combat deaths down sharply in iraq

US Combat Deaths Show Sharp Year-to-Year Decline in Iraq By Kevin Mooney CNSNews.com Staff Writer March 31, 2008 (CNSNews.com) - U.S. combat casualties in Iraq during the first 28 days of March are down almost 60 percent from where they were in the same 28-day period of 2007, and those casualties also have declined from where they stood in January, according to a Cybercast News Service analysis of U.S. Defense Department data. Moreover, the number of combat deaths connected with the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) also has experienced a significant reduction, the analysis shows. The Pentagon reported 25 combat casualties for the first 28 days in March, compared with 62 for the same period in 2007. The instances of IED-related casualties also are down sharply from where they were a year ago. There have been 11 such casualties reported so far in the current month versus 46 in the first 28 days of March last year. Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, who previously served as the second in command of U.S. forces in Iraq, commented on the use of IEDs in response to a question from Cybercast News Service earlier this month, immediately following his lecture at the Heritage Foundation. The instances of IED-related combat deaths have now reached their lowest levels since the beginning of 2004, he observed. The reductions have been particularly significant in Baghdad, where al Qaeda has been driven out and pushed into the northern part of the country, he said. Although the use of IEDs has increased recently in Mosul, U.S. offensive operations were beginning to show results in this area as well, Odierno added. Mosul is the capital city of the Ninawa province.A Cybercast News Service analysis shows the downward trend in U.S. casualty figures began in June of 2007 and accelerated in the final months of the year. Between June and December of 2007, there were 305 combat-related casualties versus 423 in 2006. That represents a 30 percent decline in combat casualties from 2006 to 2007 for the same seven-month period. The combat casualties reported last December were the lowest of any month since March 2006. Combat deaths did spike somewhat in January as the U.S. launched offensive operations against al Qaeda strongholds in the northern part of the country. Fred Kagan, a scholar with the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a chief architect of the surge strategy, told Cybercast News Service in a previous interview that he anticipates seeing the causality figures rise as U.S. forces pursue al Qaeda operatives in the Diyala, Ninawa, Kirkuk and Salahuddin Provinces. Now that al Qaeda has been expelled from Baghdad and Anbar Province, the U.S. is in a stronger position to pursue "a defeated enemy" in other parts of Iraq, he explained. There were 39 combat related deaths in January compared with just 14 in December of 2007. However, the Pentagon reports for February and March of this year show the casualty figures have settled down to the levels recorded toward the end of last year. The U.S. military is now better equipped to employ counterinsurgency strategies as a result of military doctrines that have been forged in just the past few years, Pete Hegseth, an Iraqi war veteran who served 101st Airborne in 2005 and 2006, told Cybercast News Service in an interview."The year of 2007 will been seen as the year of counterinsurgency. It was the year Americans figured out Iraq and learned how to protect the population," he said. "We are more prepared now because we have a doctrine, that's how we train." Looking back to 2005 any infantry platoon leader who wanted to train for counterinsurgency had to fall back on "dusty manuals from the 1980s" that were not applicable to the dynamics on the ground in Iraq, Hegseth explained. Hegseth now serves as executive director of Vets for Freedom, a non-partisan organization of combat veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vets for Freedom is currently touring the nation in an effort to focus public attention on the need for success in both conflicts.

US engaging iranian shia militias alongside ISF

Iraqi Security Forces, Coalition forces target terrorists, kill 26 BAGHDAD, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers killed 26 terrorists during operations March 27 in Baghdad. While patrolling in Adhamiyah, soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment were attacked by small arms fire. The soldiers returned fire in self-defense, killing five terrorists and wounding an additional five terrorists. The wounded were treated and detained by Iraqi National Police. Later, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, reported receiving indirect fire at a combat outpost in New Baghdad, and immediately following the initial attack, soldiers were attacked with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Coalition forces returned fire and killed two terrorists. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, also came under a small arms fire attack while patrolling north of Baghdad. One terrorist was killed in the engagement. Soldiers from 2-16 Inf. Regt. killed three terrorists in New Baghdad. The ground force was conducting a dismounted patrol when they saw the suspects, who were armed with illegal weapons. Perceiving hostile intent, the soldiers engaged the men, killing three. Soldiers from 1-2 SCR were attacked by small arms fire by two terrorists while patrolling on the outskirts of Sadr City. An air weapons team in a rotary wing aircraft conducting surveillance positively identified the terrorists and killed them. In Kadhamiyah, Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, were attacked while manning a checkpoint in the area. An air weapons team flying a rotary wing aircraft was called in to assist the ground force. The air weapons team fired one hellfire missile was fired, killing three terrorists. Thirty minutes later, the checkpoint came under a second, heavier attack by terrorists. The air weapons team engaged with 30mm rounds, killing an additional 10 terrorists. “We cannot stress enough how relentless we will be in our pursuit of those who attack Iraqi and Coalition forces and who terrorize Iraqi citizens,” said Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff, MND-B. We will pursue them and bring them to justice.”

iraqi army to lead fight in basra

Iraqi army to lead fight in Basra March 27, 2008 By Sara A. Carter - U.S. military and counterterrorism officials say they expect clashes with Shi'ite militias in Basra to escalate in the upcoming weeks, but U.S. commanders are not likely to move forces into the region, leaving the Iraqi army to lead the fight. The U.S. military has been providing air and liaison support to Iraqi forces for the past two days as the fighting intensified in both the southern city of Basra and Shi'ite neighborhoods of Baghdad, leading to the death of nearly 50 people in both cities and injuring nearly 200 in the battle. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has been camping in Basra to monitor the crackdown, issued a warning to the Shi'ite militias yesterday that if they didn't lay down weapons within the next 72 hours they would be facing severe consequences. "The prime minister is personally leading the efforts," a U.S. military official in Baghdad said. "We have some small liaison elements with them and will provide close air support if they request it, but no intent right now to move any forces closer or down there," the official added. "Remember, this is a province that was turned over to Iraq." In Baghdad, several volleys of rockets slammed into the U.S.-protected Green Zone for the third day this week, and the U.S. Embassy said three Americans were seriously wounded, the Associated Press reported. At least eight Iraqis were killed elsewhere in the capital by rounds that apparently fell short, police said. Two American soldiers were killed yesterday in separate attacks in Baghdad, the military said. Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia agreed to a six-month cease-fire in August, and extended it by another six months from March 1. The current fighting in the oil city of Basra threatens to end that cease-fire. The Sadrists are angry over recent raids and detentions, saying U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of the August cease-fire to crack down on the movement, the AP reported. They have accused rival Shi'ite parties, which control Iraqi security forces, of engineering the arrests to prevent them from mounting an effective campaign after the Iraqi parliament agreed in February to hold provincial elections by the fall. According to U.S. counterterrorism officials, Sheik al-Sadr's militia is fractured and the various outlaw groups are operating without cohesion. Sheik al-Sadr does not have complete control of his group. "The militias associated with Muqtada al-Sadr run the gamut from moderate to violent, and there doesn't appear to be unified day-to-day command and control over them," a counterterrorism official said. "As a result, some of the militias may feel emboldened to use violence. ... So it's entirely conceivable that we'll see more violence from some [Mahdi Army] elements in the days and weeks to come." The fighting threatens to destabilize various parts of Iraq after relative calm over the past year, and poses serious challenges to the fledgling al-Maliki government. Multi-National Forces-Iraq spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner said yesterday the Iraqi government"s decision to send troops to Basra was targeted at criminal elements in the region and not the Mahdi Army. Speaking to reporters, he said it was "completely" an Iraqi mission, with nearly 16,000 Iraqi police officers and 9,014 Iraqi army troops involved. Mr. al-Maliki said that he took the actions because "the lawlessness is going on under religious or political cover along with smuggling of oil, weapons and drugs." Meanwhile, President Bush attended a 90-minute meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon yesterday to discuss the impact the Iraq and Afghan wars have on U.S. troops and overall global security threats, the Defense Department said. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, led the meeting that focused on "the stress of six-plus years of fighting the global war on terror" on the overall health of U.S. military personnel, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. Defense officials say stress caused to troops by extended deployments; limited troops stretched far too thin and challenges confronting U.S. forces in Afghanistan — where intelligence suggests a resurgence of al Qaeda in the tribal regions — were topics discussed at the closed-door meeting. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, briefed the president on Monday, along with U.S. Central Command Chief Adm. William J. Fallon, whose last day in office is tomorrow. Gen. Petraeus is preparing for his April testimony on progress in Iraq and Mr. Bush is expected to support the general's decision to pause troop withdrawal beyond what's planned.

