Here is a link to a special feature in the July30-August 06, 2007 issue of The Nation:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070730/hedges


This should be required reading for all citizens of voting age.

It will tell you more about the war we have than you may be able to stomach.

And the information will be part of a forthcoming book called "Collateral Damage" .

Here is a section titled "Convoys""

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The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness

Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian


page 6 of 11 | PREV 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 NEXT





This article will form the basis of Collateral Damage, forthcoming from Nation Books. Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute. Research assistance was provided by Nicholas Jahr.


Convoys

Two dozen soldiers interviewed said that this callousness toward Iraqi civilians was particularly evident in the operation of supply convoys--operations in which they participated. These convoys are the arteries that sustain the occupation, ferrying items such as water, mail, maintenance parts, sewage, food and fuel across Iraq. And these strings of tractor-trailers, operated by KBR (formerly Kellogg, Brown & Root) and other private contractors, required daily protection by the US military. Typically, according to these interviewees, supply convoys consisted of twenty to thirty trucks stretching half a mile down the road, with a Humvee military escort in front and back and at least one more in the center. Soldiers and marines also sometimes accompanied the drivers in the cabs of the tractor-trailers.

These convoys, ubiquitous in Iraq, were also, to many Iraqis, sources of wanton destruction.


According to descriptions culled from interviews with thirty-eight veterans who rode in convoys--guarding such runs as Kuwait to Nasiriya, Nasiriya to Baghdad and Balad to Kirkuk--when these columns of vehicles left their heavily fortified compounds they usually roared down the main supply routes, which often cut through densely populated areas, reaching speeds over sixty miles an hour. Governed by the rule that stagnation increases the likelihood of attack, convoys leapt meridians in traffic jams, ignored traffic signals, swerved without warning onto sidewalks, scattering pedestrians, and slammed into civilian vehicles, shoving them off the road. Iraqi civilians, including children, were frequently run over and killed. Veterans said they sometimes shot drivers of civilian cars that moved into convoy formations or attempted to pass convoys as a warning to other drivers to get out of the way.

"A moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one," said Sgt. Ben Flanders, 28, a National Guardsman from Concord, New Hampshire, who served in Balad with the 172nd Mountain Infantry for eleven months beginning in March 2004. Flanders ran convoy routes out of Camp Anaconda, about thirty miles north of Baghdad. "So speed was your friend. And certainly in terms of IED detonation, absolutely, speed and spacing were the two things that could really determine whether or not you were going to get injured or killed or if they just completely missed, which happened."

Following an explosion or ambush, soldiers in the heavily armed escort vehicles often fired indiscriminately in a furious effort to suppress further attacks, according to three veterans. The rapid bursts from belt-fed .50-caliber machine guns and SAWs (Squad Automatic Weapons, which can fire as many as 1,000 rounds per minute) left many civilians wounded or dead.

"One example I can give you, you know, we'd be cruising down the road in a convoy and all of the sudden, an IED blows up," said Spc. Ben Schrader, 27, of Grand Junction, Colorado. He served in Baquba with the 263rd Armor Battalion, First Infantry Division, from February 2004 to February 2005. "And, you know, you've got these scared kids on these guns, and they just start opening fire. And there could be innocent people everywhere. And I've seen this, I mean, on numerous occasions where innocent people died because we're cruising down and a bomb goes off."

Several veterans said that IEDs, the preferred weapon of the Iraqi insurgency, were one of their greatest fears. Since the invasion in March 2003, IEDs have been responsible for killing more US troops--39.2 percent of the more than 3,500 killed--than any other method, according to the Brookings Institution, which monitors deaths in Iraq. This past May, IED attacks claimed ninety lives, the highest number of fatalities from roadside bombs since the beginning of the war.

"The second you left the gate of your base, you were always worried," said Sergeant Flatt. "You were constantly watchful for IEDs. And you could never see them. I mean, it's just by pure luck who's getting killed and who's not. If you've been in firefights earlier that day or that week, you're even more stressed and insecure to a point where you're almost trigger-happy."

Sergeant Flatt was among twenty-four veterans who said they had witnessed or heard stories from those in their unit of unarmed civilians being shot or run over by convoys. These incidents, they said, were so numerous that many were never reported.

Sergeant Flatt recalled an incident in January 2005 when a convoy drove past him on one of the main highways in Mosul. "A car following got too close to their convoy," he said. "Basically, they took shots at the car. Warning shots, I don't know. But they shot the car. Well, one of the bullets happened to just pierce the windshield and went straight into the face of this woman in the car. And she was--well, as far as I know--instantly killed. I didn't pull her out of the car or anything. Her son was driving the car, and she had her--she had three little girls in the back seat. And they came up to us, because we were actually sitting in a defensive position right next to the hospital, the main hospital in Mosul, the civilian hospital. And they drove up and she was obviously dead. And the girls were crying."

On July 30, 2004, Sergeant Flanders was riding in the tail vehicle of a convoy on a pitch-black night, traveling from Camp Anaconda south to Taji, just north of Baghdad, when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades). He was about to get on the radio to warn the vehicle in front of him about the ambush when he saw his gunner unlock the turret and swivel it around in the direction of the shooting. He fired his MK-19, a 40-millimeter automatic grenade launcher capable of discharging up to 350 rounds per minute.

"He's just holding the trigger down and it wound up jamming, so he didn't get off as many shots maybe as he wanted," Sergeant Flanders recalled. "But I said, 'How many did you get off?' 'Cause I knew they would be asking that. He said, 'Twenty-three.' He launched twenty-three grenades....

"I remember looking out the window and I saw a little hut, a little Iraqi house with a light on.... We were going so fast and obviously your adrenaline's--you're like tunnel vision, so you can't really see what's going on, you know? And it's dark out and all that stuff. I couldn't really see where the grenades were exploding, but it had to be exploding around the house or maybe even hit the house. Who knows? Who knows? And we were the last vehicle. We can't stop."

Convoys did not slow down or attempt to brake when civilians inadvertently got in front of their vehicles, according to the veterans who described them. Sgt. Kelly Dougherty, 29, from Cañon City, Colorado, was based at the Talil Air Base in Nasiriya with the Colorado National Guard's 220th Military Police Company for a year beginning in February 2003. She recounted one incident she investigated in January 2004 on a six-lane highway south of Nasiriya that resembled numerous incidents described by other veterans.

"It's like very barren desert, so most of the people that live there, they're nomadic or they live in just little villages and have, like, camels and goats and stuff," she recalled. "There was then a little boy--I would say he was about 10 because we didn't see the accident; we responded to it with the investigative team--a little Iraqi boy and he was crossing the highway with his, with three donkeys. A military convoy, transportation convoy driving north, hit him and the donkeys and killed all of them. When we got there, there were the dead donkeys and there was a little boy on the side of the road.

"We saw him there and, you know, we were upset because the convoy didn't even stop," she said. "They really, judging by the skid marks, they hardly even slowed down. But, I mean, that's basically--basically, your order is that you never stop."

Among supply convoys, there were enormous disparities based on the nationality of the drivers, according to Sergeant Flanders, who estimated that he ran more than 100 convoys in Balad, Baghdad, Falluja and Baquba. When drivers were not American, the trucks were often old, slow and prone to breakdowns, he said. The convoys operated by Nepalese, Egyptian or Pakistani drivers did not receive the same level of security, although the danger was more severe because of the poor quality of their vehicles. American drivers were usually placed in convoys about half the length of those run by foreign nationals and were given superior vehicles, body armor and better security. Sergeant Flanders said troops disliked being assigned to convoys run by foreign nationals, especially since, when the aging vehicles broke down, they had to remain and protect them until they could be recovered.

