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Iraqi Army move into Shatt-Al-Arab Hotel
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
The first troops from 10 Division Iraqi Army move into the Shaat Al Arab Hotel, Basra City as part of Op Zenith. Photo by RAF Cpl. Andy Benson.BASRAH — The Iraqi Army has begun moving into their new barracks at the Shatt-Al-Arab Hotel, currently home to the 1st Battalion the Staffordshire Regiment.
Iraqi Army Humvees rolled into the compound and a flag raising ceremony was held to mark their arrival.
The troops are from the Iraqi Army's 10 Division and the move marks the first steps towards security and coalition transition in Basra City to the Iraqis.
The troops from the 1st Battalion the Staffordshire Regiment will continue their military assistance role, training and mentoring the Iraqi Security Forces, allowing them to grow in capability and confidence.
Re-posturing of Multi-National Forces enables the Iraqi Security Forces to take on more responsibility for Iraq, and they are increasingly leading the way in providing routine security and safety for the people of Basra City.
A number of successful operations in the province were recently conducted by the Iraqi Security Forces, including Operation Cardiff and Operation Troy.
"This is another important step for the Iraqi Army as they develop their capabilities and gradually take more responsibility for their own security. It is pleasing that the move went so smoothly and offers encouraging signs for the future as everybody continues down the road towards Iraqi self reliance,” said British military spokesman, Captain Ollie Pile. "It is in everybody's interests – the coalition, the Iraqi Security Forces and, above all, the Iraqi people themselves - that we continue to make progress."
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Soldiers, Iraqis put carpentry skills to work
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
By Spc. Chris McCann
2nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office
Spc. Roland Brown (left), a native of San Diego, Calif., who serves on the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) personal security detachment, and Spc. Tung Nguyen, a native of Los Angeles, Calif., and a medic with the PSD, paint exterior trim on the brigade's tactical operations center on Camp Striker, Iraq, March 15. U.S. Army photo.CAMP STRIKER — When people think of a deployment to Iraq, they may imagine sand-filled tents and crude buildings on American posts. Sometimes, that mental image is right, but sometimes it isn't.
The soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), assisted by local Iraqi builders and civilian contractors, have revamped their brigade's tactical operations center at Camp Striker, Iraq over the seven months they have been in the country.
When the brigade arrived in September of 2006, the operation center was housed in two separate buildings, simple structures of two-by-fours and plywood, unpainted and with a rough concrete floor. By December, the floor was tiled, the walls boasted a carpet wainscoting and subtle wallpaper, and framed photographs and captured weapons decorated the hallways.
Over the last few weeks, the soldiers of the brigade have put in overtime, pouring concrete, building walls and roofs, and painting to join the buildings. While civilians have put in time doing the lion's share of outdoor painting, much of the work is done by Soldiers.
Sgt. Tony Fusco, the assistant brigade engineer and a native of Avon, N.Y., has been working on the center for several weeks.
"The way it looked before was plain. Now it looks a lot more like a brigade headquarters should," he said.
Fusco, who said he has been doing carpentry and construction since he was 9 years old, helped build walls and the front porch for the TOC as well as doing trim work and other carpentry.
"It makes me feel good," he added. "I like to get out of the office, get some fresh air and sun - and I enjoy building. I'm glad I get to use my skills to make the building better."
"The soldiers are motivated, and they're working together well," said Sgt. Jason Carvel, a native of DeKalb Junction, N.Y., a dismount with the brigade's personal security detachment, as he assisted his soldiers moving sandbags and rocks. "They're motivated because they want the job done quickly, but done well and to standard. And it's fun for both of our patrols to work together. It makes me feel good to see all of them so motivated."
Sgt. Joshua May, a driver with the personal security detachment, stood on a ladder painting the tops of the walls.
"I come in here quite often," he said. "Watching the look of the TOC improve, and being part of that change, makes me feel good."
The entrance of the TOC was moved to another side of the building, putting a nicer face on the headquarters.
"It's a one-hundred-percent improvement in terms of image," said translator Frank Oraha, who was born and raised in southern Iraq but immigrated to the United States in 1966. He has served in the TOC for almost three years, as three units have moved in and out. "The previous units didn't project an image like this. It gives the image of a professional headquarters."
Oraha isn't the only Iraqi native who appreciates the renovations.