General petraeus to bring good news about iraq

Petraeus to bring 'good news' on Iraq Colin Freeman The Australian March 24, 2008 GENERAL David Petraeus, who leads the US military in Iraq, will report to Congress next month on his troop surge, in which almost 30,000 extra soldiers have been drafted into the five-year conflict. No one knows what he will say; not even President George Bush gets a preview. But the news is expected to be good or at least better than anything else that has come out of Iraq since the invasion. Violence overall is down about 60% on last year. Al-Qaeda is on the run, its former allies among Iraq's Sunni Muslims having turned against it. Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militias are on a voluntary ceasefire, thanks to the cowing of their al-Qaeda enemies. And many ordinary Iraqis finally feel like things may be turning the corner. Mr Bush is upbeat and last week felt sufficiently confident to declare the "high cost in lives and treasure" had been worth it. One of the few people not talking things up is General Petraeus himself. "We don't talk turning points, there are no lights at the end of the tunnel, we don't do victory dances and we've moved the champagne to the back of the fridge," he said. Neither he nor his close colleague, US ambassador Ryan Crocker, was an optimist or a pessimist, he said. Washington plans to urge Britain to launch a surge in Basra to combat increasing violence in southern Iraq, Britain's Sunday Mirror reported yesterday. Britain, which has about 4100 troops in Iraq, transferred control to Iraqi forces in December, but it could now be asked to step up its role again, the paper said. It quoted an unnamed senior US military source saying: "Three big militias are currently engaged in a particularly bloody battle in southern Iraq. US and Iraqi forces are involved in a huge operation to attack an al-Qaeda stronghold in Mosul. "But after that, the plan is to turn the coalition's attention on to Basra and we will be urging the British to surge into the city. "If they do not have enough troops, then they will be offered US marines to help out." The good news for the Americans is exemplified by Fallujah and Ramadi, both former rebel strongholds in Anbar province west of Baghdad. They have symbolised everything that was wrong with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Both were home to large numbers of Saddam Hussein's fellow Sunnis, who turned against the occupation after his downfall. Fallujah's main road was where, in March 2004, four US security contractors were mutilated by a mob and hung from a bridge. But today Ramadi rivals Fallujah as one of the most peaceful cities in Iraq. "If you walk through markets in Ramadi, surprisingly, you will see that they are flourishing," General Petraeus said. "Fallujah, too, has sprung back to life. "The attack levels have gone to a level not consistently seen like this since 2005. That is not satisfactory, but it is significantly better than a year or so ago." TELEGRAPH, AFP KEY POINTS■Ordinary Iraqis feel like things might have turned the corner. ■Plan to turn coalition attention to Basra. ■Violence in Iraq is down about 60% on last year. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/03/23/1206206922843.html

hundreds of diyala sheikhs meet in reconciliation conference

Hundreds Of Diyala Tribal Leaders Meet To Support Reconciliation http://patdollard.com/2008/03/hundreds-of-diyala-tribal-leaders-meet-to-support-reconciliation/ Pictured: Diyala Sheiks and other influential leaders met on March 20th. Influential leaders from throughout Diyala province gathered at a home in Sa’ad Muhammed, Iraq, March 20 to establish tribal support councils throughout the province. More than 1,000 people attended the gathering at the home of Sheik Dura Fayyahd Al-Amiri, arguably the most influential sheik in Diyala, including representatives of the central government, the governor, members of the provincial council, the Iraqi army and police commanders for the province, and sheiks from throughout Diyala. Last month the central government approved the creation of tribal support councils throughout Iraq. The purpose of these councils is for the various tribes throughout the nation to have a voice in government to help with reconciliation and stability. Dr. Fa-Al Niamah Alayawi from the central government’s Implementation and Follow-on Committee for National Reconciliation outlined the role of tribal support councils at the meeting. He said the councils would work for reconciliation between tribes and religious sects, help displaced families return to their homes, advise the provincial government on reconstruction projects, help Sons of Iraq receive jobs in the Iraqi security forces and create social programs in their area. The central government is giving each province 50 million dinar to get the councils up and running. Reconciliation and security were the themes of the day at the meeting. One sheik, using a microphone, exclaimed to the crowd that they are not Sunni, and not Shia, but all Muslims and all Iraqis. “The goal behind this gathering is to bring together the people throughout the province to win them back from al-Qaida and other terrorist groups so that we can work together to achieve security in the province,” said Dura, who hosted the event in his large meeting room and front lawn. “My hope for the future for all of Iraq is that we the people can live together in peace.” Leaders of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, the coalition force unit responsible for Diyala province, were on hand to understand how they could help the process. “The purpose of these committees is for the tribes to work closely with the Iraqi government and coalition forces for better security,” explained Lt. Col. John Steele, deputy commanding officer of 4-2 SBCT. “Part of this was to develop a mechanism to vet the Sons of Iraq for their inclusion in the Iraqi security forces so that these members are vetted through the tribal system as reliable.” The sheiks decided they would establish 25 different councils throughout the province, one for each nahia, or urban area. They also agreed to meet again in Baqouba to iron out more details. “Today was a massive leap forward in the unders people and their commitment to the betterment of Iraq.”

Al qaeda leaders call for attacks on us and israel

Qaida No. 2 Urges Attacks on Israel, US Mar 24 01:47 AM US/EasternBy LEE KEATHAssociated Press Writer CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims in a new audiotape released Monday to strike Jewish and American targets in revenge for Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this month. The al-Zawahri tape came on the heels of a message from Osama bin Laden, who called for a holy war to liberate the Palestinian territories—a new push by the terror network's leadership to use widespread anger over the Gaza violence to whip up support. The authenticity of the 4 minute, 44-second audiotape could not be independently confirmed. But the voice on it resembled that of al- Zawahri on previous audio and videotapes confirmed to be his. It was posted on an Islamic militant Web site where al-Qaida usually releases its statements, and a banner advertising the tape had the logo of al- Qaida's media arm, Al-Sahab. "Muslims, today is your day. Strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all those who participated in the attack on Muslims," al-Zawahri said. "Monitor the targets, collect money, prepare the equipment, plan with precision, and then—while relying on God—assault, seeking martyrdom and paradise." Israel launched a weeklong offensive in Gaza that ended in early March, seeking to put down Palestinian militants firing rockets against nearby Israeli towns. The Israeli assault killed more than 120 people, including many civilians. Al-Zawahri said attacks should not be limited to places in Israel and the Palestinian territories. "Today there is no room for he who says that we should only fight the Jews in Palestine," he said. "Let us strike their interests everywhere, just like they gathered against us from everywhere." "Let them know that they will get blood for every dollar they spend in the killing of the Muslims, and for every bullet they fire at us, a volcano will turn back on them," he said, referring to American military aid and other ties to Israel. "They cannot expect to support Israel, then live in peace while the Jews are killing our fugitive and besieged people." AL-Zawahri referred to the publishing of a cartoon seen as insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad in Danish papers. The cartoons, which were first printed in 2006 and reprinted last month, angered many Muslims. "They will never be able to insult and make a mockery out of our Prophet, peace and prayers of Allah upon him," al-Zawahri said. Al-Zawahri accused Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of colluding with Israel in the siege of Gaza. Egypt has sealed its border with the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group Hamas took over the territory last year. He said Mubarak "repeats the same dirty role" as the Lebanese Phalangists—a Christian militia that was allied with Israel in Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war and was blamed in the massacre of Palestinian refugees in the Beirut camps of Sabra and Shatila. "The roles are the same, even if the faces change—the same betrayal even if the names have changed," said al-Zawahri.