"It just seemed insane to run civilians around the country," he added. "I mean, Iraq is such a security concern and it's so dangerous and yet we have KBR just riding around, unarmed.... Remember those terrible judgments that we made about what Iraq would look like postconflict? I think this is another incarnation of that misjudgment, which would be that, Oh, it'll be fine. We'll put a Humvee in front, we'll put a Humvee in back, we'll put a Humvee in the middle, and we'll just run with it.

"It was just shocking to me.... I was Army trained and I had a good gunner and I had radios and I could call on the radios and I could get an airstrike if I wanted to. I could get a Medevac.... And here these guys are just tooling around. And these guys are, like, they're promised the world. They're promised $120,000, tax free, and what kind of people take those jobs? Down-on-their-luck-type people, you know? Grandmothers. There were grandmothers there. I escorted a grandmother there and she did great. We went through an ambush and one of her guys got shot, and she was cool, calm and collected. Wonderful, great, good for her. What the hell is she doing there?

"We're using these vulnerable, vulnerable convoys, which probably piss off more Iraqis than it actually helps in our relationship with them," Flanders said, "just so that we can have comfort and air-conditioning and sodas--great--and PlayStations and camping chairs and greeting cards and stupid T-shirts that say, Who's Your Baghdaddy?"

Copyright © 2007 The Nation
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Why did I chose this particular section to post?

Well IMO, it exposes the military-industrial-corporate-complex into a level of visibility that they would much prefer to be kept under wraps, that is why there is denial in DOD of knowledge of data on these incidents.

Also it show the lengths being gone to in order to still avoid invoking a draft and using army trained personnel for those jobs being now done at much higher expense in both money and lives and outside the rules of war, by contracting or outsourcing, if you prefer.

Yes, I already know what the super hawks will say.

We've heard it as daily propaganda now for four and one half years.........enough already.



lenal

Thanks for the post, Lenal.

We were warned:

Dwight D Eisenhower, 1961, farewell address.

We didn't listen.

Warfare is the Way of deception - Sun Tzu


The left's anti-war forces sustained heavy casualties earlier this week. And, judging from both strategy shifts and painful screams heard throughout the liberal blogosphere, many of the fallen were high value propaganda targets.


It's no secret that Democratic strategists see failure in Iraq as a blood-soaked red carpet leading them to the White House next year. So much so that even before the president officially announced the initial 20,000 troop surge in January, opposition party leaders were scrambling to denounce it as a doomed and desperate last-gasp effort to save a failing policy.


And yet, the Dem-controlled Senate did unanimously add a fourth star to surge proponent General David Petraeus's shoulder to confirm his selection as Iraq Multi-National-Force commander just two weeks later. And while Senate Dems expressed great confidence in the man who had co-authored the Army's Field Manual 3-24 on Counterinsurgency a month prior, they somehow saw nothing duplicitous in their equally unanimous rejection of the surge plan it had inspired.


The Battle to Purge the Surge


Consequently, in February, while Petraeus focused his forces on Baghdad -- particularly Sadr City, a stronghold of Shiite militias -- and began engaging al Qaeda in the Diyala province, Pelosi's House was passing a resolution to oppose his mission.


In March, U.S forces began clearing al Qaeda from Ramadi and moved into western Baghdad, capturing or killing al Qaeda operatives both in Abu Ghraib and in the capital's Mansour district. That's when House Democrats voted to remove those same forces by August 2008.


April and May saw new surge units continuing to successfully clear extremists from increasing numbers of regions while Congressional Democrats continued their unsuccessful attempts to legislate the battlefield.


Then, in June, just as the real surge (Operation Phantom Thunder - a coordinated and simultaneous offensive against insurgent strongholds throughout central Iraq) was launched, opposition leaders also jumped into action. Majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to the president, declaring the fledgling surge an unmitigated disaster:

"As many had foreseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results. The increase in U.S. forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation. It has not enhanced America's national security. The unsettling reality is that instances of violence against Iraqis remain high and attacks on U.S. forces have increased. In fact, the last two months of the war were the deadliest to date for U.S. troops."
Apparently unperturbed by such brilliant military guidance and with July surge-forces now at 30,000, the progress achieved has been anything but a failure. For instance, over and above successful clearing operations in and around Baghdad, aligned U.S and Iraqi forces have driven the insurgents from Baquba, in Diyala province, and from the Euphrates valley in Anbar province.


Furthermore, sectarian killings have abated, primarily because the strategy, as Kimberly Kagan reported last month, had:

"dramatically decreased Shiite death squad activity in the capital. Furthermore, U.S. and Iraqi special forces have removed many rogue militia leaders and Iranian advisers from Sadr City and other locations, reducing the power of militias."
And July military casualties, both American and Iraqi, were way down, as was the number of Iraqi police killed. Arrests and insurgent deaths, on the other hand, were both up.


Yet Democrats continued to sing the "surge is a failure" opus and even attempted to amend a critical July defense appropriations bill with language calling for beginning a redeployment of U.S. troops in as little as four months.


And, while the complicit media ignored or downplayed virtually every one of these significant advances, they continued to blur reality to foment despair through the over-emphasis of sectarian violence, gory roadside bombing details, and continuing coalition casualties. Yet, three things remained clear:


Next month, Petraeus and U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will be tendering a long-awaited progress report to the nation.
Any hope the Democrats have of flipping the necessary Republicans to their surrendering side while maintaining the votes of their own "Blue Dog Coalition," rides on calamitous conclusions.
Removing American Forces from Iraq remains an unfulfilled promise to many taking credit for the current Congressional majorities. Election Day is 15 months hence and counting.
Of course, thanks to the lopsided reporting, it appeared that the Democrats might receive an early Christmas present in September.


Until, that is, this week.


Arguably, Newt Gingrich squeezed off the first salvo of the week's mêlée when he appeared on Fox News Sunday. Responding to Senator Russ Feingold's call to begin "redeployment" even before the Petraeus report card, the former Speaker and presidential hopeful described a Democratic left wing unconcerned with the facts and "deeply opposed" to our victory and "deeply committed" to and willing to legislate our defeat.


When Feingold's segment followed, host Chris Wallace asked whether his plan ignored signs that the surge was working. Dismissing the very premise, he replied (with my emphasis throughout):

"I'm happy to acknowledge any signs of success, but the truth is since this surge began, we've had some of the highest numbers of American deaths and some of the greatest tragedies in Iraq of the entire period."
Notwithstanding the preceding double-talk, the Wisconsin Democrat surely spoke clearly but a day early when he concluded:

"So I'll give all the respect to General Petraeus' remarks that are due, but every indication I get -- and I'm on the Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee, so I get a lot of information on this -- suggests that it is virtually impossible that he's going to be able to give the kind of rosy scenario that you've concocted here." [emphasis added]
But Monday Morning gave them a warning (of what was to be)


Monday's New York Times contained a surprising Op-ed by Michael E. O'Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack which reported that "we are finally getting somewhere in Iraq." Under the shocking title A War We Just Might Win the two Brookings scholars, having freshly returned from Iraq, ravaged liberal talking points with words the likes of:


"Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference."
In stark contrast to the pessimism represented by Feingold, the two analysts - both ardent critics of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq -- did give a "rosy scenario," in which Marine and Army units focused on helping Iraqi civilians attain security and basic essential services. They further reported "civilian fatality rates are down roughly a third since the surge began" as its direct result. And that the surge-deployed additional troops have empowered the Petraeus tactic of holding areas until fully secure to prevent insurgents from retaking them once Americans depart.


