that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s government has more political traction than any of its predecessors. Consider the latest caricatures of Mr. Maliki put up on posters by the...

Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq) wait in line outside the the Furat Iraqi Police Training Facility, June 17, to start the process of becoming IP recruits. The four day recruiting drive is part of the Multi-National Division - Baghdad plan of Iraqi police expansion. Photo by Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger. CAMP VICTORY — As a sandstorm blanketed Baghdad, June 17, an estimated 2000 Iraqi citizens endured the elements to start the process of becoming Iraqi police at the Furat Iraqi Police Training Facility. Iraqi police officials and military police Soldiers with the 18th Military Police Brigade, Multi-National Division - Baghdad set...

Media: Haven't heard much news coming out of Iraq recently? Consider the near silence a clear indication that things are going well there.Reports of good news from Iraq since the U.S. and allied forces took down Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 have been about as common as Bigfoot sightings. The mainstream media have religiously dwelled on the bad news, but have decided that progress isn't worth the coverage. That's left others to fill in the gaps. One largely unreported bit of positive news is the decline in casualties caused by improvised explosive devices — homemade roadside bombs. According to the...

(CNSNews.com) - Deploying more U.S. troops in Iraq has resulted in a dramatic decline in the number of U.S. troops being killed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in that country. IED-caused casualties have dropped 89 percent since the surge went full force last June, according to a Cybercast News Service database of Iraq casualties. IED-caused casualties spiked in the early part of last year as the surge began. In January 2007, the U.S. started deploying an additional 30,000 troops to the country. The surge in forces was completed in mid-June. Click For Larger Image On June 17, Gen. David Petraeus,...

CAMP TAJI — As an elected official, it is important to support all of the people who live and work within the political boundaries of responsibility. Hussein al-Tahan, governor of Baghdad, proved his dedication to the areas of Mushada and Tarmiyah, northwest of Baghdad, June 13, with visits in the area and attendance to the first Joint Rural Planning Committee at Bukhari Hall in Tarmiyah. The meeting brought together leaders from the Tarmiyah Qada, members of the Provincial Council and a special visit from al-Tahan. It served as a forum for local leaders in the area to discuss specific issues...

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2008 – The Iraqi air force is making great strides as it continues to train and begins supporting Iraqi army and police forces, the U.S. advisor to the force said today. During a news conference in Baghdad, Air Force Brig. Gen. Brooks L. Bash spoke said the security situation in Iraq is improving each day, thanks to the investments the citizens have made in their country’s future and to coalition training efforts. Bash, commander of the Coalition Air Force Transition Team in Iraq, said the Iraqi air force, though small and still developing, is providing important capabilities...

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2008 – Coalition construction worth about $2.5 billion is under way in Iraq, despite attacks that have injured workers and damaged buildings, development delays caused by land-deed disputes, and low-level corruption. Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, responsible for developing the infrastructure of Iraq’s Defense and Interior ministries, is managing more than 300 projects in various phases of completion: 170 under construction, 85 in contract negotiation, and 60 others being handed off to Iraqis. But as Iraq rebuilds, concerns about site security and worker safety can exact hidden costs, said Navy Capt. John D. Rice, engineering staff director...

CAMP STRIKER — Iraqi Army Soldiers and Coalition forces conducted an air assault census mission, named “Operation New Town,” June 10 in Shakriyah. The 4th Company, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Brigade, 6th IA Division company commander also participated in the air assault mission to get a first-hand perspective on what his Soldiers will be doing in the near future. “I was very impressed,” said Maj. Ahmed Hassan, 4th Co., 3/22/6 IA commander. “The Coalition Soldiers were treating the people with respect and helping form a tighter bond with the people we are all responsible for; everything went as expected.” Combined with...

Democrats no longer talk of the 18 benchmarks for measuring progress in Iraq because so much progress has now taken place. Way back in the dark days of 2007, when the only popular question about the Iraq war concerned the degree of tragedy, Congress’s Iraq “benchmarks” were all the rage among Democrats. Every argument against a continued U.S. presence in Iraq was constructed around the Maliki administration’s apparent inability to meet the political and security-based milestones as outlined by America’s Democratic-majority Congress. Then something happened. The gains of the troop surge allowed the Iraqi government and citizenry to implement the...