Political progress: iraqis clear way for provincial vote

Iraqis clear way for provincial vote http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080319/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&printer=1;_ylt=AiE5hm8qqZMcP8hJaM_z8lsUewgF By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press WriterWed Mar 19, 4:59 PM ET Under strong U.S. pressure, Iraq's presidential council signed off Wednesday on a measure paving the way for provincial elections by the fall, a major step toward easing sectarian rifts as the nation marks the fifth anniversary of the war. The decision by the council, made up of the country's president and two vice presidents, lays the groundwork for voters to choose new leaders of Iraq's 18 provinces. The elections open the door to greater Sunni representation in regional administrations. Many Sunnis boycotted the last election for provincial officials in January 2005, enabling Shiites and Kurds to win a disproportionate share of power at the expense of the Sunnis — even in areas with substantial Sunni populations. That in turn helped fuel the Sunni-led insurgency and the wave of sectarian bloodletting which drove the country to the brink of civil war before President Bush rushed nearly 30,000 U.S. reinforcements to Iraq last year. The decision by the council came two days after Vice President Dick Cheney visited Baghdad to press Iraqi leaders to overcome their differences and take advantage of a lull in violence to make progress in power-sharing deals to heal sectarian and ethnic divisions. A spokesman for the biggest Sunni bloc, Saleem Abdullah, said Cheney pushed hard for progress on the provincial elections as well as a long-stalled measure to share the country's oil wealth. Last month, Iraq's parliament passed the bill calling for provincial elections by Oct. 1. But the presidential council blocked implementation after the Shiite vice president, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, raised objections to some of the provisions.That outraged followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who are eager for elections to take power away from Abdul-Mahdi's party in the vast, oil-rich Shiite heartland of southern Iraq. Al-Sadr's supporters believed their Shiite rivals were trying to delay the vote to hold on to power.Although many details must still be worked out before a vote can be scheduled, the council's decision Wednesday makes it likely that a vote can take place later this year. "This is a good, positive step to enhance national unity and defuse the political tension," Nasser al-Ani, a Sunni lawmaker and presidential council spokesman, told The Associated Press.

surge of optimism in iraq

Surge of Optimism http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=MzQyNTU4Njg2NWE4ODA1ZTM2NDI5MjU3ZGEzNzI4NTE= A recent poll of Iraqis suggests a more favorable view of Americans, and more importantly, of the structures of democracy.By Richard Nadler National Review Iraqis regard their safety, well-being, and prospects as substantially improved compared to last summer (when the surge was in progress), and last spring (when it was just beginning), according to a newly released poll of 2,228 Iraqis conducted by D3 Systems and KA Research, Ltd. on behalf of a consortium of new organizations, including ABC News and the BBC News.Americans read Iraqi polls in terms of how much “they” like “us.” And in this context, it is pleasing to note that we are uniformly more liked, or less hated, by Iraqis of all regions and sects, according to the consortium’s post-surge survey. But the purpose of American polity in Iraq is not to poll the “Arab street,” but to structure that street so that its opinion matters. A more instructive approach, therefore, focuses on how Iraqis regard the structures of their new democracy.Taken February 12-20, 2008, this was the first major post-surge survey of Iraqis. Its scope and methodology are comparable to polls that the ABC/BBC consortium commissioned in March and August of 2007. Compared to last summer, the percentage of Iraqis who regard their own security as good has risen 19 points, from 43 percent to 62 percent. The percentage of persons who describe their own life as “going well” has risen 16 points, from 39 percent to 55 percent. Sixty-five percent of Iraqis now describe the availability of household necessities as good, compared to 39 percent last summer. In August 2007, Iraqis expecting things to get worse over the next year outnumbered those expecting things to get better by a margin of 39 percent to 29 percent. Since then, civilian casualties have fallen by 60 percent. In the post-surge survey, the optimists out-polled the pessimists, 45 percent to 19 percent.The optimism reported in the survey is particularly impressive given its methodology. The ABC/BBC consortium sample contains 30 percent Sunni Arabs. This “sample” stands in marked contrast to population estimates by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The latter estimates that Sunni Arabs comprise 12 percent to 22 percent of Iraq’s population. The decision to exclude religion and ethnic weighting to a sample of Iraqis that is 30 percent Sunni Arab has put the ABC/BBC survey series at odds with other major Iraq pollsters, notably Oxford Research Group and Opinion Research Business. The decision seems particularly odd, given the fulsome coverage afforded the Sunni refugee crisis by both ABC and BBC — the flight of several million Sunni Arabs to Jordan, Syria, and other nations following the overthrow of Saddam. The result has been a series of ABC/BBC polls substantially more pessimistic than others of equal scope. Sunni Arab tribes controlled most things under the Baathists; Sunni Arabs had the most to lose when the regime was overthrown. They have suffered from the invasion itself, from the inevitable Shiite/Kurd ascendancy, and from the brutal “anti-collaboration” machinations of al-Qaeda. Their polled opinions reflect this experience. An example of the influence of the consortium’s liberal estimate of Sunni Arab population is as follows. The ABC/BBC poll reported last spring that by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin, Iraqis considered attacks on coalition troops “acceptable.” This finding was derived from three components: Sunnis, who “accepted” such attacks by 93 percent to 6 percent; Shiites, who rejected such attacks 65 percent to 35 percent; and Kurds, who opposed anti-coalition violence 93 percent to 7 percent. Only the double-weight of Sunnis in the sample allowed news organizations to report (as many did) that most Iraqis approved anti-coalition violence. In the current survey, Iraqis overall oppose such attacks 57 percent to 42 percent. The percentage of Sunnis who find anti-coalition violence unacceptable has increased from 6 percent to 37 percent. But once again, the double weight given to the 62 percent of Sunnis who continue to approve of anti-coalition violence — at least in the abstract — attenuates the reported improvement in relations between Iraqis and the coalition. Do Iraqis love us? No. The Multi-National Force (MNF) is an army of occupation, and 99 percent of Iraqis polled want it to leave. They just don’t want it to leave anytime soon. Fifty-nine percent of those polled want coalition troops to stay until security is restored, the government is stable, and/or the Iraqi security forces are stronger, while another 4 percent wanted Coalition troops to stay indefinitely. Support for a continued MNF presence increased among both Shiites and Sunnis. There are some specific reasons why Iraqis, who do not love us, want us to hang around: 66 percent want our security assistance “in terms of Turkey”; 68 percent want our security assistance “in terms of Iran”; 73 percent want our help in reconstruction; 76 percent want our help in training and equipping the Iraqi army; and 80 percent want us “participating in security operations against al-Qaeda or foreign Jihadis in Iraq.” The important results of this poll relate not to how Iraqis regard us, but to how they regard the institutions we have mentored, and the reconciliation we are fostering. Here are some of the consortium’s post-surge findings: Attitude toward a “Unified Iraq, with one central government in Baghdad”: 66 percent positive, up 8 percent since last spring; Confidence in Iraqi national army: 65 percent, up 4 percent since last spring; Confidence in Iraqi police: 67 percent, up 3 percent since last spring; Confidence in local militia groups: 22 percent, down 14 percent since last spring; Confidence in the anti-al-Qaeda “Awakening Groups” among Sunni Arabs: 73 percent; Confidence in the anti-al-Qaeda “Awakening Groups” among Shi’ite Arabs: 60 percent; Overall support for allowing former mid- and low-level Baathists to take government jobs: 69 percent, up from 56 percent last spring; Shiite support for allowing former mid- and low-level Baathists to take government jobs: 63 percent, up from 35 percent last spring; Support for the right of previous residents to re-occupy homes expropriated during the insurgency: 88 percent; Opposition to the separation of Iraqis along religious or ethnic lines: 92 percent. In short, cohesion is in, jihad is out; the new institutions are gaining popular support. The Western fascination with the vagaries of the Arab street has been misplaced due to the totalitarian nature of most Middle Eastern societies. The Coalition’s challenge is to create power structures in which the “Arab street” finally matters. This implies the destruction of the masks through which Arab opinion has been filtered in the 20th century: Marxism, pan-Arab nationalism, and jihadism. The end game is not for “us” to help “them,” but for them to effectively help themselves.