High marks were also given to the policies which "revive the local economy and build new political structures." And, shattering the oft-spoken liberal lies about the dependability of Iraqi security forces, most of the corrupt and sectarian Iraqi commanders have apparently been dealt with:

"The American high command assesses that more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners (at least for as long as American forces remain in Iraq)."
Senator Feingold likely wished he could rewind to the previous day when he read first of a local mayor whose greatest fear was a hasty American departure, and then, the Times' knockout punch conclusion:

"But there is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least into 2008."
Ellison Wonderland


Monday also saw the AP report a weekend trip to Iraq by 6 congressmen, including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn). As the first and only Muslim in Congress, it's likely that his unique access to local sheiks was expected to uncover a deeper element of anti-American sentiment


Didn't happen - in fact, what local leaders in Ramadi told Ellison reinforced the report of O'Hanlon and Pollack -- that they had partnered with U.S. and Iraqi military officials to virtually drive al-Qaeda from the city. And, as violence has been reduced, so have the number of anti-American sermons, with religious leaders instead meeting regularly and cooperating with U.S military officials.


Ellison was reportedly quite impressed observing Maj. Gen. Walter Gaskin, U.S. commander of Anbar province, greeting people with "As-Salamu Alaykum," and by the smiles and waves the gesture elicited.


An outspoken Iraq and Bush critic, Ellison nevertheless declared Ramadi a success, adding that,

"there was a general level of respect and calm that I thought was good."
Brown Versus the Bored of Confrontation


When anti-war bastions loudly cheered the departure of Tony Blair from Downing Street, they expected it to further diminish British resolve in Iraq and advance its retreat. So they held their collective Bush-bashing breath during the Sunday/Monday first meeting between the President and the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, anticipating immediate relief.


They got none.


Emerging from the meeting, Brown shocked the crowd by declaring the west involved in a "generation-long battle" against radical Islamic terrorism. And, while surrender-mongers stood with mouths agape, he blessed the American mission in Iraq as worthwhile, promising to stand by President Bush's efforts to promote democracy there and in all of the Middle East:

"We are at one in fighting the battle against terrorism, and that struggle is one that we will fight with determination and with resilience and right across the world"
But the final blow was dealt by Brown's response to war-opposing reporters' mynah-birdlike insistence that violence in Iraq has more to do with feuding factions than Al Qaeda:

"In Iraq, you're dealing with Sunni-Shia violence, you're dealing with the involvement of Iran, but you're certainly dealing with a large number of Al Qaeda terrorists. There is no doubt, therefore, that Al Qaeda is operating in Iraq."
Anti-Warfare is Also the Way of Deception


Given all this terrible good news, what's the "Bush Lied - People Died" party to do? How do you add a date-certain withdrawal to defense spending legislation based solely on the "surge is a failure" lie when the latest facts on the ground simply refuse to cooperate, and September's benchmark report looms so near?


If you're James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the first thing you do is to admit to The Washington Post that an encouraging assessment from Petraeus would "be a real big problem" for Democrats. That's right, Manic Monday also found the House Majority Whip warning fellow Dems to "wait for the Petraeus report" before taking any further devious Iraq actions. His fear is that good news would be bad news in maintaining Blue Dog anti-war sentiment and votes, putting a timetable out of reach. And so, implies Clyburn, let's not rub salt into our own wounds.


But the political bleeding continued on Tuesday, even as the physical flow ebbed. The American death toll for July was reported at 73 -- the lowest in eight months. Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, second only to Petraeus himself, explained that while the initial surge into militant strongholds had increased casualties, they were now "going down as Americans gained control of the areas."


In other words - the now fully implemented surge is working to expectation and the misinformed contrarians were wrong.


No problem - Dems and the MSM will simply toggle between denying and ignoring that fact. Just as they've denied the nature of Al Qaeda in Iraq and ignored its recent attempts to use chemical weapons against Iraqi civilians. Ditto requests for their plan to prevent the untold civilian casualties of anti-war associated with cutting and running, which may now include a repeat of what happened to the Kurds of Halabja (video).


Sure enough -- with hopes of an unfavorable review quickly fading, a new stratagem has arisen, with anti-war disinformation brigades launching a surge of their own. Suddenly no longer concerned with military matters, today we are being barraged with statements like those from ABC News ("In the critical, political arena, the picture is bleak") or from Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), who in April declared "that the troop surge plan in Iraq has failed," yet today quipped:

"We've made some progress in the surge, we've made some military progress. But I think [Petraeus will] be honest enough to say we've made no political progress."
As is often said of its counterpart, it's becoming abundantly clear that truth is the first casualty of anti-war.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/08/cas...of_antiwar.html

NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894





Title: AL-QAEDA EMIR OF MOSUL SHOT, KILLED BY ISF

Release Date: 8/2/2007

Release Number: 07-01-03P

Description: MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi Army soldiers from the 2nd Iraqi Army Division shot and killed three members of the Islamic State of Iraq terrorist organization, including its leader Safi, the touted al-Qaeda in Iraq emir of Mosul, after they were fired upon Aug. 1.

The incident took place during a series of combined operations involving the 2nd Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police throughout the city of Mosul. The 2nd Iraqi Army Division headquarters element, including Brig. Gen. Moutaa, commander of the 2IA, were conducting cordon and search operations in northeast Mosul when Safi and three of his bodyguards were spotted in a pickup truck.

The men exited the pickup and began firing at the IA soldiers. Moutaa and his security element returned fire, killing all three.

"This is a great example of the cooperation between the Iraqi police (who provided the profile and made sure his picture was widely distributed and familiar) and the Iraqi army (who actually stopped Safi)," said Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. "The Iraqi Security Forces are leading the way here in Ninewah Province, unilaterally executing Provincial Governor Kashmoula's security plan with incredible success."

"The death of Safi will further disrupt senior AQI leadership in Mosul, which has been unstable since May, due to the combined efforts of Coalition Forces and ISF offensive operations," said Twitty.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION - NORTH AT: TFLIGHTNING.PAO@US.ARMY.MIL

http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/Li...Releases%2Easpx

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=c...;g2_itemId=1515

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=c...;g2_itemId=1500

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/images/stories/FJI...rcia_medium.wmv

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/images/stories/FJI...ison_medium.wmv

Wack the Weasel Marine. Wack the Weasel. Patraeus' own policy would require 650,000 troops and ten years. Wack the Weasel all you want. The man agreed to try because he was asked by the "President" to try. But he said it must be a political solution. The Iraqi Government is on vacation and the biggest Sunni block is gone too.

Maybe you could get all those Gung Ho College Republicans to sign up? No? Hmmm....

More bad news for both al Qaeda and the democratic party.


Progress continues in Iraq
Thursday, 26 July 2007


U.S Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, a spokesperson for Multi-National Force-Iraq, speaks Wednesday about recent progress in Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Carl N. Hudson, Combined PressInformation Center.BAGHDAD — Military officials discussed progress in several aspects of Iraq Wednesday at the Combined Press Information Center.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, a spokesperson for Multi-National Force-Iraq, Mr. Marcus Sani, Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, commanding general of Gulf Region Division, outlined many advancements in the security and stability of Iraq.

