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WASHINGTON, April 20, 2006 – Iraqi security forces continue to play an increasingly larger role in the fight against terrorism, with many units taking responsibility for their own areas and making connections with citizens, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said today. In a marked improvement over last year's three battalions, the Iraqi army now has two divisions, 16 brigades and 58 battalions that have the lead in counterinsurgency operations in their areas, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said at a news conference. Also, at least 25 percent of daily company-level and above operations are independent...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, April 20, 2006 – While the fight against enemy insurgents continues, Iraqi and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers provided medical and humanitarian relief to local nationals caught in the middle and those without means to provide care for themselves. Army Sgt. Allen Hill, a civil affairs specialist with Company A, 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, hands out humanitarian supplies to local residents. An Iraqi translator and members of the Iraqi army assisted the soldiers during a medical operation at the Taji soccer stadium April 11. Photo by Spc. C. Terrell Turner, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

Parents of soldier killed in Iraq support military involvement Father & mother of Lt Richard Palmer voice fears but stress pride in army 27 year-old was 104th British soldier to die in Iraq Key quote "Life was very difficult for his squadron, for his troop, but he still believed in what they were doing - they were doing it very professionally - and that they were, little by little, making a difference for the majority of the population." - Brigadier John Palmer THE parents of a British soldier killed in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq have issued a...

Since September 11, 2001, counter-terror operations have increased enormously. During the rush to shut down Islamic terrorists, wherever they could be found, several non-Islamic terrorist support networks were discovered. These were operating among immigrant populations in Europe and North America. It was known that Islamic terrorists had solicited money from Moslem migrants, living in West Europe and North America, to support terrorist operations. These Moslems provided money, sanctuary and manpower. The money was actually the most dangerous form of support, because all terrorist attacks are powered by cash. No, the terrorists aren't well paid, but they are paid. Expenses have...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (March 28, 2006) -- The planned, insurgent attack against a small police station in Saqlawiyah, Iraq, on the afternoon of Oct. 26, 2005, began with a barrage of machine gun fire followed by rocket propelled grenades slamming against the compound. By the time a Marine Quick Reaction Force from a nearby forward operating base arrived, an estimated 6 insurgents were dead and several more were wounded. Still standing, were a small band of Marines, Iraqi soldiers and an interpreter who succeeded in holding off the insurgent onslaught. It was a scene which could have...

Two days ago captain Pete Norton, 43, was awarded the George Cross, Britain’s top award for heroism. On July 24 of last year, Mr. Norton was called to the scene of a roadside bomb ambush which had targeted a US convoy killing four American soldiers. According to the account in the U.K. Sun, on his arrival at the scene Mr. Norton, a bomb disposal expert, ordered his own team and the US troops back to their vehicles while he went forward alone. Within seconds, he had stepped on a pressure pad that detonated another huge blast from two 155mm artillery...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces trapped dozens of insurgents Wednesday during a two-hour gunbattle at a police station south of Baghdad, a day after 100 masked gunmen stormed a jail near the Iranian border and freed more than 30 prisoners, most of them fellow insurgents. Sixty gunmen, firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, attacked the Madain police station before dawn, police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammadawi said. U.S. troops and a special Iraqi police unit responded, catching the insurgents in crossfire and capturing 50 of the group, including a Syrian, al-Mohammadawi said. A special police commander was killed and...

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2006 – An unmanned aerial vehicle crashed this morning in Iraq, and combined operations continued in Salah ah Din province as part of Operation Swarmer. A pilot at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., was piloting an Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, based with the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Balad Air Base, Iraq, when the aircraft crashed. Army and Air Force personnel recovered the wreckage and returned it to Balad Air Base. The MQ-1 Predator is a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV system. Its primary mission is interdiction and armed reconnaissance. Each Predator costs about $5 million....

WASHINGTON — President Bush said Monday that new technology and better training has helped cut the lethality of improvised explosive devices by half in recent months, but that roadside bombs remain a threat to coalition forces and thus Iraq’s stability. In a speech at George Washington University, the first of three planned for this week, Bush said that tips from Iraqis about bombmakers have increased tenfold in the last year, which have led troops to several large weapons caches in recent weeks. But he said that insurgents have been quick to adapt their tactics to U.S. raids and technology, noting...

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2006 – Iraq is not on the verge of a civil war, and sectarian issues in the country are controllable, the commander of U.S. Central Command told the House Armed Services Committee here today. Army Gen. John Abizaid testified about CENTCOM's posture. He told the representatives he believes a government of national unity will emerge in Iraq and that the Iraqi security forces will continue to improve. Abizaid said he was concerned about sectarian violence in Iraq since the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra on Feb. 22. He said he believes fugitive Jordanian terrorist Abu...