new police station opening in baghdad- greater security

Iraqi Police Officers salute their boss as he enters the new Iraqi Police Station in Shat al Taji northwest of Baghdad. Here’s something the Mainstream Media won’t show you… CAMP TAJI — A new era of law was ushered in with the cutting of a ribbon at a ceremony opening the new Iraqi Police station in Shat al Taji March 15. “Our goal is to serve the people and impose the law on all the people,” said Maj. Gen. Kaadim Hameed Sharhaan al Muhamadani, commander of police, Baghdad. The large crowd in attendance hung on his every word and nodded in agreement as Muhamadani spoke about the security of the people, the importance of the new police station and what it will bring to the Taji Qada, which lies northwest of Baghdad. “This is about the security of the people of Iraq,” he said. “Stability and peace were brought here with the help of the Coalition Forces. It is now our time to keep that peace. We will keep that peace by imposing the law for everyone regardless if they are Sunni or Shia.” Breaking through the sectarian violence and uniting the Sunni and Shia people was the theme of the ceremony. This message rang clearly through the crowd and was echoed by Col. Todd B. McCaffrey, commander, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. “The concern is the law, not Sunni or Shia, but protecting all,” McCaffrey said. It was just a year ago that the people of Taji were living in “dark days,” McCaffrey said. There were hardly any businesses open and people lived in fear of terrorists. Today, things have changed in Taji. McCaffrey accredited the peace and stability of the area to the work of the Iraqi Security Forces, which include the Iraqi Police, Iraqi Army and the Abna al- Iraq, or Sons of Iraq. “We are now in control of our towns,” Kodhom said. “We have strong defenses, and we will no longer let the terrorists prevail.” The police station project happened in two steps, said Sheik Nadeem Hatem Sultan al Tamimi, a local leader in Taji. “We first had to take control and rid our town of terrorists,” he said. “Next, we had to establish a police station.” Now those steps are complete and Nadeem hopes the people of Taji will be happy. They now live in peace, and he encourages them to abide by the laws to help keep the peace that was fought so hard for. The newly opened police station has approximately 530 police officers. The officers have gone through rigorous training and are ready to enforce the law, Muhamadani said. “We will do our best to impose the laws,” he said. “No longer will violence prevail.”

The Elite of America join the Service

I never talk about myself on this blog- but this is a story which touches very close. Like John, I went to undergraduate school and then law school and had a successful career in Washington before joining the military to repay my debt to my country. And the truth is, that I have never met anyone in the military I did not almost immediately like or respect. Today, the best and the brightest serve not in the banks of Wall Street- but in the alleys of Ramadi, the souks of Falluja, and the neighborhoods of Mosul and Baghdad. Who Says The Elite Aren't Fit To Serve? By John RenehanSunday, March 16, 2008; B04 Washington Post "John!" called my brother from the living room. "Are you coming out or not?" He and my sister-in-law were eager to start the movie we had rented, but I, lurking in my parents' darkened study, waved them off. While they and the rest of the family were distracted, I had private business to attend to on the home computer. It was December 2001, and I was a New Yorker. Of the innumerable moments of surreality accompanying Sept. 11, 2001's fracturing of our daily lives -- fighter jets circling the city, a pillar of ash rising to the stratosphere, New Yorkers engaging in spontaneous conversation -- here was a doozy: finding myself at my parents' in California for Christmas, nosing furtively about the Internet for information on getting into the U.S. Army's Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Ga. It seemed on the one hand an entirely reasonable thing to be doing, and on the other an outrageous one. Reasonable because the military would probably need the services of motivated citizens in the near future, and I was a motivated citizen. Outrageous because I, a lawyer with no military experience, knew virtually no one from my own background -- comfortable childhood, good education, white-collar career -- who had ever been in the service. Nor had my prior life experience reduced my ignorance of things military. After high school, the students who joined up were the ones I would have expected to do so -- rough dudes with pickup trucks who shot guns on the weekends. In college, I was barely aware of ROTC, except that I would occasionally see groups of cadets jogging in formation across campus and think that they must feel so awkward. In law school, I did sign up for "informational interviews" -- they didn't dare hope for actual employment interviews at Berkeley -- with some of the services' JAG Corps representatives and was later informed by a fellow student that I was the only bona fide interviewee. The other students on the roster intended to read statements of protest regarding the Defense Department's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Such experiences over a young lifetime coalesce into prejudice: People like us -- the privileged, frankly -- don't join the military. We wonder about the military world occasionally, and a few of us may actually grow curious enough to investigate serving in a halting sort of way -- lurking in our parents' studies at Christmastime, perhaps -- but that's about as far as it generally goes, or ought to go, we think. The armed forces are for another sort of American. Right? It took me most of a year to get serious and walk a block from my apartment to the recruiting center at 22nd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan, and another year to slog my way through the Army's truly dysfunctional officer recruiting process. During this period I harangued myself continually: How does one train physically for this? Will my 29-year-old body hold up? Am I mentally resilient enough to handle the "suck factor" of an intense program such as OCS? Am I personally forceful enough to be a leader in the military? In short, can I hack it? Which is exactly the question that ought to occur to a rational person in my circumstances. But I think that having no one close to me -- no one I considered like me -- against whose military experiences I could gauge my own potential, caused me greater doubt and anxiety than would have been the case otherwise. Today I am a first lieutenant with a platoon of 50 men. As of October, I have been in the service for three years, and I have spent the past year in Iraq. I believe I've been as successful as any of the other junior officers in my unit. Which ought to surprise me, given my prior prejudices about what sort of person is fit for the military. I was never the captain of the team. In Little League, as George F. Will once confessed, I prayed to walk. I "played guns" as a child but never owned one as an adult. I enjoyed camping and hiking but was hardly a mountaineer. I never took part in an Ironman competition. My pastimes and recreations, in short, little resembled what I imagined to be the off-time activities of the mud-smeared troopers I'd seen slogging through the woods on the Learning Channel. Then one day in 2005, I found myself geared out like those Learning Channel guys, face painted, lugging a 60-pound rucksack and a rifle across Fort Benning and rappelling and picking my way through a dark forest with night-vision goggles on my face, and in my head the prospect of swift punishment at the hands of my trainer should I lose my way in the dark or lose track of any member of my squad. After that, I was on to my first unit to flounder about and find my way as a new officer. Then last year, I found myself amid the maddening impenetrable politics of Anbar province -- sipping chai with sheiks, doling out reconstruction cash, living in an Iraqi police station and wondering just how much good will our hosts really bore toward me and my guys. Along this road I discovered something about myself, and about the military. About myself, I discovered that there were within me -- within everyone -- latent abilities, tendencies, temperaments that only an environment such as this will bring out. And yes, I'm speaking to you bookish types now. However well you may think you know your own pacific constitution, be assured that there is someone more physical and forceful within you -- someone you will meet, given the right circumstances. About the Army, I learned that it can be a hard -- and hardening -- environment, but by and large the people in it are just people. They are not uniquely tough by nature, though they become so through training and preparation and habit. And their toughness is leavened with a deep sense of common humanity -- a basic unquestioning take-them-as-they-are compassion rarely found in the "softer" cosmopolitan world of ambition and sophistication from which I hail. The privileged of prior generations were more likely to consider military service a natural expression of their own privileged relationship to the state -- the least, you might say, that they could do in return for the opportunities the nation had granted them. Consider a young John F. Kennedy working connections to obtain a commission that his health would have denied him otherwise. How many from Harvard pull such strings today? To chalk this up to the ethos of a "simpler," less questioning time would be easy, but it would also be facile. All else being equal, staffing the armed services with citizens from the broadest range of backgrounds is still the best course. Further, we are in a time, and a conflict, in which the unique demands placed upon the military make the need for innovative leadership acute. (My artillery battalion, for example, conducts foot patrols in Ramadi, performs base security, trains Iraqi police recruits, mans outposts in the desert, forms neighborhood councils, oversees reconstruction projects and . . . oh yes, shoots artillery.) How better to achieve this than to cast a wide net? Am I simply recruiting among the elite, then? No. But I would regret knowing that some who might have served did not do so because of the same lazy prejudice that I once held -- the barely conscious assumption that some Americans are at once too good, and not good enough, for the military.