Fox noted several operations that netted multiple arms caches. In one day’s operations throughout Iraq, Coalition Forces confiscated nine weapons caches yielding a summary of 391 mortar rounds varying from 60mm to 155mm, 252 rockets of varying sizes, 21 rifles and pistols, 28 grenades, and caches of homemade weapons explosive materials that included 475 gallons of nitric acid and 5,000 pounds of fertilizer.

“We are seeing increasingly positive trends in terms of the number of weapons and explosives being taken away from the enemy,” Fox said. “We have seized more weapons caches in the first six months of 2007 than we did in all of last year. The reason for the dramatic increase, the volume and accuracy of tips, now over 23,000 per month.”

Fox also credited Iraqi Security Forces for their efforts in the fight. An example of their support and growing independence, he said, was an instance last week when an alert Iraqi Air Force pilot flying a helicopter in Basra noted thieves siphoning oil from a pipeline break in west Neisseria. The Iraqi quickly notified the appropriate authorities who rapidly responded, arrested the thieves, confiscated their vehicles and foiled an attempt to still oil from the Iraqi people, Fox said.

Fox commented on the importance of a “one team, one mission” approach before turning the conference over to Sani, who provided an update on Iraqi reconstruction efforts. The GRD has conducted numerous operations over the past four years, Sani said.

“We had around 35,000 projects that has been accomplished and the work is continuing over 2,000 other projects that will cost about $7 billion,” Sani said. “And we will start also with other projects that will cost for about $2 billion. And the total number allocated for that exceeds $26 billion that are being disbursed for 40,000 projects.”

In addition to reconstruction projects, Sani said GRD has other projects such as distributing desks and food to the people, generators to villages, blankets to displaced people and water plant projects throughout Iraq.

All this work is being done with the cooperation of the Iraqi government, Sani said.

“We have a good partnership with our Iraqi friends, with the ministers and deputies,” he said. “And we have a good relationship with both sides from the GRD and the Iraqi ministries. And of course, all those sides are working for the same aim, that is to increase the services for the Iraqi civilian.”

Sani outlined many examples of supporting Iraqi ministries, including: over $72 million to the Ministry of Education for 1,400 projects such as reconstructing 180 schools and rehabilitating schools; more than $200 million for 263 projects

with the Ministry of Communication; and 190,000 projects for the Ministry of Defense.

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




http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=c...&Itemid=128

Now why do you want more American kids to go off to a foreign land? Looks like to me the Iraqis are stepping up to the plate and doing the job.

Iraqi army takes charge of Diyala province
Monday, 10 July 2006


Iraqi Army Maj. Gen. Ahmed (left) grasps his division's colors during the 5th Division's Transfer of Authority ceremony. He was given the colors by British Maj. Gen. Peter Everson, deputy commanding general, Multi-National Corps-Iraq.Story and photo by Spc. Lee Elder
133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

KIRKUSH — The Iraqi Army’s 5th Division officially took charge of military operations in northern Iraq’s Diyala province from Coalition forces during a ceremony on July 3.

The division’s colors, a symbolic flag, were unveiled and presented to its commander, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Klepos Awad Majhool al-Kozaee by British Maj. Gen. Peter Everson, who serves as deputy commanding general, Multi-National Corps - Iraq.

The Iraqi division earned its colors after being trained and recognized as a viable fighting force by the 101st Airborne Division.
“I’d like to say that this division will be successful because it is composed of the full spectrum of Iraqi people,” al-Kozaee said. “It represents the hand of the government that carries the weapon and the olive branch at the same time.”

The Iraqi unit, also known as the “Hadeed” Division, was formed in April 2004 and was fully operational in February 2005.

The division has a headquarters and three brigades.
Al-Kozaee promised his division would be “the strong hand of the Iraqi people in defeating the insurgency.” He pledged to remain with the division as their “brother, teacher and commander.”
Everson said the 5th Division was the first Iraqi Army division in the Multi-National Division - North qualified to conduct independent combat operations. It is the fourth division to attain that status.

“Gen. (al-Kozaee)’s Soldiers have worked hard for the day that this division would be prepared to assume responsibility for this large complex province,” Everson said.
“And that day has come.”

Diyala province spans from the eastern edge of Baghdad to the Iranian border and covers 70,000 square miles. It is home to more than 1.7 million Iraqis.
One of the division’s units, the 1st Brigade, was qualified in April, and has maintained security for the eastern part of the province.

The qualification, or 'validation' in military terms, changes the roles of both Iraqi and Coalition forces. The division will now assume full responsibility for the province while Coalition forces will take on a supporting role.

Col. William Gothard, an Army Reserve Soldier with the Richmond, Va.-based 80th Division, commands the Military Transition Team in charge of training the division.
His unit members work and live with their Iraqi Army counterparts and prepared them for the responsibility.

"They conduct combat operations on their own with us providing support where they request it,” Gothard said.

He said the walk toward validation has not been an easy one.
In addition to training, the division’s Soldiers have seen combat in Diyala and in neighboring Fallajah, Samarra and Baghdad.

Both al-Kozaee and Everson praised the efforts of Coalition forces to train the division. A moment of silence was observed for both Coalition and Iraqi forces who have lost their lives in combat operations with the division.

“I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to my brothers in the Coalition forces - the 101st Airborne Division; 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and all of our other friends,” al-Kozaee said.



http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=c...7&Itemid=41

Iraqi Police march in a parade celebrating the handover of Dhi Qar. Department of Defense photo by Army Sgt. Frank Pelligrini.

BAGHDAD — With all its history in tow, Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq is looking toward the future. It’s now the second of Iraq’s 18 provinces to be transferred to provincial Iraqi control.

This means Coalition security forces pulled back and let the local provincial police and Iraqi military handle security of the province, a key step for the eventual withdrawal of Coalition forces from the country.

Both Coalition officials and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have said they hope to have all 18 of the country’s provinces under Iraqi control by the end of next year.

Dhi Qar province is an archeologist’s dreamland. It contains the site of the ancient city of Ur, purported to be the hometown of the biblical figure Abraham. Near the ruins of the ancient city stands the Ziggurat of Ur, a towering ancient temple dating back more than 4,000 years.

Maysan
Sunday, 29 April 2007

Maysan province is in the east of the country, bordering Iran. Its capital is al-Amarah, which sits on the Euphrates River. The second settlement is Majar al-Kabir. Before 1976 it was known as Amara Province.Maysan is a majority Shia Arab province. Its population suffered greatly during the Iran-Iraq War, during which it was a major battlefield, and subsequently post the 1991 Shia Uprising. The province is traditionally home to many Marsh Arabs.
In 2003 it came under the control of the United Kingdom Armed Forces after the invasion of Iraq, and an elected Provincial Council has now been formed. Maysan entered Provincial Iraqi Control on April 18, 2007.

Does that Brigade flag have a point on it? If it does, I wouldn't turn my back if I were him.

The Road to Provincial Iraqi Control in al-Muthanna


The transfer of security responsibility in al-Muthanna Province signifies a very real and tangible beginning to a new phase in the history of Iraq. Turning over security to the Muthanna province is an indication of the increased capability of the Iraqi security forces and Iraqi government to replace Coalition forces.




Iraqi children celebrate as al-Muthanna takes security responsibility for the province on July 13.The Iraqi security forces now have overall responsibility for all law enforcement and security in the province.

Al-Muthanna reached this landmark by developing its security forces; including police, border patrol officers and an Iraqi Army brigade.