"Col. Ali (Jassim Muhammad Al-Frejee, commander of the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division) commented on it to me, because he had been here before. He was flabbergasted, said it was a night-and-day improvement - and that was before the new construction. He only saw the neatness of it, the tiled floor and the paint, the photos on the walls and the mural."
Projecting tidiness and professionalism is important in Iraqi culture, Oraha noted, explaining that especially in a sheikh's home, the madthif, or parlor, is always kept clean and properly set for receiving guests and entertaining.
"It's always kept presentable for guests, to present a good image," said Oraha.
The soldiers appreciate the building's new look as well.
"I like that they're integrating all the things they're doing in sector with what we do here," said 1st Lt. Amber Ryder, deputy brigade personnel officer, and a native of Kalamazoo, Mich., of the photographs that line the walls. "We're showing the success of the guys who are out there doing the hard work."
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Iraq Navy on its way to independence
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Commander, Task Group (CTG) 158.1, Capt. Chris Noble (center) discuss ship maintenance on the Al Basra Oil Terminal with senior Iraqi officers visiting the CTG 158.1 area of responsibility from the Umm Qasr Naval Base in Iraq. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Karen Eiffert, 5th Fleet Public Affairs.BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Navy will soon add 21 vessels to its fleet, putting it another step closer to being operationally independent, officials said during a Baghdad news conference Sunday.
With a contract on the verge of completion, the Iraqi Navy is the first of the Iraq’s forces to use the Ministry of Defense’s procurement process with Iraqi money in purchasing major capital programs from foreign governments and commercial ventures.
“The Iraqi Navy has come a long way since the end of the hostilities,” United States Navy Capt. Michael Zamesnik, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command liaison officer to Multi-National Force-Iraq, said “They were an organization that had been ravaged by the effects of the war, and they are making great strides to rebuild themselves.”
Zamesnik said that the Iraqi Navy force was making positive steps and continuing to grow in the areas of equipment, training, manning and procurement. Iraqi naval installations are going under massive modernization efforts to build roads, utilities and barracks in addition to the reconstruction of piers to support the incoming vessels, he said. By 2010, 15 patrol boats, four patrol ships, and two off-shore support vessels will be added to the current fleet of fast attack boats and Predator-class ships.
“They have a 24-hour capability, are armed for self-defense, and I would say the Iraqi Navy is considering these to be the jewel in the crown of their future fleet,” British Navy Cmdr. Paul Marshall, Royal Navy advisor, said.
“Any navy in the world would be proud to have an acquisition program that increases capability by that amount within such a short time scale,” Marshall said.
The Iraqi government showed a lot of commitment and faith in the program by supporting it with resources and policies, he said.
He also said the Iraqi waterways will continue to become safer with the increased number and skills of personnel, as well.
The Iraqi Navy will eventually take sole responsibility to ensure the security and protection of territorial waters and key infrastructure within its area of responsibility and to counter terrorism, smuggling and illegal activity at sea.
The performance of the Iraqi Navy and Marines is “actually very good,” British Navy Capt. Tony Radakin, commander of the Naval Transition Team at Umm Qasr Naval Base said.
Radakin attributed the recent decrease in piracy and oil smuggling in area waterways to current navy efforts. He also said that the heightened visibility of the navy has created safe waterways for the major commercial ports, which led to quadrupled increases in port revenues.
According to Globalsecurity.org, the Iraqi Navy is currently designed for coastal water protection, stopping the smuggling of people, oil and weapons, and to protect the countries oil platforms.
“The Iraqi Navy is a story of success,” Zamesnik said. “They’ve done a very solid job of rebuilding. I know it will continue, along with Coalition assistance.”
(By Carmen L. Gleason American Forces Press Service)
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18 detained, weapons cache discovered
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON — Coalition forces nabbed 18 suspected terrorists, discovered a weapons cache and killed a potential suicide bomber in Iraq over the past few days.
During operations targeting the al Qaeda in Iraq network and foreign fighter facilitators in Baghdad this morning, coalition forces detained 11 suspected terrorists. One detainee is an alleged improvised-explosive-device maker, military officials said.
Elsewhere in Iraq today, coalition forces captured three suspected terrorists in Ramadi, including another alleged IED maker responsible for attacks against coalition forces.
In Fallujah today, troops captured four suspects with alleged ties to an al Qaeda foreign fighter facilitation network.