iraqi army units taking out al qaeda every day now

Iraqi forces kill al-Qaida commander http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Emerging_Threats/Briefing/2008/03/13/iraqi_forces_kill_al-qaida_commander/2140/ TIKRIT, Iraq, March 13 (UPI) -- Iraqi and Sons of Iraq forces conducted operations near the Iraqi city of Tikrit Thursday, killing a suspected al-Qaida commander. Intelligence reports indicated an al-Qaida commander, Ghazwn al-Jarad, was hiding out in the western Samarra, about 30 miles south of Tikrit.The police official in Salah ad-Din province told Voices of Iraq that Jarad was killed in a gun battle with the joint patrol. Salah ad-Din police forces uncovered what VOI described as a "huge weapons and explosives cache" consisting of 80 land mines, an explosive belt and various materials used to make roadside bombs. Meanwhile, Iraqi police forces defused a bomb placed near a bridge in central Kirkuk. The police discovered a rocket rigged to various wires placed near the bridge and a government accounting office. In Baghdad, an Iraqi army unit detained 14 suspects allegedly involved in a fraud and car theft ring and managed to free a hostage from his captives in a northern Baghdad suburb.

support for war effort highest in nearly two years

Support for war effort highest since 2006 http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=A553EE3A-3048-5C12-00094F73CEC7BAD1 American public support for the military effort in Iraq has reached a high point unseen since the summer of 2006, a development that promises to reshape the political landscape. According to late February polling conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 53 percent of Americans — a slim majority — now believe “the U.S. will ultimately succeed in achieving its goals” in Iraq. That figure is up from 42 percent in September 2007. The percentage of those who believe the war in Iraq is going “very well” or “fairly well” is also up, from 30 percent in February 2007 to 48 percent today. The situation in Iraq remains fluid, of course. A surge in violence or in troop deaths could lead to rapid fluctuations in public opinion. But as the war nears its fifth year, the steady upturn in the public mood stands to alter the dynamics of races up and down the ballot. The repercussions will be most acutely felt in the presidential contest. Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton remain committed to a staggered pullout, while Republican John McCain holds steadfast in his support for the Bush administration’s military surge. In recent years, election results have tracked perceptions about the progress of the war in Iraq. The Democratic wave in the 2006 congressional elections correlated to a low point in the public’s view of the war. The resurgence of McCain’s candidacy also tracks the decrease in U.S. fatalities in Iraq. Monthly troop deaths have dropped by about two-thirds since the summer of 2007, according to Department of Defense records. Democrats’ resolute support for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces may soon position them at odds with independent voters, in particular, a constituency they need to retake the White House. Half of self-identified independents polled now believe the United States should “keep troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized,” according to polling data assembled by Pew at Politico’s request. Senior foreign policy aides to Clinton and Obama said in interviews that their candidates have no intention of reconsidering their pledges to withdraw troops from Iraq, despite the waning of public opposition. As recently as Tuesday in Harrisburg, Pa., Clinton reiterated her pledge to “end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home.” She added, as she has for months, that she would “carefully and responsibly” start the withdrawal of those troops within 60 days of taking office. “There is no military solution,” Clinton is prone to say, a sentiment echoed by Obama. Obama has also proposed an end date for “removing all combat brigades” from Iraq. The uptick in public support is a promising sign for Republican candidates who have been bludgeoned over the Bush administration’s war policies. But no candidate stands to gain more than McCain. “How could Democrats possibly hand McCain a better issue than to let him run on his record of advocating a robust U.S. presence in Iraq with all the positive battlefield news that is filtering out of that country?” asked Michael O’Hanlon, a national security adviser at the Brookings Institution who has been at the center of the Iraq debate since the war’s outset. “Thinking about where we were at the time of the congressional elections, it’s ironic that the Iraq issue could actually be the one that most favors the Republican and most other issues — including most foreign policy issues — could most favor the Democrats,” O’Hanlon added. “Yet Democrats keep wanting to fight the Iraq debate.” The positions taken by Obama and Clinton reflect the majority sentiment in their party: Seven in 10 Democrats continue to believe the war in Iraq is going poorly. Only about a quarter of Democrats support maintaining troop levels until “the situation has stabilized,” according to Pew polling data. Views of the war in Iraq have long varied depending upon party affiliation, unlike during the Vietnam War. Although even Democratic discontent has ebbed for the first time in more than a year — 29 percent now support keeping troops in, an increase of 8 percentage points since last summer — foreign policy advisers to both candidates dispute the idea that Democrats are in the unenviable position of disagreeing with the majority of Americans over whether the war in Iraq can succeed. “We have seen at great cost here that the surge has resulted in a reduction of violence. That’s indisputable,” said a top Obama foreign policy adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “But we have not seen any of the political progress that will be necessary to have that long-term stability. “[Obama] believes the best way to induce change is to have this strategic redeployment,” the adviser added. While Democrats increasingly constitute the bulk of voters who support the withdrawal of troops, the public shift of opinion overall has been dramatic. As many voters now believe that the war is going “well” as “not well” — 48 percent each, according to Pew. Pew also found that 49 percent favor bringing the troops home as soon as possible, while 47 percent say the troops should stay in until the situation stabilizes — statistical parity between the two positions. Late February polling conducted by CBS News has also shown that the public view of the war is better than at any point since August 2006. CBS recently found that 43 percent of the country believes the war is going “well” — less than Pew found but still double the level of last June. Democrats remain in step with the public mood on the question of the decision to go to war. Pew and CBS have found that a majority of Americans, including independents, continue to believe that the choice to wage war with Iraq was “wrong” — a figure that has held for years. McCain is betting, however, that the public will view the war through a forward-looking lens. For months, he has argued that Democrats intend to “retreat” in Iraq and ensure failure. The public may soon come to view that as “a correct narrative,” said O’Hanlon, a Democrat whose views on the war have made him the bête noire of many in the anti-war liberal base. Perhaps as a result of the uptick in support for the war or his own military record, McCain is well-positioned to retake the party’s traditional advantage on national security issues. Almost half of registered voters now believe it is “very likely” that McCain would be an “effective commander in chief,” according to CBS polling. Less than one-quarter said the same of Obama and Clinton.

Resolve to win is marching to dc

Show Your Resolve: March to Washington Three retired Army officers, recently returned from Iraq and others will be marching from the SC/NC Stateline and ending at the U.S. Capitol (1 Mar to 16 Mar 2008). Dennis McCool, Carl Heerup and Marc Breslow will be walking 400 miles in an event called "Resolve To Win" . The reason is to show support for the Troops and the Mission of the Troops. The purpose is to demonstrate resolve to do a difficult task and to create a dialogue about our National Will to win. We are looking for participation and support from everyone in getting the word out to the active duty, military civilians, local community and veteran organizations to support this effort. This event will be supported by many American Legion and VFW Posts along the route of the march. We expect this event will be getting National coverage by Fox News and other local and national media.It is the desire of the men organizing and performing this March to get as many people along the route as possible to show we as Americans support our troops, the military leadership in Iraq and want to win this conflict. Everyone is encouraged to join in this Resolve to Win March. If anyone desires to join the march for a mile, an hour, a day or just standing along the side of the road, you can join in anywhere along the route and march as long as you like. Motorcycle participation is encouraged to assist the marchers through busy intersections and to travel up and down each days march route to draw attention to the event. Many American Legion Post & VFWs will be participating and supporting this effort. For example, Spotsylvania, VA Post 320 will have their Honor Guard participate in the march and other members plan to join the march as well.This march is strictly to show support for our troops in Iraq.. It's not political, nor is it to support any particular party. This is an endorsement of General Petraeus's leadership and the skill, talent and sacrifice of our Troops to win in Iraq. Our troops need to know we remember them, by showing our Patriotism, that we care and support them and that they are and will not be forgotten now or later.This march will start at RT 301 SC/NC Stateline and eventually pickup RT 1 North all the way to the U.S. Capitol. See March Route and Schedule for details. A summary of the 16 day March, route and schedule is at http://www.resolvetowin.us/marchrouteandschedule.html and detailed route of march is available in a Google Pedometer Map