Police: Since January 2006, the International Police Advisers have trained 3,000 police officers. The provision of equipment alongside the delivery of first-class training has been integral to achieving the goal of a competent and capable police force. The Iraqi Police provide firm but fair policing to a population that appreciates its efforts, and is actively seeking to deter those who seek to disrupt the democratic processes at work.

The province established a SWAT team as well as a oil infrastructure protection force that guards the local oil and gas pipelines. Al-Muthanna also has a Provincial Joint Operations Center run by the police and manned by representatives of all emergency services. The center co-ordinates the response of the emergency services to all emergencies within the province.

Border patrol: al-Muthanna’s 186-mile-long border with Saudi Arabia is patrolled by the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement, a 680-member force.

The border officers patrol an area that is home to some 15,000 Bedouin, who continue to lead a largely traditional lifestyle in the 53,000-square-miles of desert that make up much of the province south of the Euphrates River.

Fourteen border forts have been constructed for the border police to use as forward operating bases.

Iraqi Army: The 2nd Brigade, 10th Division has proved itself to be one of the premier units within the Iraqi Army. In May 2006, 1,500 brigade soldiers completed their training and the brigade was accredited as a top-level unit. It was the first Iraqi Army unit to achieve this status.

The brigade has 1,800 Soldiers. They are housed in brand new barracks and are well integrated with the Department of Border Enforcement and the Iraqi Police.

The quality of the Iraqi Army troops in al-Muthanna was a major contributory factor on the road to Provincial Iraqi Control.

An-Najaf
Tuesday, 01 August 2006

Najaf province has an area of 17,910 square miles. In 2003 it had an estimated population of 931,600 people.

Prior to 1976 it was part of the Diwaniya province, which also included present day al-Muthanna province and al-Qadisiyah province.

The capital is Najaf. The other major city is al-Kufah. Both cities are holy to Shiite Muslims, who form the majority of the population.

An-Najaf( ﻒﺠﻨﻟا) - Now under PIC.

Iraqi Army Takes Security Lead

24 July 07
By Lance Cpl. Joseph D. Day
2nd Marine Division (Forward)

RAMADI, Iraq— As the evening sun started to set, the Iraqi army geared up. After looking over each other’s equipment thoroughly, they prepared to step off.

On July 21, the 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, led Marines on a foot patrol through the ghetto of Ramadi to identify local populace needs and how their basic utilities were working

“This area of Ramadi used to be one of the most dangerous,” said one local citizen. “Every day there were bombs and insurgents fighting the coalition. Now, this area is so quiet that it may even be considered the best in the city.”

One of the local residents claimed, “I believe that most of this is due to the Iraqi army patrolling this area constantly. Bad guys would walk these streets as if they owned them. Then the Iraqi army started patrolling here, and they haven’t been back since.” With a smile, the patrol and the citizens parted ways.

The soldiers of the Iraqi army sniper platoon walk through each street carefully, moving from corner to corner, but taking the time to talk to the locals. Everywhere they walked the people came running up expressing their gratitude saying "hello" and "thank you."

When asked what the Iraqi army philosophy was when dealing with the people, Iraqi army Sgt. Maj. Abbas Abud Kadin, the senior enlisted man of the Iraqi Scout Sniper Platoon said, “I talked to them with my heart open. I will do anything for these people whether I share a joke, give them candy or just listen to their problems, I do it all with an open heart. I do it because if I help them, they will help me.”

Walking up to a group of men sitting in the front lawn, Kadin extends his right hand to them and greets them. The rest of the soldiers take a knee and provide security as the group talks.

The men also said the security in the area has improved drastically in the last two months. Whereas they used to be afraid to sit on their front lawn drinking tea, now they know that no one will bother them. The man said that he can enjoy his time out there with his friends and know that the only interruption they might have will be from friendly Iraqi army soldiers and policemen, stopping by to say "hello."

“I try to teach my men to respect the people here, because they could save our lives,” Kadin said. “If we show them respect they will show us respect and help us fight the insurgency.”

Kadin found a 7.62mm shell casing on the way back to the base. A little curious about why it was in the street he asked some nearby residents.

They told him the casing had come from a local who had a celebration the day prior.

“My goal here is to help the good people of Ramadi rid themselves of the insurgency that plagues them. I want all of this country to be safe,” Kadin said. “If it starts here in Ramadi, then so be it. I know that my men and I are doing a very good job. I will terminate as many insurgents as I can, until there are no more to fight, then I will know we are done here. But we will move to the next city to do the same for them.”


http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/Fr...ity%20Lead.aspx

NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894





Title: LOCAL TIP LEADS TO CACHE DISCOVERY

Release Date: 8/1/2007

Release Number: 07-01-03P

Description: MOSUL, Iraq - Tipped off by an Iraqi citizen, Iraqi army soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division conducted a joint mission with Coalition Force Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, July 30, to remove illegal weapons from the neighborhoods of western Mosul.

Focusing on the Wade Hajar and Al Sinaa neighborhoods, IA and Coalition troops captured a detainee with knowledge of a substantial weapons cache at a home located in the Al Najar neighborhood.

Inside the house, the joint forces discovered a spider hole hidden under tiles beneath a stove. The tiles were broken away revealing a lit room containing: one anti-aircraft gun barrel; one anti-aircraft gun receiver; one sniper rifle, 2,000 rounds of PKM machine gun ammunition, two AK-47 assault rifles, three rocket-propelled grenades and miscellaneous improvised explosive device-making materials. Two suspected terrorists were also detained for interrogation.

"This discovery is another great example of the Iraqi army taking the lead and generating the intelligence that allows us to find and remove dangerous weapons like these off of the streets," said Maj. Joseph Kopser, executive officer, 2-7 Cavalry.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION - NORTH AT: TFLIGHTNING.PAO@US.ARMY.MIL

You must be getting at least a "buzz" by now Marine. Chug-a-Lug.

Reading about our wars and other US foreign policy maneuvers is like reading the, "Professional
Literature in Education and Human Services. It is often obvious that the researcher doing the reporting in the professional literature hasn't spent much time in a public education classroom
or a human services consulting room or a general hospital Emergency Room where the social system sh*t hits the fan. Like Chomski says, "You gotta walk into reality before you start changing it."

Support Our Troops Day
Start Time: 5:00 pm

Event type: Entertainment
Sponsoring Agency: SOLDIERS

Location:
Eisenhower Park, Shelters and Playground
Abilene, KS

Military Families & Loved Ones, along with the newly developed Military Affairs Committee of the Abilene Area Chamber of Commerce, host this "Support Our Troops Day" to show their support and thanks for our Armed Forces. The Mayor will attend the special cook-out dinner, and the Fort Riley Rock Band will provide entertainment, activities for kids, a special gift and free rodeo tickets for military families. Please RSVP to Kimberly Thurston-Bynum by July 27th at(785)226-9059 or kblndngel@yahoo.com.

Contact:
Kimberly Thurston-Bynum-Coordinator
785/226-9059

http://amillionthanks.org/

http://www.give2thetroops.org/

http://www.adoptaplatoon.org/

http://www.soldiersangels.com/

http://www.operationhomefront.net/

http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americas...syou/index.aspx

http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001497.html

Here is another section of the topic article entitled "RAIDS".

This is the result of fighting a war where there is no way to identify the enemy. No uniforms or shared language, it is my opinion that it is futile to expect successful results and to even undertake such a goal is imcompetence of the highest order, the military efforts against the Al Queda type of extreme Islamists is not what is taking place. Instead it is becoming the decimation of a population of another sovereign nation that had done no attack on Americans.This sow's ear cannot be turned into a silk purse.


