Thread: Operation Iraqi Freedom/Multi-National Force

Art, you old soldier, you made some good points, especially the idea that those in public office--or, imo, any public servant involved in policy making--should be required to have served in the military. No, I amend that, they should serve in the military in one of the battle MOS, i.e., a ground-pounding grunt, artillery, mechanized, etc. As for my part, I am ex-Ranger-Airborne, 2nd/75th Rangers. I wasn't a lifer, but those years counted hard none the less. Just being in the military, though, doesn't necessarily mean squat; you need that part of it that hurts down deep, something significant to make you think about your fellow man in ways you wouldn't have dreamed of as a civilian--infantry will do some of that. One thing is for sure, the punks that run the show as politicians now don't know anything of military service other than to throw young men and women to war in the same irresponsible manner done in the Viet Nam days. Civilians never seem to learn, but soldiers never forget.

Best regards,

Thelema

Originally Posted by Thelema

Art, you old soldier, you made some good points, especially the idea that those in public office--or, imo, any public servant involved in policy making--should be required to have served in the military. No, I amend that, they should serve in the military in one of the battle MOS, i.e., a ground-pounding grunt, artillery, mechanized, etc. As for my part, I am ex-Ranger-Airborne, 2nd/75th Rangers. I wasn't a lifer, but those years counted hard none the less. Just being in the military, though, doesn't necessarily mean squat; you need that part of it that hurts down deep, something significant to make you think about your fellow man in ways you wouldn't have dreamed of as a civilian--infantry will do some of that. One thing is for sure, the punks that run the show as politicians now don't know anything of military service other than to throw young men and women to war in the same irresponsible manner done in the Viet Nam days. Civilians never seem to learn, but soldiers never forget.

Best regards,

Thelema

Question, who did you vote for in the '04 election?

Originally Posted by Bungalobill

Question, who did you vote for in the '04 election?

I don't see it as your business, but I'll answer: I voted Democrat--would have liked to have had an electable Libertarian to vote for, but, there you go.

Thelema

Originally Posted by Thelema

I don't see it as your business, but I'll answer: I voted Democrat--would have liked to have had an electable Libertarian to vote for, but, there you go.

Thelema

At least we have that much in common. I wanted an electable Libertarian as well, as I consider that my official party membership, but instead went with Peroutka as a similarly guaranteed losing vote. I feel that the two party approach is killing this nation. 2008 doesnt look any more appealing, but I think its time to oust any candidate appearing Bush-like.

Originally Posted by kawih2750

Thanks for this blog on Gen Petraeus. I am glad to know he has no "soft edges". The military now needs to provide the leadership the politicians lack. Soft edges need not apply.

It was said some time ago that diplomacy precedes war, but when war becomes necessary, let the soldiers do what they do best (a paraphrase on my part). It doesn't matter that the Clintons' and Edwards' now say they lament their vote in Congress. They made the vote. Let the soldier do his job and back him to the end. Let him right your mistake.

General Petraeus, with the fine American soldiers that surround him, will get the job done, if the politicians will just get out of the way (this is Vietnam deja vu all over again). There is a simple expression for it for it in the military: lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.

At the same time, wars are not won by Generals, they are won by Privates, Corporals, Sergeants, Lieutenants and Captains. They are the ones that lead and create success. Petraeus will not be successful unless those Sergeants and Captains are. So if this fails, you can't blame Petraeus; the military will not have failed. If the politicians keep interfering, they will have failed...again.

What we don't need is people making decisions that affect our boys today, when those people, for the most part, have never stood a day in any boots, let alone our boys'.

Personally I think a tour in uniform would clear the minds of many of the decision makers. Perhaps we should amend the Constitution so that any public office holder must have served. Maybe the decisions could be more based in reality. As it is, we have folks who have never bent over to pick up a single piece of trash deciding if the garbage collectors are doing their jobs.

God Bless America,

Art Myrick, 1SG, US Army (Retired)

I agree with your post 100+%! The only thing I saw that I would have changed is that they would be required to serve in a combat mos. Then they would know what war is! They would soon find out that it could not be won by someone sitting on their but in DC.