HABBANIYAH — Two years ago, al-Anbar was said to be the most violent province in Iraq. It was a place where the insurgency in Iraq had begun and where the bloodiest battles took place. Today, thanks to the hard work and sacrifices made by the Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen who served in the area, it has become a model for the rest of Iraq. Marines of 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, have put in countless hours and have risked their lives every day to ensure their area of operations within al-Anbar Province stays that way...

It’s official. There will be no more argument from the Democrats about the success of the troop surge. Their plan is to bury their error in judgment in a larger fabricated argument about American hegemony. Not only is Barack Obama acknowledging progress in Iraq–he’s now pleased with it. And he let Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari know as much when the two spoke by telephone earlier today. However if you’re a Democrat, a smidgen of U.S.-praise must come with a heaping pile of “but.” Here’s Obama on his talk with Zebari:

BAGHDAD, June 13, 2008 – Iraq’s Interior Ministry yesterday conducted an internal review of strategic goals and objectives it has achieved so far in 2008. The review was a first in the ministry’s history, and it follows a few months after Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani approved the strategic plan in February. “We are here to look into our achievements, and most importantly, to solve the obstacles we are facing,” said Senior Deputy Minister Adnan al-Asadi. The strategic plan for 2008 identified eight goals with 54 underlying objectives and 152 tasks to achieve them. The eight major goals were to create...

Gulf Region South district A student practices his welding skills in one of the newly renovated shops at the Al Khaseeb Vocational Technical Center in Basrah. Students there can choose between a variety of classes including carpentry, electric installation, auto mechanics, air conditioning and refrigeration, masonry, painting, computer basics and plumbing installation. USACE photo by Norris Jones. BASRA — Students in Basra are now attending a newly refurbished vocational technical school as they acquire important job skills.The school’s headmaster, Mohammed Hassan Al Hassani, said he is very pleased with the $1.24 million rehabilitation of the Al Khaseeb Votech Center that...

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2008 – Improvements in overall security incidents and Iraqi forces continued to rise during the past week, enabling the central government and coalition forces to begin progress in other areas vital to Iraq’s growth and sovereignty, a senior U.S. military official in Iraq said yesterday. The country began to see a reduction in security incidents four weeks ago, marking the lowest levels since March 2004, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. The Iraqi government is undertaking broader efforts to provide services that were not possible...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military said on Wednesday that more than 500 insurgents who fought US and Iraqi forces had surrendered their arms in the past three weeks and joined the reconciliation process in central Iraq. "A total of 506 insurgents in the region of Balad have reconciled with the Iraqi government, choosing a different path for their lives," a military statement said. It said the 506 insurgents had surrended since May 22 but did not specify exactly how the surrenders worked and the men gave up their arms. US commander in the region, Lieutenant Colonel Bob McCarthy said...

The United States is seeing a sharp drop in the number of foreigners entering Iraq to become al Qaeda suicide bombers, according to intelligence and Bush administration sources. An administration official and a military adviser to Iraqi commanders attribute the decline to a fairly new phenomenon: Al Qaeda's call for mass killings in the name of Islam is losing some of its appeal with young Arabs in North Africa and Saudi Arabia, where most of the bombers originate. The decline also parallels the battlefield losses al Qaeda has suffered in the past 12 months in Iraq's Anbar province and the...

America is very close to succeeding in Iraq. The "near-strategic defeat" of al Qaeda in Iraq described by CIA Director Michael Hayden last month in the Washington Post has been followed by the victory of the Iraqi government's security forces over illegal Shiite militias, including Iranian-backed Special Groups. The enemies of Iraq and America now cling desperately to their last bastions, while the political process builds momentum. These tremendous gains remain fragile and could be lost to skillful enemy action, or errors in Baghdad or Washington. But where the U.S. was unequivocally losing in Iraq at the end of 2006,...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi National Police and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized a number of weapons in Baghdad June 9. Iraqi National Police from the 4th Brigade, 1st National Police Division found 47 AK-47s, three sniper rifles and a Mauser rifle at approximately 6:30 a.m. in the Ur area of Adhamiyah. At approximately 10 a.m. north of Baghdad, NPs from 2nd Brigade, 1st NP Div. seized two 155 mm artillery rounds with improvised-explosive device fuses, two 122 mm artillery rounds attached to two propane tanks, four rocket-propelled grenades, an RPG launcher, 21 AK-47s, three SKS rifles, three enfield rifles, a...

