Posted on 03/11/2007 1:27:14 PM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD — Iraqis in the country’s north, fed up with ongoing violence, are leading U.S. and Iraqi forces to some of the largest weapons and bombs caches found in the region to date, the commander of Multi-National Division-North told Pentagon reporters Friday.
This comes as U.S. troops in that area are handing off most counterinsurgency missions to Iraqi forces. This allows U.S. forces to focus on killing or capturing those who finance, make and emplace IEDs, said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of MND-N and the 25th Infantry Division.
So far this year, his forces have nearly doubled the monthly averages for finding IED caches, Mixon told reporters in the Pentagon via a satellite link from Contingency Operating Base Speicher, outside of Tikrit. The forces also have doubled the monthly average for killing the insurgents who use them, he said.
“The enemy is ruthless in using IEDs,” Mixon said. “We are equally as aggressive and violent in our approach to defeat them.”
Mixon said a cache found last week in Diyala had enough material to make about 130 “explosively formed projectiles,” as well as military-grade rockets and mortars, the largest find of that type so far. While EFPs make up only one percent of IEDs used against Coalition forces, they are among the most deadly.
The find was part of an Iraqi forces-led mission and was based on a tip by a local informant, Mixon said. No arrests were made, but officials are still working with the informant to identify insurgents involved.
Locals are more willing to lead Coalition forces to weapons and bombs caches partly because of the increased presence of Iraqi forces, Mixon said.
“The population areas that we work in are more comfortable with the Iraqi security forces, so they are providing us more tips. Some of those tips come in through the tips lines. Some are as simple as a civilian walking in and providing information. So their comfort level is up,” he said.
Another large cache found recently in Mosul included homemade explosive materials, such as fertilizers and acids often used in car bombs.
Because of their recent focus on insurgents using IEDs, the threat has gone down in the area, Mixon said. Also, changes in enemy tactics are posted on an IED Web page which leaders access.
In addition, body armor and protective gear help keep Soldiers alive if hit. In fact, 76 percent of Soldiers injured by such explosives are able to return to duty, he said.
His troops also are getting better at spotting planted bombs, the general said.
Still, despite recent successes, said Mixon, much more work is needed in the region, where more civilians die from IED attacks than security forces.
“We have a long way to go to defeat this threat. Too many of our casualties are [killed] as a result of the IEDs. I am not satisfied and will not be satisfied until I dramatically reduce the numbers of casualties caused by IEDs,” he said.
(Story by Fred W. Baker III American Forces Press Service)
This cannot be true! Why, this very morning one of the news shows, Russert's, aired an interview of a "local" (who apparently spoke for the entire nation) who said that he would not help Americans do anything because he didn't have electricity, that things were worse, and it was Americans' fault.
But, isn't it just simply amazing that Multi-National Forces-Iraq has again managed to Scoop all the other news organizations, CNN, NBC, ABC, Al-Reuters, AP,...
on this story? I know all those alphabet soupers were just trying their darndest to get scoops like this, but I guess... this time... MNFI does it again!
This won't make Pelosi's day. She prays for bad news from Iraq.
Absolutely! That's priceless and right on target.
God bless the Gathering of Eagles!!!
I see this all winding down by 2008 and possibly near over in 2009-10. If Hillary is elected, this will be credited to her as her triumph, the MSM will surely herald her as the Victor of the Iraq war. She of course will lavish the praise and use it in the 2012 campaign. Agrrrrrrrrrr, barf!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.