Poland's military to be upgraded by us military

Bush and Polish PM see progress on missile shield deal By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush pledged on Monday to help modernize Poland's military as part a U.S. effort to secure agreement for basing components of a global missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. White House talks between Bush and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made progress toward removing a key stumbling block in negotiations on stationing 10 missile interceptors on Polish soil. Poland, the biggest NATO member from the former Warsaw Pact, has demanded that Washington help upgrade its military in exchange for hosting part of the anti-missile system, which has added to strains between Washington and Moscow. "The United States recognizes the need for Polish forces to be modernized," Bush told reporters. "And we're responding." Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said negotiations were focused on improving Poland's air defenses. Bush promised that U.S. experts would come up with a military modernization plan "before my watch is over." He leaves office in January 2009. But he acknowledged there is a lot of work still to be done on Poland's role in the missile defense system, and U.S. and Polish officials have said it could take months more to finalize a deal. Bush again downplayed Moscow's concerns about the missile shield, saying, "This system is not aimed at Russia. I will continue to work with President (Vladimir) Putin and give him those assurances as well." The Bush administration wants to put the interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a system it says is meant to protect against long-range ballistic missiles from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea. Russia has insisted, however, that the shield could pose a threat to its security, and Putin has warned that Moscow will target its missiles at the system if it is deployed in Eastern Europe, Russia's former sphere of influence. The United States and Czech Republic are close to finalizing an agreement, but the Polish government has taken a tougher stance in negotiations and many details remain to hammered out. Sitting beside Bush in the Oval Office, Tusk said Poland was ready to cooperate on missile defense as part of an overall security effort that would include upgrading Polish forces. "All these issues come in the same package," he told reporters. He deemed it a "breakthrough" that Bush and the U.S. government "understand quite clearly our expectations." "There's a commitment to a system that respects Polish sovereignty, that will ensure that the people of Poland will not be subjected to any undue security risks," Bush said. "And at the same time there will be this modernization effort."

improvements in all areas of hawr rajab

Building infrastructure in Hawr Rajab http://patdollard.com/2008/03/the-face-of-war-for-todays-military-building-after-killing/ FOB KALSU — With security improving in Hawr Rajab, stores and schools are reopening and a number of programs are revitalizing a community once on the brink of chaos. In November 2007, al-Qaeda launched their last well-coordinated offensives into Hawr Rajab, killing a total of 12 members of the Sons of Iraq (SoI) and wounding eight. In the same firefight, two Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers were killed and another nine wounded; four U.S. Soldiers were injured in the attacks. When the insurgents attacked, the SoI program in the region was still in its infancy, but the members were not deterred. With the assistance of Coalition forces and IA Soldiers, residents began to reclaim their community and insurgents not killed or captured were forced to flee. As rebuilding of the rural farming area began, community leaders ramped up efforts to re-establish ties with the government of Iraq (GoI). Sheik Ali Majeed Mushir Al-Dulaymi, leader of the SoI in Hawr Rajab, began meeting with Yousif Yaqoub Bekhaty, Rashid District Council chairman, and other council officials to request government assistance with reconstruction efforts. “The present challenges we face are maintaining security, promoting economic growth and stability, while helping Hawr Rajab establish an efficient local government with supporting entities,” said Capt. Gregory Curry II, commander of Troop A, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment. “It will not happen overnight, but it is happening one day at a time.” Curry, of Walnut Creek, Ohio, said Troop A, 6-8th Cav. Regt. Soldiers are key players and a driving force behind various programs in Hawr Rajab. His troop coordinates with Team A, Company B, 426th Civil Affairs Battalion, and the U.S. State Department’s Baghdad-7 embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team. The combined efforts of the groups, assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, mean residents of Hawr Rajab have access to resources for rebuilding their town. Life is returning to normal with the improvements, made possible by partnership between Coalition forces, SoI, officials from the GoI and Iraqi security forces. Hawr Rajab is becoming a beacon of change and potential for sustainable economic improvements. The following outline current area economic initiatives. The Micro-grant Program: More than $50,000 in micro-grants has been distributed to approximately 50 stores. The purpose of this program is to reopen businesses, jumpstart the economy and provide employment. The effects are further-reaching than the local community. To stock and replenish stores, products are brought in from other areas - some as far as India and China - making Hawr Rajab a member of the global community. The Poultry Revitalization Program: The program will provide starter chicks to poultry farms that were shut down due to violence. Two types of chicks will be provided; one type will be raised for the purpose of producing eggs and the other for meat. First Lt. Michael E. Falk, platoon leader, Troop A, 6-8 Cav. Regt., said a processing plant in a neighboring town will process the poultry. Faulk, a native of Clifton, Va., said the poultry industry of Hawr Rajab has the potential to profit from commerce between itself, surrounding communities and other area markets. Next week, eight chicken coops will be the first to receive a scheduled delivery of approximately 25,000 heads of young poultry. The Seed Distribution Program: The Agricultural Committee of Hawr Rajab coordinated a seed distribution program with Coalition forces in December 2007. It distributed more than 900 starter packets of seed as well as plastic to local farmers. The starter packets contained seeds for cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers and tomatoes. At present, success of the seed distribution is being measured by the 2nd BCT and the outlook for the program is positive. School renovation projects: A girls’ school is currently undergoing extensive renovations to give the facility a much-needed facelift. A similar renovation plan for the boys’ school is currently pending funding. Presently, there is a shortage of school buildings and boys attend classes in two shifts, with the morning reserved for primary school and afternoon for secondary school. Despite overcrowding at the schools, educators make due with their resources and school remains in session. The Hawr Rajab Medical Clinic: This facility is being repaired and is scheduled for completion this month. Medical personnel will be provided by the Iraqi Ministry of Health and will return prior to the completion of the facilities. In the meantime, limited services are provided by a local physician assistant. Women’s initiatives: Women of the area formed a committee to discuss problems facing women and find solutions. The group formed in February 2008 and has since brought to light a very serious issue. Many men have been killed by insurgents, leaving families without their traditional heads of households. Now a fund exists to care for families left behind by Sons of Iraq who paid the ultimate price for protecting their homes during the fight against al-Qaeda. “The Village of Hope”: With the revitalization of the area and need for skilled labor, a vocational school was constructed by U.S. Air Force construction engineers, who will also provide the instructor staff. A large number of SoI will be retrained as electricians, carpenters and construction laborers. This vocational school has been dubbed “The Village of Hope.” The program is currently in a final approval stage at 3rd Inf. Div. headquarters.

massive conference of iraqi provincial and executive leaders

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister insists upon meeting obligations at historic conference in northern Iraq http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17460&Itemid=128 TIKRIT, Iraq – As part of the ongoing United and Strong conferences, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and the major Government of Iraq ministers met with Provincial leaders from the seven Northern Provinces to discuss the challenges of provincial reconstruction, economics and essential services near Tikrit March 5. The day’s events were part of the United and Strong Conference series designed to bring Iraqi provincial and national government leaders together to improve cooperation and discuss issues in the interest of all Iraqis. The issues spanned investments, banking, oil, displaced persons, agriculture, and several other issues pertaining to Iraqi transition and rebuilding.The Deputy PM said the GoI will study the issues and take swift action where appropriate. He insisted the provinces must meet their obligations, as well, such as spending the budgets they have already received, and the GoI would send more as long as it directly benefits Iraqi citizens. “This kind of meeting will confirm our friendship; it is important to rebuild our country as we defeat the terrorists. For one Iraqi Government, one united Iraq,” said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih. “We want to hear your issues; we confirm that we will meet again and work together to overcome issues to better serve the people of our country.” “Many have paid a great price for this opportunity. In their names and in their memories, we must focus on this time and place. You have an obligation to take this opportunity to work toward sustained security and prosperity,” said Ambassador Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. “You have a great partner in the United States of America.” The event was also attended by the provincial governors for Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa, Salah Ah Din, provincial deputy of police, Iraqi Army commanders, Coalition Forces and the three Kurdish Regional governors.