Military, economic progress continues, officials say
Thursday, 02 August 2007


From left: Paul Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation; U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman and Philip Reeker, counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, discussed economic and political efforts underway to assist the government of Iraq U.S. Army photo by Jennifer Fulk, Combined Press Information Center.BAGHDAD — Military officials discussed current efforts in Iraq at the Combined Press Information Center Wednesday.

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman; Paul Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, and Philip Reeker, counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, discussed economic and political efforts underway to assist the government of Iraq.

Bergner opened the conference by talking about the building “tactical momentum” in the sixth week of the surge. Operations from Iraqi and Coalition forces made progress in a number of fronts, he said.

“We continue to target the networks and leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the special groups, and are steadily chipping away at both sets of extremists,” Bergner said. “We are seeing progress not just in the number of terrorist leaders that are captured or killed but also in the courage of the Iraqi people, their support for their security forces, and their purposeful stand against violence.”

Bergner said tips from the Iraqi people are instrumental in the current success against insurgents. Last month, Coalition forces received around 23,000 tips, which is about four times as much during the period last year.

Coalition efforts to reach tribal leaders in Iraq are also showing progress, Bergner said.

“In just the past three weeks, four different communities north and west of Baghdad have joined other communities in declaring their opposition to al-Qaeda and pledging to work with their countrymen to stop the violence,” Bergner said.

Information from Iraqis and cooperation with tribal leaders has direct correlation with a recent jump in weapons cache discoveries, Bergner said. Coalition forces have discovered more weapons stockpiles in the past six months than they have all of last year.

“We are achieving that progress because of the breadth of our operations, because of our focus on extremist’s sanctuaries and operating bases, and most importantly because of the precise information from Iraqi citizens,” Bergner said.

Brinkley provided an initial progress report for Coalition efforts in industrial and economic revitalization. Since last fall, economic teams have been working in stabilized areas of Iraq to restore economic activity.

“Our focus has been on several areas and most visibly the effort to restore production operations in the large former state-run industries of Iraq,” Brinkley said. “And we've undertaken this in partnership with our command and in partnership with the provincial reconstruction team leadership in the provinces.”

Brinkley highlighted the restart of four operations: the Iskandariah industrial works, a clothing factory in Najaf, a ceramics factory in Ramadi and the state-run factory for leather industries in Baghdad. Several other businesses are slated to reopen across Iraq in the next two weeks, Bremer said.

Reeker spoke about the importance of provincial reconstruction teams, small civilian and military units that assist local governments in Iraq, which he said boaster moderates, promote reconciliation and support counterinsurgency operations.

“The emphasis we've had is on shaping the political environment rather than on building infrastructure,” Reeker said. “Really the PRT is designed to kick-start the developmental processes and short-term successes that can give momentum for longer term development.

The Iraq PRT program supports decentralization of government services which vitally important we believe and in accordance with the 2005 referendum on the Iraqi constitution which mandates more provincial powers.”

Reeker said that helping to provide local governments the ability to deliver essential services to Iraqi citizens. This, in turn, reinforces stability in the area.

“In Ninawa, for instance, the PRT there helped establish the Mosul branch of the central criminal court of Iraq which has already tried over 170 terrorism cases and brought 96 militants to justice,” Reeker said. “Also with the assistance of the PRT, the Ninawa provincial government obtained 241 million dollars from the central government for reconstruction and infrastructure improvements.”



U.S. Army Story by Sgt. Matthew McLaughlin, Combined Press Information Center

35th Street Market open for business
Thursday, 02 August 2007
By Pfc. Nathaniel Smith
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs



Sgt. 1st Class Gannon Edgy, a platoon sergeant with Troop A, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, from Brunswick, Ga., checks out a local merchant's wares at the 35th Street Market in southern Baghdad, July 12. Over 50 new shops have opened since 1-4 Cav has taken over the area of operations. Photo by Pfc. Nathaniel Smith, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.BAGHDAD — Seven weeks ago, the citizens of east Doura couldn’t walk down 35th Street. Seven weeks ago, there would have been an explosive or gunfire waiting for them.

Seven weeks ago, the Raiders weren’t in the area.

That’s how long the Soldiers of Troop A, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division have been overseeing the security of the 35th Street market in southern Baghdad’s Rashid District.

In those few weeks, approximately 20 shops have already opened up, and there hasn’t been a single explosive attack.