South of Baghdad yesterday, paratroopers from Company D, 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, discovered a weapons cache. While patrolling the area, paratroopers discovered the cache, which contained 400 tank rounds, 50 130 mm mortars and three 60 mm mortars. An explosive ordnance disposal team detonated the weapons.
Iraqi soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, shot and killed a suicide bomber March 17 south of Shakarat. Coalition forces nearby reported seeing the suicide bomber running toward an Iraqi tactical checkpoint. When the bomber failed to obey several verbal warnings to stop, the Iraqi soldiers shot him, causing the vest to detonate. This was the second suicide bomber incident in two days in the Diyala province, military officials said.
"The terrorists are now seeing and experiencing the effectiveness of the Iraqi security forces," said Army Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and the senior coalition officer in Diyala province.
"This is why we are seeing an increase on audible attacks, attacks that are attempting to create fear within the local population,” he said. “I applaud the (Iraqi troops) whose vigilance and attention prevented those suicide bombers from achieving their targets. Those are the actions of a professional force, which is helping gain the support of their people.”
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070319-08
March 19, 2007
Fresh troops assume battle space in Baghdad Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
1st Lt Charles Bloomfield
2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment
BAGHADAD — Fresh troops have arrived in western Baghdad and have assumed control in their area of operations.
2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, the ‘Proud Americans,’ officially assumed responsibility for operations March 15, during a transfer of authority ceremony held on Camp Liberty, Iraq.
This is the first time the Proud Americans uncased their colors in a combat zone since the unit departed Vietnam in 1971.
Lt. Col. Gregory Gadson, Commander of 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, gave a motivational speech during the ceremony. He touched upon the progress the unit has made since receiving a change of mission from its traditional field artillery role, to mounted and dismounted infantry operations in western Baghdad.
“I am truly amazed at the transformation the Proud Americans have made over the past four months,” he said. “As recently as October, 2006, we were manning our howitzers and providing fires for the Dragon Brigade; now we are poised for a new mission in west Baghdad and we are honored to serve with the Dagger Brigade, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.”
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Japan defense minister wants to visit Iraq
By HANS GREIMEL -- Associated Press Writer
Monday, March 19th, 2007 10:11 PM (PDT)
TOKYO (AP) Japan's defense minister, who recently called the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq a "mistake," said Tuesday he would like to visit the country before Tokyo decides whether to extend its mission there.
Fumio Kyuma's comments come amid rising criticism of the Iraq war in Japan, which has been a key ally in the U.S.-led coalition. Japan sent non-combat ground troops to southern Iraq for two years and currently runs airlifts in the region for coalition forces.
But with the Kuwait-based air operation scheduled to expire July 31, there is growing debate about whether Tokyo will continue it contributions. In January, Kyuma raised eyebrows in Washington by calling the U.S. decision to invade Iraq a "mistake" for being based on the dubious assumptions that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
"As far as the conducting the airlift activities without any problems is concerned, I'd like to go once and see things with my own eyes," Kyuma said at a news conference. The timing of such a trip would depend on parliament's schedule, he said.
Japan has suffered no casualties in its Iraq dispatches, but public sensitivities about the conflict run high in a country with a pacifist constitution that prohibits the use of force to settle international disputes.
Tokyo is America's staunchest ally in Asia and originally backed the war in Iraq. But in a sign of changing attitudes, hundreds of protesters rallied over the weekend in Tokyo to mark the fourth anniversary of the invasion and demand the troops pull out.
On Tuesday, a defense policy committee in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved extending the mission for two years.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he supported the extension, which needs Cabinet and parliament approval.
"We must live up to our responsibility to help reconstruct Iraq," Abe said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has urged Tokyo to maintain the mission, part of Japan's bid to boost its international profile.
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Iraq steps up anti-Israel boycott
Michael Freund, THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 19, 2007
Iraq steps up anti-Israel boycott | Jerusalem Post
The US-backed Iraqi government is enforcing the Arab boycott of Israel with
increasing frequency, The Jerusalem Post has learned, with the number of
boycott-related incidents involving US firms operating in Iraq nearly
quadrupling last year, according to official US statistics.
In its recently released annual report for 2006, the US Commerce
Department's Bureau of Industry and Security noted that there had been 31
cases in which the Iraqi government had engaged in restrictive trade
practices last year.