#########






http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070730/hedges/2




The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness
Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian

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Raids

"So we get started on this day, this one in particular," recalled Spc. Philip Chrystal, 23, of Reno, who said he raided between twenty and thirty Iraqi homes during an eleven-month tour in Kirkuk and Hawija that ended in October 2005, serving with the Third Battalion, 116th Cavalry Brigade. "It starts with the psy-ops vehicles out there, you know, with the big speakers playing a message in Arabic or Farsi or Kurdish or whatever they happen to be, saying, basically, saying, Put your weapons, if you have them, next to the front door in your house. Please come outside, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we had Apaches flying over for security, if they're needed, and it's also a good show of force. And we're running around, and they--we'd done a few houses by this point, and I was with my platoon leader, my squad leader and maybe a couple other people.

"And we were approaching this one house," he said. "In this farming area, they're, like, built up into little courtyards. So they have, like, the main house, common area. They have, like, a kitchen and then they have a storage shed-type deal. And we're approaching, and they had a family dog. And it was barking ferociously, 'cause it's doing its job. And my squad leader, just out of nowhere, just shoots it. And he didn't--motherfucker--he shot it and it went in the jaw and exited out. So I see this dog--I'm a huge animal lover; I love animals--and this dog has, like, these eyes on it and he's running around spraying blood all over the place. And like, you know, What the hell is going on? The family is sitting right there, with three little children and a mom and a dad, horrified. And I'm at a loss for words. And so, I yell at him. I'm, like, What the fuck are you doing? And so the dog's yelping. It's crying out without a jaw. And I'm looking at the family, and they're just, you know, dead scared. And so I told them, I was like, Fucking shoot it, you know? At least kill it, because that can't be fixed....





"And--I actually get tears from just saying this right now, but--and I had tears then, too--and I'm looking at the kids and they are so scared. So I got the interpreter over with me and, you know, I get my wallet out and I gave them twenty bucks, because that's what I had. And, you know, I had him give it to them and told them that I'm so sorry that asshole did that.

"Was a report ever filed about it?" he asked. "Was anything ever done? Any punishment ever dished out? No, absolutely not."

Specialist Chrystal said such incidents were "very common."

According to interviews with twenty-four veterans who participated in such raids, they are a relentless reality for Iraqis under occupation. The American forces, stymied by poor intelligence, invade neighborhoods where insurgents operate, bursting into homes in the hope of surprising fighters or finding weapons. But such catches, they said, are rare. Far more common were stories in which soldiers assaulted a home, destroyed property in their futile search and left terrorized civilians struggling to repair the damage and begin the long torment of trying to find family members who were hauled away as suspects.

Raids normally took place between midnight and 5 am, according to Sgt. John Bruhns, 29, of Philadelphia, who estimates that he took part in raids of nearly 1,000 Iraqi homes. He served in Baghdad and Abu Ghraib, a city infamous for its prison, located twenty miles west of the capital, with the Third Brigade, First Armor Division, First Battalion, for one year beginning in March 2003. His descriptions of raid procedures closely echoed those of eight other veterans who served in locations as diverse as Kirkuk, Samarra, Baghdad, Mosul and Tikrit.

"You want to catch them off guard," Sergeant Bruhns explained. "You want to catch them in their sleep." About ten troops were involved in each raid, he said, with five stationed outside and the rest searching the home.

Once they were in front of the home, troops, some wearing Kevlar helmets and flak vests with grenade launchers mounted on their weapons, kicked the door in, according to Sergeant Bruhns, who dispassionately described the procedure:

"You run in. And if there's lights, you turn them on--if the lights are working. If not, you've got flashlights.... You leave one rifle team outside while one rifle team goes inside. Each rifle team leader has a headset on with an earpiece and a microphone where he can communicate with the other rifle team leader that's outside.

"You go up the stairs. You grab the man of the house. You rip him out of bed in front of his wife. You put him up against the wall. You have junior-level troops, PFCs [privates first class], specialists will run into the other rooms and grab the family, and you'll group them all together. Then you go into a room and you tear the room to shreds and you make sure there's no weapons or anything that they can use to attack us.

"You get the interpreter and you get the man of the home, and you have him at gunpoint, and you'll ask the interpreter to ask him: 'Do you have any weapons? Do you have any anti-US propaganda, anything at all--anything--anything in here that would lead us to believe that you are somehow involved in insurgent activity or anti-coalition forces activity?'

"Normally they'll say no, because that's normally the truth," Sergeant Bruhns said. "So what you'll do is you'll take his sofa cushions and you'll dump them. If he has a couch, you'll turn the couch upside down. You'll go into the fridge, if he has a fridge, and you'll throw everything on the floor, and you'll take his drawers and you'll dump them.... You'll open up his closet and you'll throw all the clothes on the floor and basically leave his house looking like a hurricane just hit it.

"And if you find something, then you'll detain him. If not, you'll say, 'Sorry to disturb you. Have a nice evening.' So you've just humiliated this man in front of his entire family and terrorized his entire family and you've destroyed his home. And then you go right next door and you do the same thing in a hundred homes."

Each raid, or "cordon and search" operation, as they are sometimes called, involved five to twenty homes, he said. Following a spate of attacks on soldiers in a particular area, commanders would normally order infantrymen on raids to look for weapons caches, ammunition or materials for making IEDs. Each Iraqi family was allowed to keep one AK-47 at home, but according to Bruhns, those found with extra weapons were arrested and detained and the operation classified a "success," even if it was clear that no one in the home was an insurgent.

Before a raid, according to descriptions by several veterans, soldiers typically "quarantined" the area by barring anyone from coming in or leaving. In pre-raid briefings, Sergeant Bruhns said, military commanders often told their troops the neighborhood they were ordered to raid was "a hostile area with a high level of insurgency" and that it had been taken over by former Baathists or Al Qaeda terrorists.

"So you have all these troops, and they're all wound up," said Sergeant Bruhns. "And a lot of these troops think once they kick down the door there's going to be people on the inside waiting for them with weapons to start shooting at them."

Sgt. Dustin Flatt, 33, of Denver, estimates he raided "thousands" of homes in Tikrit, Samarra and Mosul. He served with the Eighteenth Infantry Brigade, First Infantry Division, for one year beginning in February 2004. "We scared the living Jesus out of them every time we went through every house," he said.

Spc. Ali Aoun, 23, a National Guardsman from New York City, said he conducted perimeter security in nearly 100 raids while serving in Sadr City with the Eighty-Ninth Military Police Brigade for eleven months starting in April 2004. When soldiers raided a home, he said, they first cordoned it off with Humvees. Soldiers guarded the entrance to make sure no one escaped. If an entire town was being raided, in large-scale operations, it too was cordoned off, said Spc. Garett Reppenhagen, 32, of Manitou Springs, Colorado, a cavalry scout and sniper with the 263rd Armor Battalion, First Infantry Division, who was deployed to Baquba for a year in February 2004.

Staff Sgt. Timothy John Westphal, 31, of Denver, recalled one summer night in 2004, the temperature an oppressive 110 degrees, when he and forty-four other US soldiers raided a sprawling farm on the outskirts of Tikrit. Sergeant Westphal, who served there for a yearlong tour with the Eighteenth Infantry Brigade, First Infantry Division, beginning in February 2004, said he was told some men on the farm were insurgents. As a mechanized infantry squad leader, Sergeant Westphal led the mission to secure the main house, while fifteen men swept the property. Sergeant Westphal and his men hopped the wall surrounding the house, fully expecting to come face to face with armed insurgents.