Capt. Nicholas Cook, the commander of Troop A, 1-4 Cav. from Lansing, Mich., said while the northern section of the street has become a hub of economic activity, the unit is not ready to sit back on its haunches.

“We want the whole street to come back,” he said. “Hopefully more businesses will open up on the southern end of 35th Street, and they’ll continue to open up.”

Sgt. 1st Class Gannon Edgy, a platoon sergeant with Troop A, 1-4 Cav., from Brunswick, Ga., said his Soldiers are noticing the difference.

“When we first took over, people didn’t want to stop and talk to us,” he said. “Now, locals seek us out to talk to us.”

Capt. William Johnson, a business analyst with the 4th BCT’s embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team from Minnetonka, Minn., said success at the 35th Street Market coincides with the overall strategy in Iraq.

“Economics and governance are important within the (Counter-Insurgency) strategy that Gen. (David) Petraeus developed to allow the Iraqis to stand on their own,” Johnson said. “Ultimately, if we develop the governance capacity for the Iraqis, they can govern themselves in a responsible fashion.

“Then we can go home, and equivalent to that, if we can build up the economy, we can put people to work. People won’t be doing things that are detrimental to themselves or U.S. troops.”

In an area where al-Qaida had a foothold, where the terrorists could move unabated, citizens of Iraq can now find real estate offices, restaurants, auto parts stores, and computer stores in the market. Cook said this would not be the case without the relationships his Soldiers have developed.

“They work hard with the people, they talk with the people, they make people feel that we are not strangers, and that we are actually part of the community,” Cook said. “Just making them feel that we are there for their security. The troopers worked really hard to become part of this community.”

For leaders like Edgy, the type of fight has shifted dramatically in a few short years, and therefore, so must the tactics.

“(This deployment) is a more three-dimensional, four-dimensional war,” he said. “It went from knowing the enemy to having to hunt and fight the enemy. It’s become an intelligence battlefield.

“It’s like your own hometown. You have to know what’s going on.”

Johnson said 1-4 Cav’s hard work has paid off, but there’s still more to do.

“We are making some success, but given more time we can potentially grow our success,” he said. “For example, (the success) we’ve had in Doura Market to other economic areas within the sector.”

Edgy said to grow the success on 35th Street, the merchants must have a voice in the happenings in their neighborhood.

“Letting shop owners know the plan and ask their opinion,” he said. “Making them feel involved is the key.”

MPs mentor their Iraqi counterparts in Baqubah
Thursday, 02 August 2007
By Staff Sgt. Tony White
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment



Iraqi police officers train on proper handling techniques at a police station in Baqubah, Iraq, June 10. The class was taught by an international police liaison officer (IPLO) working with Soldiers from the 571st Military Police Company from Fort Lewis, Wash. IPLOs and MPs guide and mentor the police officers as they take on an increasing role in their community. Photo by Sgt. Anthony White, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Tikrit.BAQUBAH — While combat operations in Diyala province continue to be the focus of many around the world, the developing relationship between the Iraqi security forces in the area and their military trainers is often overlooked.

Soldiers of the 571st Military Police Company, from Fort Lewis, Wash., feel their relationship with Baqubah’s police force has grown since the unit arrived in December 2006.

The relationship has formed through the Soldiers’ mentorship, said Iraqi police officer 1st Lt. Khaleid Ibrahem Rahem. The MPs meet with the Iraq police several times a week and provide training, guidance and basic supplies, fostering a positive relationship between U.S. and Iraqi forces.

“The Americans come here and help us a lot with things we need,” Khalid said. “The cooperation between the local nationals, Iraqi police and U.S. forces has made them into one family.”

During a typical visit, the Soldiers and Iraqi policemen cover topics specific to the needs of the police station, although in many cases the needs are similar. At a recent visit to the Tahrir and Buhriz stations, both sides sat down and examined administrative, logistical and force protection issues.

“One of the things we are trying to get them to do is to learn how to use their own systems to re-equip and re-supply themselves with ammunition, uniforms and the force protection surrounding their stations,” Parker said.

De****e the progress local officers are making, military police Soldiers still feel their Iraqi counterparts have trouble believing in their abilities. The Soldiers have attempted to fix this issue using their budding relationship.