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 10, 2008 – Afghanistan’s Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabit was guest of honor June 5 at the Camp Eggers celebration of Law Day 2008. Army Col. Robert Teetsel, staff judge advocate for Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, presents Afghanistan’s Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabit with a plaque commemorating Law Day 2008 at Camp Eggers, Afghanistan, June 5, 2008. As guest of honor, Sabit addressed 30 U.S. and Canadian legal representatives about rule of law in his country. U.S. Navy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan’s staff judge advocate directorate hosted...

COMBAT OUTPOST MURRAY — As Spc. Robert Manchego sees the end of his deployment approaching, he reflects on a year of change. Most of the combat he now encounters is commanding virtual armies on his laptop computer during his downtime. It wasn’t always so quiet for Machengo. When his unit, Company A, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, first arrived into the area of Arab Jabour south of Baghdad, the place was anything but calm. For four years following the liberation of Baghdad, the area was largely unoccupied by coalition forces; insurgents used the area as a base of operations. “When...

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2008 – Important progress is being made in NATO’s Afghan Regional Security Integration Command South area of operations, the commander there told bloggers and online journalists in a June 6 conference call. “Nothing really too sexy, but actually it's very important stuff in a counterinsurgency that you are able to build up the capacity, and then using the reconstruction money and development monies that we have, we're able to reach out to the Afghan civilians so that we can build better relationships with them,” Marine Corps Col. Thomas J. McGrath said. “I'm talking about roads and helping...

COMBAT OUTPOST MURRAY — The battlefield in Iraq has become a classroom for military analyst Steven Biddle and several associates, who visited 3rd Infantry Division Soldiers on June 4 to get a sense of progress in the area. Biddle, a four-time visitor to Iraq and the author of two military-themed books entitled “Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle” and “Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy,” said his visit was multi-purposed. “Information in the (U.S.) is limited,” said Biddle, a senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Here,...

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2008 – As security in Iraq improves, more doctors are returning to clinical services, but more are needed in the Iraqi security forces, an official involved with this process in Iraq said. “[In Iraq they still] need quite a few doctors just to get to the level where they need to be to provide the primary health care for their force,” Navy Cmdr. Joseph Coleman, deputy director of health affairs for Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, said in a teleconference with journalists and bloggers June 5. “They’re drastically low on doctors in the military. So they’re going...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — The Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Military Transition Team don’t collect weapons. The MiTT team assigned to the 43rd Bde., 11th Iraqi Army Div., did not deploy to the Rashid district in southern Baghdad to capture detainees either. Nor do they have to – thanks to the ongoing efforts of the Iraqi army and Iraqi security forces working with Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, said Maj. Mark Thompson, operations officer for the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B. “The Iraqi army is a lot better...

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2008 – Positive trends in Iraq can be attributed to the increasingly successful Iraqi army and the cooperation of the country’s citizens, a senior military official in Iraq said today. “For the third week in a row, security incidents in Iraq are at the lowest levels in some four years,” Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said in a Baghdad news conference. “These numbers reflect fewer attacks on Iraqi civilians, fewer attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces, and fewer attacks on the government’s infrastructure,” Bergner said. Operations from May 15 until yesterday show...

KIRKUK, Iraq – Kirkuk Provincial Rule of Law judges and lawyers met with their key provincial and city police leadership during the inaugural Criminal Justice Conference at Forward Operating Base Warrior in Kirkuk May 29.“The security gains of the region are evident -- over a 70 percent decrease in violent attacks against ISF, Kirkuk citizens and the Coalition forces. As a result, we can now begin our transition from a form of martial law to rule of law,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Brown, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division deputy commander.The agenda of the meeting included recent case studies that focused...

This remarkable series of before and after pictures documents the rebuilding efforts of Task Force Marne, aka Multi-National Division Center, aka "the surge" Division in Iraq, 2007-2008. The Division's area of responsibility included some of the most violent areas on the southern edge of Baghdad (the "Baghdad belts") and in addition to peacemaking efforts in the region the Division's mission included halting the flow of "accelerants" into the city. Areas such as Salman Pak, Yousifiyah, Arab Jabour, Jisr Diyala, Mahmudiyah, and Iskandariyah may not be familiar to Americans (they were generally - and erroneously - referred to as "Baghdad" in...

The "surge" of American troops in Iraq last year winds to a close next month when the last two surge brigades redeploy home. Security conditions in the Iraq they are leaving are much improved over those the extra troops encountered when they arrived, say analysts and defense officials, many of whom are confident that trend will continue even without the extra US troops. The departure of the two brigades comes as the number of American casualties is at a new low. Of the heavy fighting that continues in Iraq, in places like Basra and the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City,...