"We had our flashlights and...I told my guys, 'On the count of three, just hit them with your lights and let's see what we've got here. Wake 'em up!'"

Sergeant Westphal's flashlight was mounted on his M-4 carbine rifle, a smaller version of the M-16, so in pointing his light at the clump of sleepers on the floor he was also pointing his weapon at them. Sergeant Westphal first turned his light on a man who appeared to be in his mid-60s.

"The man screamed this gut-wrenching, blood-curdling, just horrified scream," Sergeant Westphal recalled. "I've never heard anything like that. I mean, the guy was absolutely terrified. I can imagine what he was thinking, having lived under Saddam."

The farm's inhabitants were not insurgents but a family sleeping outside for relief from the stifling heat, and the man Sergeant Westphal had frightened awake was the patriarch.

"Sure enough, as we started to peel back the layers of all these people sleeping, I mean, it was him, maybe two guys...either his sons or nephews or whatever, and the rest were all women and children," Sergeant Westphal said. "We didn't find anything.

"I can tell you hundreds of stories about things like that and they would all pretty much be like the one I just told you. Just a different family, a different time, a different circumstance."

For Sergeant Westphal, that night was a turning point. "I just remember thinking to myself, I just brought terror to someone else under the American flag, and that's just not what I joined the Army to do," he said.



Copyright © 2007 The Nation

Diyala Tribal Leaders Continue Reconciliation Efforts
Tribes unite to eliminate terrorists.

By Multi-National Division–North Public Affairs
TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2007 — Eighteen paramount tribal leaders representing 14 of the major tribes in Diyala province, Iraq, swore on the Quran and signed a peace agreement unifying the tribes in the battle against terrorism during a meeting at the Baqubah Government Center Aug. 2.

The meeting, led by Ra’ad Hameed Al-Mula Jowad Al-Tamimi, governor of Diyala; Staff Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem, commander of Iraqi security forces (ISF) in Diyala province; and Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of coalition forces in Diyala, was attended by sheiks representing three Shiite tribes, 11 Sunni tribes and 60 of Diyala’s 100 sub-tribes.

“Let’s build this tent and live under it like one family – all the tribes and all the people of Diyala. You have to be one family,” said Ra’ad Hameed Al-Mula Jowad Al-Tamimi, governor of Diyala, who stressed the importance of the sheiks in the country’s efforts towards stability and security.

“Problems can be solved by the sheiks because they have great influence on their tribes,” Ra’ad continued, stating the tribes are the key to success in Diyala.

“Those tribes that do not choose to participate in the way ahead for a secure Diyala will be left behind,” said Sutherland as he spoke to the tribes. “Don’t say, ‘I need,’ until you say, ‘I’ve done.’ Do for your families, do for your tribes, and do for Diyala.”


“The tribal leaders can change the hearts of the people,”

said Sheik Mahmood Abdul-Shinba Al-Hassani. “Instead of cheering for the terrorists driving through the streets, the people will cheer for the Iraqi security forces in the streets.”

“The terrorists are not that many,” said Sheik Adnan Abdul-Mehdi Al-Anbaki. “We have to stand together and we need to kill the terrorists. We know who they are.”

After discussing tribal differences and why it is important to unite, the sheiks signed a reconciliation agreement and swore over the Quran as a promise to uphold the agreement.

As stated in the Quran, “And hold fast, all together, by the rope which God (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves,” the sheiks agreed to ten conditions.

Some conditions of the peace treaty include ending tribal conflicts and attacks; cooperating with the ISF; fighting al-Qaida, militia groups and other terrorist organizations; working with the security forces to eradicate corrupt members; returning displaced families to their homes; reporting and removing improvised explosive devices; and respecting all sects, religions and women’s rights.

“This is the time my government needs me,” said Sheik Mazen Rasheed Al-Mula Jawad Al-Tamimi, paramount sheik for the Tamimi tribe. “Why should I stand by and watch when my people tell me everything – the good and the bad?”

“We have to consider the fact that local people are helping us. We have to work with them hand-in-hand and go forward,” Ra’ad said. “If anyone is standing in our way as an obstacle, then we will have to take that obstacle away from our path.”





http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/aug2...a080307ej2.html

Engineers Complete 112 Projects in Iraq
Water networks, road improvements enhance quality of life.

By Gulf Region Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
BAGHDAD, Aug. 3, 2007 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division, completed 112 construction projects between June 30 and July 27, 2007 – bringing the total number of completed projects to 3,998.

Currently, there are 576 construction projects ongoing – all funded through the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, the Development Fund for Iraq, the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, the Economic Support Fund and the Iraq Security Forces Fund.

Water projects that were completed this month include three network projects in Sadr City in Baghdad Province – each totaling $1.9 million. Each potable water project included laying water pipe mains, water service connections, fire hydrants, and feeder pipes and connections, plus all associated facilities for the Baghdad Amanat. The three projects will benefit more than 60,000 Sadr City residents.

Three rural water projects also were completed in Al Anbar Province – Al Kanater, Al Thabtea and Al Sekar. Each project – costing $180,000 each – installed rapid filter systems with a 45-gallon water capacity to each area to provide safe, potable drinking water to more than 12,000 area residents.

Two road construction projects that were completed this month include the Mosul to Baghdad paving project ($1.71 million) in Salah ad Din Province, and the Showairrej to Tak Harb paving project ($1.5 million) in Ninewa Province. Both
projects will improve safety travel conditions for residents and contribute to better economic activity.

Other results of GRD’s reconstruction efforts:


Due to added capacity and normal operation and maintenances of systems, electrical generation is at 4,761 megawatts, with an end goal of 6,000 MW and 1.3 million homes served. Electrical generation megawatts are dynamic, owing to interdiction of lines by insurgents and unscheduled maintenance.


Potable water is at 540,000 m3/day with 2.3 million people affected with an end goal of 3.1 million m3/day and an end goal of 5.2 million people affected. Harb paving project ($1.5 million) in Ninewa Province. Both projects will improve safety travel conditions for residents and contribute to better economic activity.


GRD met its end goals set for crude oil production - 3 million barrels per day; LPG production - 3,000 metric tons per day; natural gas production capacity – 800 million standard cubic feet per day.

Throughout Iraq, U.S. government ongoing projects contribute to the ever-improving quality of life and economic stability – helping provide the foundation for the country to build upon as it overcomes a generation of neglect.




http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/aug2...a080307tj1.html

Perhaps one of the most feared battle situations for any soldier is a well-laid ambush in an urban setting. Then-Pvt. Broadwell and her team came face-to-face with that situation on Oct. 16, 2003, on the mean streets of Karbala, Iraq.

Tensions in Karbala had been heating up for some time, and the sense of danger seemed almost palpable. Broadwell’s military police company was patrolling side streets that day to make sure citizens were obeying a weapons ban. Broadwell was a few streets away when gunfire erupted and a call for help went out over the radio. Broadwell’s team rushed to the trapped unit and found themselves in the middle of a concerted attack from multiple directions.