In 2005, according to the previous year's report, there were a total of just
eight such cases involving Iraq.
US law bars American firms from complying with boycott-related requests and
requires them to report any such incidents to the authorities. These might
include demands made of companies to verify that their products do not
contain components made in the Jewish state or signing forms attesting that
they do not do business with Israel.
The most recent edition of the Business Guide for Iraq, a handbook that was
published by the US Commerce Department last year, cautions American
businessmen regarding Iraq's participation in the anti-Israel boycott.
"Currently, some US companies are reporting requests from Iraq for adherence
to the Arab League boycott of Israel," says the guide, noting that,
"compliance with such requests may be prohibited by the Export
Administration Regulations."
In addition, the guide also states that, "Some US companies have been asked
to certify their adherence to the Arab League Boycott of Israel when they
apply to register their intellectual property rights in Iraq."
Contacted by the Post, an official at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv said, "the
United States government is continuing to review this matter."
Iraqi officials were unavailable for comment.
It was unclear why Iraq began enforcing the Arab boycott of Israel more
energetically last year. However, the Iraqi government sent an official
representative to take part in the annual meeting of international liaison
officers of the Arab League boycott Office in Damascus last May.
The aim of the meeting was to discuss ways of intensifying the trade embargo
against the Jewish state.
At the time, a US State Department spokesman told the Post that Washington
was "disappointed" over Iraq's decision to participate in the boycott of
Israel, and said American officials had "raised this issue with Iraqi
officials in the past and expect to raise it with them again."
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Birds and buffalo back, but Iraqi marshes still under threat
by Bryan Pearson
=(FILE PICTURE)=
BAGHDAD, March 19, 2007 (AFP) - Basra reed warblers are again warbling and water buffalo wallowing in the Mesopotamian marshes, but a full recovery of the Iraq wetland drained by Saddam Hussein is still far from certain, experts say.
When the snows in the Kurdistan mountains begin melting in the next few weeks, unless the gushing waters can be fully harnessed some gains already made could be reversed, according to Iraqi civil engineer Azzam Alwash.
While many dams and canals ordered to be built by Saddam in 1993 have been destroyed, he said, large dams upstream both inside Iraq and in Turkey are preventing the water from arriving with the force needed to flush out the brackish water that accumulates in the summer months.
About 90 percent of the marshland in southern Iraq, which once covered an area of 20,000 square kilometres (8,000 square miles) and is fed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was drained by Saddam to crush a local Shiite rebellion.
The half a million so-called Marsh Arabs living in an area considered by some to be the location of the Biblical Garden of Eden were forced to flee as the wetland quickly became a wasteland.
But with the fall of Saddam after the US-led invasion in March 2003, Iraqi farmers destroyed some of the dams and canals that had diverted the waters, allowing the area to be reflooded and the Marsh Arabs to return.
According to Alwash, who with a team of scientists has monitored the recovery of the marshes for the past three years, around 60 percent of the wetland has now been reflooded, thanks also in part to projects overseen by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
He added that this does not mean 60 percent of the wetland has actually recovered, however.
"We can say that only around 45 percent of the marsh is showing signs of a robust recovery," the engineer, head of non-governmental organisation Nature Iraq, told AFP by telephone from Amman in Jordan.
He said his team of scientists had concluded that the main factor preventing a full recovery is the upstream dams.
"Before the damned dams, Iraq used to get approximately 100 billion cubic metres (3,500 trillion cubic feet) of water per annum, 60 percent of which arrived during the snow melt," Alwash said.
"The water comes into southern Iraq, which is flat, and results in flooding of the area -- hence the marshes," he added.
"The marshes need this injection of water during the spring, just as the reeds come out of winter hibernation, and fish begin spawning and the bird migration occurs."
Alwash wants a system installed that will create a "mechanical flooding action" to make up for the usual rush of fresh water from the mountains. But the task is daunting because of the dangers of working in the lawless area and a lack of resources.
The Iraqi government favours the idea, he said, but most of its resources are going towards trying to stabilise a country wracked by sectarian strife.
"The government is full of good intentions, but it has other things on its mind," said Alwash.
The signs of recovery are there, however.
Five surveys carried out in the past two and a half years by biologists from Nature Iraq and experts from Birdlife International showed that all bird species which traditionally inhabited the marshes are still around, albeit in smaller numbers.