most dangerous road in iraq now open for civilian use

Ramadi Mayor Cuts Ribbon On Reopening Of A Safe Route Michigan http://patdollard.com/2008/03/ramadi-mayor-cuts-ribbon-on-reopening-of-a-safe-route-michigan/ Ramadi Mayor Latif Obaid Ayadah walks down Route Michigan. CAMP RAMADI — Three years ago, Route Michigan was closed for Iraqis because of all the violence in the city of Ramadi, but all that changed when Coalition forces and city officials reopened the main road during a ribbon cutting ceremony, March 2. Gone are the concertina wires and cement barriers, which have been replaced with newly-constructed tiled medians and street lights on the main road of the city. “The opening up of Route Michigan is an important day for Ramadi,” said Ramadi Mayor Latif Obaid Ayadah. “It will allow traffic to move easier through the city from here to other places in Iraq.” Route Michigan is the major highway out of Baghdad that runs west through Fallujah and Ramadi, and all the way through Anbar province to the Syrian border. It’s the main supply route for commercial goods, and traveling through much of western Iraq. “The safety of Route Michigan will be run by the Iraqi Police, who will be controlling the two checkpoints on the street,” Ayadah said. “It was closed for years because of all the violence from terrorists.” The improved security enables the usage of the entire route for civilian traffic, which was thought to be unlikely given the road’s violent past. Iraqi Police from all districts of the city turned out to witness the grand opening. “The city has been through a lot,” said Iraqi Police Major Adel Ahmad, from the Kurama Iraqi Police station. “This road has been closed from combat operations in the city for too long. We all worked hard to get to this point, and it’s great to see life returning to normal.” Present for the ribbon cutting was the 1st Brigade Combat Team Commander, Col. John Charlton, whose unit helped bring stability to the city in the beginning of last year. “Ramadi is a safe city again from the efforts of Iraqi Police, Soldiers and Coalition forces here today,” he said. “The city looks great; there’s lots of construction going on, and I’m humbled to be here and see travel through the city open for everyone.” Ramadi was plagued by insurgents, which all but disrupted life in the capital of Iraq’s western province. Now the area along Route Michigan is a far-cry from the war torn streets of yesterday. “When I first drove on Michigan a year ago, the streets were lined with building rubble and there was trash everywhere,” said Spc. Jamie Blasingame, Company B, 3rd Brigade Support Battalion personal security detachment. He said the people on the road didn’t have a sense of being safe considering how bad security was in the city. “That’s the feeling you got when you moved down the route,” Blasingame said. “There were hardly any people near the buildings that lined the route.” The Soldiers moving through the city have seen a big change in the short time they have driven on Route Michigan. The roads have been cleaned and military convoys move with the traffic instead of stopping it completely. “The traffic doesn’t stop for us and now Iraqis have the freedom on the road like you’d see anywhere else,” said Spc. Alaisea Yandall, also from Co. B, 3rd BSB. “I never thought I’d see such a big change in the city.” Soldiers driving through the main street of the city can attest that if Route Michigan’s opening is any indication, Ramadi is going to see more good times ahead.

general petraeus discusses progress in iraq

General Petraeus Describes Factors Affecting Iraq Assessment http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17424&Itemid=1 Monday, 03 March 2008 By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service BAGHDAD — The top military commander in Iraq gave some insight yesterday into what he will consider as he prepares to report to the president and Congress in April on the way ahead. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, spoke with reporters accompanying Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is visiting the country. The security trend lines all are favorable, the general said. “Attacks have continued to go down. We’ve had a five-month period consistently of a level of attacks we’ve not seen since spring of 2005,” he said. “This past week was the fourth-lowest since October 2004.” Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker will explain why they believe attacks have come down when they report to President Bush and Congress. The general said he is encouraged by the statistics and what he sees around the country. “In fact, the level of attacks has come down in recent weeks below a level we thought might be the ‘irreducible minimum,’” he said. Petraeus said he also will consider the progress Iraqi security forces have made. “The Iraqi surge of 2007 was well over 100,000,” he said citing the growth of the nation’s Army and police force. “Added to that is the 90,000 Sons of Iraq – the concerned local citizens – who have added considerably. (These forces are) substantially ‘thickening’ our forces.” The general said he also will consider Iraqi civilian deaths in formulating his recommendations. “If your focus is on securing the people, then it is a metric you have to pay attention to, and we do,” he said. Crocker will lay out the developments in the political arena and describe the laws that have passed over the past couple of months. The ambassador will talk about the potential for provincial elections in the fall and describe the economic situation, Petraeus said. The general said he will lay out his recommendations “for the process by which we’ll go about assessing conditions in the wake of the drawdown of the surge brigade combat teams.” The drawdown of the original surge forces is set to end in July. He said he will explain the factors he will consider in making recommendations on subsequent withdrawals. The way ahead in Iraq will not be easy, the general said. “Each day something bad happens,” he said. “(But) the relative degree of the bad news tends to be less.” The number of car bomb attacks has dropped, but there is a slight increase in suicide-vest attacks. Al Qaeda is having a tough time building car bombs and then getting them through checkpoints, Petraeus explained, but suicide vests are transportable and are now being handed to women. The command has already drawn down a brigade combat team and a Marine expeditionary unit. Another brigade combat team will leave the country this month. Petraeus said the command will “thin out” Coalition forces as this occurs, and “not just hand off an area completely to Iraqi forces.” “We will maintain a sufficient footprint with an adequate, generally substantial, Iraqi force of police and Soldiers,” the general explained. “It provides situational awareness and a link to the enablers that we can provide – indirect fire, close-air (support), medevac, quick-reaction forces and so on.” The idea also maintains a fusion cell for intelligence. “Obviously, as we draw down, (the Iraqis) have to pick up more of the responsibility, and that is the case,” Petraeus said. Al Qaeda remains the biggest threat, and over time Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed, captured or run off substantial numbers of the terror group. But there is still a lot of work to do in the Diyala and Tigris river valleys, and in Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul and surrounding Ninevah province. “We are going after al Qaeda relentlessly wherever they are, and wherever we can find them, we put our teeth into their jugular,” Petraeus said. Mosul is an important place to al Qaeda. “Analysts have said that while Baghdad is critical for al Qaeda to win in Iraq, Mosul and its area is critical for their survival,” the general said. Recent successes notwithstanding, Petraeus warned, a “final battle” with the terrorist group is not imminent. “Al Qaeda is incredibly resilient,” he said, “and they are receiving people and supplies through Syria – although numbers through Syria are down as much as 50 percent.” Coalition and Iraqi forces will take on al Qaeda in the north, but will do so on their timetable and according to their plans, the general said. He will not start shifting U.S. and Iraqi forces willy-nilly around the country. “The key is to hang on to what you’ve got,” he said. “You cannot, in your eagerness to go after something new, start to play ‘Whack-a-mole’ again. You have to hang onto the areas you’ve cleared; you have to have that plan to do before you go.” Coalition forces are moving to Mosul and Ninevah, but Petraeus said he will not risk losing gains made in Baghdad, the belts around Baghdad and in Anbar province to do so. “Al Qaeda is trying to come back in,” he said. “We can feel it and see it, and what we’re trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground.” The bottom line militarily in Iraq is a “feel” for the country and the determination of what constitutes an acceptable risk, the general told reporters. “At the end of the day, it’s about feel,” he said. “We have commanders in most cases on their second tours in Iraq, some on their third. Over time, you can start to feel where you can take a bit more risk and also where you cannot. “You have to walk the streets, talk to the leaders, talk to your own commanders and then you bat it around every day,” he said. Petraeus said he doesn’t feel any anxiety over his decisions. “If you want to talk about anxiety, talk about coming back to Iraq in February 2007 and being greeted by 42 car bombs,” he said. “The level of attacks was more than 150 a day, and our losses were exceedingly tough.” With so much chaos in the country, it was hard just trying to get a handle on where forces needed to go, the general recalled. “We’ve worked our way through that,” Petraeus said. “These additional concerns are very serious, but we’re working on those with the Iraqi government.”