“We try to encourage them that they are a strong force and they do have the capabilities to defend this community,” Parker said. “We are trying to keep mentoring that throughout the day.”

“Our ultimate goal is to pull out from the stations and from the outside watch them do their own thing,” Parker concluded. “But they feel like we need to be there right now. But with training and equipment that is going to change.”

ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ LEADER KILLED IN MOSUL GOVERNORATE
Iraqi forces in Mosul killed three members of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq on August 1, including the so-called local amir, identified as Safi, according to an August 2 coalition press release. The insurgents were traveling in a pickup truck when they were identified by Iraqi soldiers and police carrying out a cordon-and-search operation. Iraqi Army personnel chased the vehicle down and exchanged gunfire with the insurgents, killing Safi and his bodyguards. Iraqi civilians in Al-Miqdadiyah assisted police on July 29 in detaining three Islamic State of Iraq leaders, according to a second press release dated August 2. Diyala Governorate tribal members informed the Iraqi police that they suspected an attack on the nearby village of Dali Abbas. A vehicle carrying the insurgents was stopped and inspected, and police found two automatic rifles, a laptop computer, and documents detailing past and future operations. "De****e threats by Al-Qaeda, the Al-Qaeda leaders were successfully detained and transported to an [Iraqi Army] detention facility for further questioning, demonstrating the steadfastness of the Iraqi police," the press release noted. KR

IA, Stryker leaders assess progress in Baqubah
Friday, 03 August 2007


A Soldier guards a door while clearing a building on the outskirts of Baqubah, Iraq, June 23. The Soldier is with Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, from Fort Lewis, Wash. The B Co. Soldiers and Soldiers of 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, with 4-2 SBCT, have sealed off Baqubah as their sister Stryker Brigade, 3-2 SBCT, also from Fort Lewis, Wash., continues to clear the city of Baqubah in a major offensive known as Arrowhead Ripper, launched on the city and its outskirts on June 18. Arrowhead Ripper aims to kill or capture all insurgents in Baqubah by sealing off the city and any avenues of escape. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.BAQUBAH — Leaders from the 5th Iraqi Army Division and the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, traveled together to assess progress in several neighborhoods of Baqubah, Iraq, July 31.

As Operation Arrowhead Ripper continues, the effort has shifted from combat operations to reconstruction and humanitarian missions. The Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and provincial council members are leading the majority of the projects. Many residents have joined in to do their part to improve their city.

Lt. Col. Wa’el Hashim, the civil affairs officer for the 5th IA Div., and members of the division visited west Baqubah neighborhoods Khatoon and Mufrek to confirm whether or not damaged infrastructure has been fixed and to determine what other services require immediate attention such as water, power, food and reparations to civilians.

During this mission, Wa’el rolled up his sleeves and got his hands dirty as he helped pull out a damaged water main line from the muddy ground, helped residents carry bags of rice and flour at a food distribution point and helped the division engineers get started in clearing streets of debris and trash.

“You’ve got the (Iraqi Army) embracing civil military operations and fixing to help the community,” said Lt. Col. Fred Johnson, deputy commanding officer for 3-2 SBCT, from Fort Lewis, Wash. “And you have a very active municipal government working with the Army.”

Johnson believes these neighborhoods are heading in the right direction.

“What wins the war is normalcy, the work that’s being done by the Iraqi army, the municipal government, the civilians – by those people that want to take hold of their future – that’s where the war is won,” Johnson said. “And it’s not by us doing it. It’s by the Iraqis doing it.”

Johnson said leaders at the government center in downtown Baqubah are taking the recent Iraqi soccer team win of the Asian Cup to heart.

“The assistant to the governor for the provincial distribution system was the one who said it – ‘We can be just like the soccer team. The soccer team has Sunni, Shia, Kurdish – and there’s no sectarian issues. We need to be more like our soccer team. That’s the same thing we need to do as a nation.’”

Johnson said it’s this kind of thinking that will lead Baqubah and the rest of Iraq to a stable and secure future. With leaders like Wa’el, he believes it will happen.

“The last three weeks here in Baqubah have, without question, been the most rewarding three weeks of my career, because I’ve seen what good Iraq leadership looks like.”



(U.S. Army Story by Sgt. Armando Monroig , 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

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