Water buffalo have also returned, said Alwash.
"At the last count there were 6,000 water buffalo. In the past we saw very few."
Not only are the animals powerful beasts of burden, he said, they also supply milk and meat -- crucial in helping the 5,000-year-old Marsh Arab culture to recover.
According to Middle East bird expert Richard Porter, who is helping Alwash and his team of biologists sift through the data recorded in their two summer and three winter surveys, the signs for birdlife recovery are positive.
Porter, Middle East adviser to Birdlife International, told AFP by telephone from Cambridge in England that the teams found at least 160 bird species.
Of these, 65 species are of "conservation concern," he said.
"They are not doing terribly well either in Europe or Asia or the Middle East," said Porter, co-author of the book "Field Guide to the Birds of Iraq."
"Seven of the species they have discovered are globally threatened -- three of these are endemic birds, the Basra reed warbler, the Iraq babbler and the grey hypocolius," he said.
"The reed warbler was considered to be globally endangered -- but in the survey they found good populations, so we know that that bird is around in much bigger numbers than we previously thought," Porter added.
"No species of bird has been discovered to have become extinct in the marshes. Everything that has been found is very positive for conservation."
But Azzam Alwash is more cautious.
"The marshes are still under threat," he said. "We may yet lose species."
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Iraqi gov''t recovers part of money smuggled by ex-regime
POL-IRAQ-MONEY-SADDAM
Iraqi gov't recovers part of money smuggled by ex-regime
BAGHDAD, March 19 (KUNA) -- The Finance Ministry said Monday it recovered part of Iraqi government money smuggled by late Saddam Hussein during his rule.
A government statement quoted finance minister Baqer Zubaidi as saying the Swiss authorities have recently agreed to transfer owernship of shares of a Swiss company, which owned one of the palaces of the former regime in Cannes in southern France, to the Iraqi government.
These stocks, he said, were administered by Khalaf Al-Dulaimi and under direct instructions from the former baathist regime. Zubaidi said Al-Dulaimi has frozen bank accounts in Switzerlands and the ministry was working on recovering the rest of the stolen money.
The Iraqi government, added the minister, was exerting efforts to release four million euros frozen by the French government in order to transfer the money to a fund to develop Iraq. (end) ahh.
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Japan vows continued support for Iraq on anniversary of US-led war
POL-JAPAN-IRAQ-ANNIVERSARY
Japan vows continued support for Iraq on anniversary of US-led war
TOKYO, March 20 (KUNA) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Tuesday Japan's continued support for rebuilding Iraq, indicating extending its air mission there beyond the July 31 deadline.
"The Iraqi government and the United Nations highly appreciate reconstruction assistance activities given by our troops," Abe told reporters, adding that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has requested Japan's air force mission.
The Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) began transport flights in March 2004 between Ali Al-Salem Air Base in western Kuwait and the southern Iraqi destinations. It mainly delivered supplies to Japan's non-combat ground troops involved in a reconstruction mission in Samawah.
After the ground troops pulled out from Iraq last summer, the air force expanded its airlift support in transporting UN personnel and supplies to airports such as Baghdad and Irbil, further north of the Iraqi capital.
Japan's special law allowing for the deployment to Iraq will expire July 31, therefore, further extension of the ASDF mission requires an amendment of the law.
Earlier in the day, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party committee on defense issues approved a bill to extend the deployment for two years, which Abe's Cabinet is expected to endorse by the end of this month.
Abe, who is keen on a greater global role and presence of Japanese troops, also stressed that his country wants to continue to fulfill its responsibility in the international community.
Separately, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki expressed hope that public order in Iraq will be achieved through Al-Maliki's policies to tackle the security issue in Baghdad, while reiterating Japan's continued support for the Iraqi people.
Besides humanitarian assistance, Japan, a key donor to Iraq, has also pledged to provide Iraq a total of USD 5 billion in aid for its reconstruction for a four-year period from 2004 to 2007, including USD 1.5 billion in grants.
Last month, Tokyo also announced it is to provide new emergency grant aid worth about USD 104.5 million to Iraq to help improve its security and basic services such as health and food supply.
The government is also making arrangements to invite Al-Maliki next month, following the upcoming visit of Iraqi Vice President Tareq Al-Hashimi starting on Wednesday.(end) mk.
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