Eads wins tanker contract to replace kc-135s

Rival to Boeing's tanker was 'superior' on all counts, analyst says By Dominic Gates Seattle Times aerospace reporter Boeing was comprehensively beaten on almost every aspect of the competition for the $40 billion Air Force tanker contract awarded Friday, according to a report published Monday by a defense analyst with close Pentagon connections. If so, Boeing may have only the slimmest chance of reversing the victory of Northrop Grumman and Airbus parent company EADS. Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, issued a memo Monday that discussed the outcome based on "weekend conversations with government officials intimately familiar" with the Air Force decision. On the five specific criteria used to decide the winner, Thompson wrote, "Northrop Grumman's victory was not a close outcome. ... The Northrop-EADS offering was deemed much better in virtually all regards." Responding to the firestorm criticism about the award, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer, undersecretary of defense for acquisition John Young, issued a statement Monday saying a team of independent civilian and military analysts appointed by him would vouch that the Air Force "conducted a very open, fair and detailed competition process." Those two assessments suggest Boeing's hope of a reversal of the award may now rest on largely political grounds — opposition to the outsourcing of U.S. jobs on a government defense contract. The Air Force had scheduled its first formal briefing to Boeing for March 12, a couple of days before Congress' Easter recess. But a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers from Washington state and Kansas — including Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats from Washington; and Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, both Kansas Republicans, called Monday on Defense Secretary Robert Gates to debrief Boeing this week on the decision. Both Democratic presidential contenders, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, criticized the award Monday. Thompson, who last week used his government contacts to call the surprise outcome of the tanker contest an hour before the official announcement, said in an interview Monday that Air Force officials "were very convinced early on that there were problems with the Boeing proposal." According to his conversations with officials, said Thompson, "Northrop offered a superior proposal in every measure and Boeing simply did not do a competent job of presenting its case." The Northrop proposal, which put forward the much bigger A330 against the 767, even swung the Air Force around from its original thinking. "The Air Force started out believing that the larger aircraft was a liability," Thompson said. "Northrop did such a superior job of analysis that they convinced a reluctant Air Force to treat the larger aircraft as an asset." His memo listed the five key criteria as capability, risk, past performance, cost and "integrated fleet aerial refueling assessment," a score from a computer model that measures performance in various war scenarios. "Boeing didn't manage to beat Northrop in a single measure of merit," Thompson wrote. The two proposals were assessed as equal on the perceived risk that the contractor would not perform as required. By every other measure, Northrop won. On past performance, the big delays to the Japanese and Italian 767 tanker programs weighed heavily against Boeing, Thompson said. And Thompson, who was considered by EADS to favor Boeing in the competition, added this damning endnote to his memo: "The reviewers concluded that if they funded the Northrop Grumman proposal they could have 49 superior tankers operating by 2013, whereas if they funded the Boeing proposal, they would have only 19 considerably less capable planes in that year." Scott Hamilton, an Issaquah-based analyst who has long considered the Northrop-EADS proposal superior, described that bottom line as "astounding." Hamilton criticized Boeing's public-relations campaign during the contest for focusing on aspects such as the creation of U.S. jobs and government subsidies to EADS, rather than the merits of the two planes. "Boeing doesn't seem to have a leg to stand on for a successful protest," said Hamilton. "I think that [local] anger really ought to be directed at Boeing for putting together such a poor proposal." Although the Northrop-EADS tanker will be assembled in Mobile, Ala., the major A330 airframe sections will still be built in Europe and shipped across the Atlantic. Boeing declined to comment Monday as it awaits its debriefing from the Pentagon. But reaction to the political elements of the contest continued to build Monday. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Monday he hadn't made up his mind on the outcome of the contract award. McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, helped scuttle a previous 2001 deal that gave the contract to Boeing. "Having investigated the tanker lease scandal a few years ago, I have always insisted that the Air Force buy major weapons through fair and open competition," McCain told The Associated Press. "I will be interested to learn how the Air Force came to its contract award decision here and whether it fairly applied its own rules in arriving at that decision." Obama, of Illinois, expressed disappointment Sunday that Chicago-based Boeing lost out. Obama said it was hard for him to believe "that having an American company that has been a traditional source of aeronautical excellence would not have done this job." Clinton, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she was "deeply concerned about the Bush administration's decision to outsource the production of refueling tankers for the American military." While details of the decision are not fully clear, Clinton said, "it is troubling that the Bush administration would award the second-largest Pentagon contract in our nation's history to a team that includes a European firm that our government is simultaneously suing at the [World Trade Organization] for receiving illegal subsidies."

more americans see progress in iraq

Americans See More Progress in Iraq, Poll Says http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200803/NAT20080303b.html By Randy HallCNSNews.com Staff Writer/EditorMarch 03, 2008(CNSNews.com) - The latest Pew Research Center poll shows that most Americans now believe the war in Iraq will succeed; that Republicans, Democrats and Independents all see signs of growing progress in the effort; and that only 14 percent of those polled want an immediate withdrawal from Iraq."Public perceptions of the situation in Iraq have become significantly more positive over the past several months, even as opinions about the initial decision to use military force remain mostly negative and unchanged," notes the survey, which was the result of 1,508 telephone interviews nationwide Feb. 20-24.The number of Americans who say the military effort is going very or fairly well is much higher now than a year ago (48 percent vs. 30 percent in February 2007). While the rise in the number of people who believe that the U.S. will ultimately succeed in Iraq is smaller, it now constitutes a majority (53 percent, up 5 points from a year ago).In addition, public perception of the progress in Iraq continues to improve. The poll showed an even split among those who believe the military effort is going well and those who don't (48-48). This is a significant boost from last February, when two-thirds of respondents said the effort was not going well (67-30).Also, 49 percent now say the United States is making progress in defeating insurgents, while just 35 percent say it is losing ground. And for the first time since fall 2006, a plurality (49 percent) believes the U.S.-led coalition is making advances in the key objective of establishing democracy in Iraq (compared to 40 percent who disagree).But not all results in the survey were positive. While more people now say the U.S. is making progress in preventing a civil war between various religious and ethnic groups (35 percent now vs. 18 percent a year ago), just under half say the United States is losing ground on this objective (49 percent vs. 68 percent a year ago). Views of the war continue to differ greatly by political affiliation, but all partisan groups have become more positive about the war. For example, far more Republicans now than in February 2007 see progress in defeating the insurgency (49 percent now vs. 30 percent then). This also is the case for Democrats and Independents. Also, more Democrats now than a year ago believe U.S. troops should remain in Iraq. Currently, 81 percent of Republicans favor keeping troops there, the highest percentage since the beginning of 2004.In another significant finding, the poll showed rapidly decreasing support for a quick withdrawal from Iraq.This past November, 13 percent more people wanted to "bring troops home" than preferred to "keep troops in Iraq" (54-41), but now, respondents split 49-47 percent on the issue.Just under half (47 percent) say that the U.S. should keep troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized, with most of these (30 percent) saying that no timetable should be set. Only 14 percent want an immediate withdrawal, while 33 percent want to keep troops in Iraq or bring them home gradually "over the next year or two.""Opinions are changing because the public is so much more positive about the course of events in Iraq," Andy Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center, said. "There's cause for optimism, they think."GOP presidential contender Sen. John McCain has long-supported the war in Iraq. In a statement on his Web site, he says: "Iraq is truly the test of a generation, for America and for our role in the world. ... Iraq's transformation into a secure democracy and a force for freedom in the greater Middle East is the calling of our age. We can succeed."