6/3/2008 - PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- More than 1,000 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a new $6 million road May 28 in Barak of the Bazarak District in the Panjshir province. During the ceremony, Afghan officials from the highest levels of government discussed the critical importance of the road, which will extend from Barak to Khenj, to Panjshir and to all of Afghanistan. Ahmad Zia Massoud, Afghanistan's first vice president and the brother of famed Panjshir martyr and Afghan national hero Ahmad Shah Massoud, was the main speaker during the hour-long ceremony. The ceremony was held adjacent to...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, June 3, 2008 – Parliament leaders, village elders and other government officials attended a meeting May 29 at the governor’s compound in the Mahmood Raqi district of Afghanistan’s Kapisa province to discuss issues that have arisen with construction contractors. Abubaker, governor of Afghanistan’s Kapisa province, points to an engineer during his conclusion speech made during a meeting at the governor's compound in the province’s Mahmood Raqi district, May 29, 2008. The engineer was brought up and told by Abubaker, in a symbolic gesture, that he now has the authority to inspect and monitor all construction...

Something very strange is happening in the hallowed halls of the old media. From the Washington Post to the New York Times, articles are starting to appear actually acknowledging that the Iraq war may be, gasp, winnable. Even the United Nations went on record, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying Iraq has made "notable progress" in the security, political and economic fields. This recent acknowledgment of the obvious has yet to extend to the Democrat Party. Despite

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents are fleeing south towards the Afghan border with Pakistan in the face of a U.S. Marines offensive in volatile Helmand province, the NATO commander in Afghanistan said on Monday. U.S. Marines have been pushing south from the former Taliban stronghold of Garmsir in Helmand for a month in an operation meant to cut off insurgent infiltration routes from Pakistan. "They have shown under some amount of pressure they flee to their sanctuaries," General Dan McNeill told a news conference. "In the last two days we have had many reports ... that the insurgents after experiencing...

How odd (or to be expected) that suddenly intelligence agencies, analysts, journalists, and terrorists themselves are attesting that al-Qaeda is in near ruins, that ideologically radical Islam is losing its appeal, and that terrorist incidents against Americans at home and abroad outside the war zones are at an all-time low—and yet few associate the radical change in fortune in Iraq as a contributory cause to our success. But surely the US military contributed a great deal to the humiliation of al-Qaedists and the bankruptcy of their cause, since it has (1) killed thousands of generic jihadists, and to such a...

Missions by special forces and air strikes by unmanned drones have "decapitated" the Taliban and brought the war in Afghanistan to a "tipping point", the commander of British forces has said. The new "precise, surgical" tactics have killed scores of insurgent leaders and made it extremely difficult for Pakistan-based Taliban leaders to prosecute the campaign, according to Brig Mark Carleton-Smith. In the past two years an estimated 7,000 Taliban have been killed, the majority in southern and eastern Afghanistan. But it is the "very effective targeted decapitation operations" that have removed "several echelons of commanders". A member of 2 Scots...

U.S. monthly death toll drops to new low * Iraq says oil production at post-war high * Australia pulls out combat troops By Ross Colvin BAGHDAD, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. troop deaths in Iraq fell to their lowest level last month since the 2003 invasion and officials said on Sunday improved security also helped the country boost oil production in May to a post-war high. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Iraq's oil minister credited better security for the two milestones, which illustrated a dramatic turnabout in the fortunes of a country on the brink of all-out sectarian civil...

Iraqis gathered in the Hayyaniyah district of Basra, Iraq to answer a recruiting call by the Iraqi army May 29. More than 3,000 Iraqi men from the area turned out for the event though the Iraqi army only had 1,000 positions available. BASRA — Soldiers with the 1st Iraqi Army looked to increase their numbers and support in Basra, Iraq May 29. Operation Charge of the Knights has been successful in rooting out criminal elements and restoring the rule of law to the city as well as increasing local support for the government of Iraq. The increased support for the...

Don't look now, but the U.S.-backed government and army may be winning the war.[From the Washington Post!] THERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled...

CIA Director Michael Hayden gave a noteworthy interview to the Washington Post this week. According to the Post: Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In a strikingly upbeat assessment, the CIA chief cited major gains against al-Qaeda’s allies in the Middle East and an increasingly successful campaign to destabilize the group’s core...