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER BAGHDAD , Iraq http://www.mnf-iraq.com 703.270.0320 / 0299 March 09, 2006 Release A060309c Iraqi army soldiers secure Sadr-Yusufiyah BAGHDAD, Iraq – Soldiers from the 6th and 9th Iraqi Army Divisions, supported by Multi- National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, conducted one of the largest operations of the past six months to gain control of a terrorist stronghold south of Baghdad. Operation Glory Light was designed to deny terrorists sanctuary and preempt enemy attacks in the Baghdad area. The operation began in the early morning hours of March 2 when the soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade,...

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is back home after his visit to Afghanistan. Harper left Ottawa on Saturday and spent two days with Canadian troops in the southwest Asian country. He had a lunch meeting with Afghani President Hamid Karzai in Kabul and also met Pakistani leaders on his way home. It was Harper's first trip outside the country since taking office. During his visit, Harper expressed strong support for the Canadian military and its mission in Afghanistan. He also rejected again suggestions that the mission be debated in the Commons, despite opposition complaints that Canadians don't understand...

SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (Army News Service, March 13, 2006) – Iraqi and U.S. firefighters battled a five-alarm fire at a weapons training facility on the Victory Base Complex March 11, adjacent to Baghdad International Airport. Iraqi firefighters based at the training site responded to the fire after seeing thick, black smoke billowing into the clear, blue sky. Realizing the fire was too much for their two fire trucks, they called for assistance from American and Iraqi firefighters located throughout the complex. “The Army (trainers) there said they used fire extinguishers initially, but the fire got too big,” said Mario...

Andrew Tilghman / S&S Iraqi army soldiers prepare for a patrol in the neighborhoods surrounding the capital city’s International Zone. Andrew Tilghman / S&SIraqi soldiers frisk Sahad El Ani, a 30-year-old car salesman, at a temporary checkpoint in Baghdad, one of the few places in Iraq where the army operates with very little oversight from U.S. troops. BAGHDAD — It was midday in the traffic-choked city center when a team of Iraqi soldiers thought Sahad El Ani, a 30-year-old car salesman driving alone in a black Opel sedan, looked suspicious. Iraqi soldiers frisk Sahad El Ani, a 30-year-old car salesman,...

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2006 – More than 150 police recruits and a company's worth of Iraqi soldiers graduated from training in Iraq in recent days. A graduation ceremony was held for Iraqi soldiers of the newly formed Headquarters and Support Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, at the Al Kindi military compound in Mosul, Iraq, March 5. The company is made up of three specialized platoons. The scout platoon, the medical platoon and the maintenance platoon were individually tasked to complete their specific skills training, U.S. officials in Mosul said. U.S. soldiers from the 172nd Stryker Brigade...

BAGHDAD, March 7, 2006 – The Iraqi air force, along with its coalition partners, officially opened a new air base in Baghdad today. U.S. airmen from Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq's Coalition Air Force Transition Team stand in formation during the formal stand up of the new Al Muthana Air Base in Iraq March 7. Photo by Master Sgt. Will Ackerman, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Al Muthana Air Base, near the international airport, provides a foundation on which Iraq's air force can rebuild with help from its allies, U.S. officials said. On display were two...

3/7/2006 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- The Spanish detachment here safely moved about a dozen U.S. Air Force officers to Kabul, Afghanistan, March 3. Manas is known as the “Gateway to Operation Enduring Freedom” because all troops moving in and out of Afghanistan stop here first to transfer to civilian or military aircraft. The Spanish detachment’s support helped expedite the effort to move an unusually large influx of troops to this base, said Lt. Suzan Whiting, personnel terminal chief here. It also saved the officers the risk and time of riding in a convoy from Bagram to Kabul...

FYI, all, today I saw a notice in Stars & Stripes about a poll that said 80% of Americans believe a civil war has started in Iraq following the destruction of the Golden Mosque in Samarra. Let me offer another opinion. While some of the hotheads in both of the muslim sects went after each other for a few days, that incident may end up being the catalyst not for civil war, but for civilization in Iraq. I have seen countless reports in the last few days that tell an entirely different picture of what you see in the news....

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2006 – Coalition and Iraqi forces operations in Iraq northeast of Fallujah and in Anbar province recently resulted in the detention of 62 suspects, military officials reported. On March 1, Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division, and U.S. soldiers from 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, detained a suspected terrorist northwest of Baghdad based on a tip. The detainee is suspected of being a member of a bomb-making cell responsible for a roadside bomb attack that killed a U.S. soldier in February. The incident is under investigation. Northeast...

The Multi-National Force (MNF) on Friday announced it is investigating reports on Abu Mosab Al-Zarqawi's arrest nearby Fallujah. An MNF officer did not confirm or deny the arrest, noting that the US forces are still investigating the reports. Meanwhile, an MNF major said the force, based upon intelligence reports, executed Monday a number of arrest operations 45 kilometers northeast of Fallujah to capture key Al-Qaeda officials, Al-Zarqawi's assistants, and others involved in providing logistic support for foreign fighters and suicide attackers in Fallujah and Ramadi. The major added that 61 people were arrested in the operation, which was announced before,...