Broadwell stood atop her Humvee’s turret, but she was too short to see through the weapon’s eye hole. She instead relied on tracer rounds to target her fire accurately. And accurate she was: without her quick trigger, several U.S. troops would not have made it out of the death trap alive – because, as one lieutenant later told The Washington Post, “She was up there doing what we trained her to do as a gunner… She kept [the enemies’] heads down.” She did so even as explosions landed in front of her vehicle, and constantly threw her back. Each time she got back up and continued firing off quick, methodical, deadly bursts. A number of soldiers were awed by her calm demeanor.

The firefight was over nearly as quickly as it had begun. Broadwell and the rest of her MP unit are credited with having eliminated at least 20 enemy fighters. For her actions, Broadwell was awarded the Bronze Star with a “V” for Valor in the fall of 2003.

Funny, I didn't read a story about this in the Washington Post......hmmmm......I wonder why?

Sgt. Hester’s squad was following a supply convoy on March 20, 2005, in Iraq when insurgents ambushed the convoy. Her squad quickly moved into position, cutting off the enemy’s escape route. Hester led her team directly into the line of fire into a flanking position, and then began an assault on a trench line. She and her squad leader cleared two trenches. When the attack was over, 27 insurgents were dead, six were wounded, and one was captured. Hester was the first woman soldier since World War II to be awarded the Silver Star Medal.

Lt. Gen. John R. Vines commended the soldiers for their bravery and their contribution to the international war on terror. "My heroes don't play in the NBA(National Basketball Association) and don't play in the U.S. Open (golf tournament) at Pinehurst," Vines said. "They're standing in front of me today. These are American heroes."

I would a liked to asked the one insurgent they captured; "How does it feel to have had your ass whipped by an American woman?"

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/90151.pdf

Since the board was slowed so much with the updating yesterday I decided to post two sections of The Nation feature today.

It needs to be kept in mind that trauma from this conflict is imprinting itself in the psyche of the very young in Iraq who are eyewitinessing more than any adult human should even be exposed to, therefore the blowback will affect generations to come. I don't think it is going to be the seeds of democracy either.

###########


The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness
Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian

page 3 of 11 | PREV 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 NEXT





Intelligence

Fifteen soldiers we spoke with told us the information that spurred these raids was typically gathered through human intelligence--and that it was usually incorrect. Eight said it was common for Iraqis to use American troops to settle family disputes, tribal rivalries or personal vendettas. Sgt. Jesus Bocanegra, 25, of Weslaco, Texas, was a scout in Tikrit with the Fourth Infantry Division during a yearlong tour that ended in March 2004. In late 2003, Sergeant Bocanegra raided a middle-aged man's home in Tikrit because his son had told the Army his father was an insurgent. After thoroughly searching the man's house, soldiers found nothing and later discovered that the son simply wanted money his father had buried at the farm.

After persistently acting on such false leads, Sergeant Bocanegra, who raided Iraqi homes in more than fifty operations, said soldiers began to anticipate the innocence of those they raided. "People would make jokes about it, even before we'd go into a raid, like, Oh fucking we're gonna get the wrong house," he said. "'Cause it would always happen. We always got the wrong house." Specialist Chrystal said that he and his platoon leader shared a joke of their own: Every time he raided a house, he would radio in and say, "This is, you know, Thirty-One Lima. Yeah, I found the weapons of mass destruction in here."


Sergeant Bruhns said he questioned the authenticity of the intelligence he received because Iraqi informants were paid by the US military for tips. On one occasion, an Iraqi tipped off Sergeant Bruhns's unit that a small Syrian resistance organization, responsible for killing a number of US troops, was holed up in a house. "They're waiting for us to show up and there will be a lot of shooting," Sergeant Bruhns recalled being told.

As the Alpha Company team leader, Sergeant Bruhns was supposed to be the first person in the door. Skeptical, he refused. "So I said, 'If you're so confident that there are a bunch of Syrian terrorists, insurgents...in there, why in the world are you going to send me and three guys in the front door, because chances are I'm not going to be able to squeeze the trigger before I get shot.'" Sergeant Bruhns facetiously suggested they pull an M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle up to the house and shoot a missile through the front window to exterminate the enemy fighters his commanders claimed were inside. They instead diminished the aggressiveness of the raid. As Sergeant Bruhns ran security out front, his fellow soldiers smashed the windows and kicked down the doors to find "a few little kids, a woman and an old man."

In late summer 2005, in a village on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Specialist Chrystal searched a compound with two Iraqi police officers. A friendly man in his mid-30s escorted Specialist Chrystal and others in his unit around the property, where the man lived with his parents, wife and children, making jokes to lighten the mood. As they finished searching--they found nothing--a lieutenant from his company approached Specialist Chrystal: "What the hell were you doing?" he asked. "Well, we just searched the house and it's clear," Specialist Chrystal said. The lieutenant told Specialist Chrystal that his friendly guide was "one of the targets" of the raid. "Apparently he'd been dimed out by somebody as being an insurgent," Specialist Chrystal said. "For that mission, they'd only handed out the target sheets to officers, and officers aren't there with the rest of the troops." Specialist Chrystal said he felt "humiliated" because his assessment that the man posed no threat was deemed irrelevant and the man was arrested. Shortly afterward, he posted himself in a fighting vehicle for the rest of the mission.

Sgt. Larry Cannon, 27, of Salt Lake City, a Bradley gunner with the Eighteenth Infantry Brigade, First Infantry Division, served a yearlong tour in several cities in Iraq, including Tikrit, Samarra and Mosul, beginning in February 2004. He estimates that he searched more than a hundred homes in Tikrit and found the raids fruitless and maddening. "We would go on one raid of a house and that guy would say, 'No, it's not me, but I know where that guy is.' And...he'd take us to the next house where this target was supposedly at, and then that guy's like, 'No, it's not me. I know where he is, though.' And we'd drive around all night and go from raid to raid to raid."

"I can't really fault military intelligence," said Specialist Reppenhagen, who said he raided thirty homes in and around Baquba. "It was always a guessing game. We're in a country where we don't speak the language. We're light on interpreters. It's just impossible to really get anything. All you're going off is a pattern of what's happened before and hoping that the pattern doesn't change."

Sgt. Geoffrey Millard, 26, of Buffalo, New York, served in Tikrit with the Rear Operations Center, Forty-Second Infantry Division, for one year beginning in October 2004. He said combat troops had neither the training nor the resources to investigate tips before acting on them. "We're not police," he said. "We don't go around like detectives and ask questions. We kick down doors, we go in, we grab people."

First Lieut. Brady Van Engelen, 26, of Washington, DC, said the Army depended on less than reliable sources because options were limited. He served as a survey platoon leader with the First Armored Division in Baghdad's volatile Adhamiya district for eight months beginning in September 2003. "That's really about the only thing we had," he said. "A lot of it was just going off a whim, a hope that it worked out," he said. "Maybe one in ten worked out."

Sergeant Bruhns said he uncovered illegal material about 10 percent of the time, an estimate echoed by other veterans. "We did find small materials for IEDs, like maybe a small piece of the wire, the detonating cord," said Sergeant Cannon. "We never found real bombs in the houses." In the thousand or so raids he conducted during his time in Iraq, Sergeant Westphal said, he came into contact with only four "hard-core insurgents."



Arrests

Even with such slim pretexts for arrest, some soldiers said, any Iraqis arrested during a raid were treated with extreme suspicion. Several reported seeing military-age men detained without evidence or abused during questioning. Eight veterans said the men would typically be bound with plastic handcuffs, their heads covered with sandbags. While the Army officially banned the practice of hooding prisoners after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, five soldiers indicated that it continued.

"You weren't allowed to, but it was still done," said Sergeant Cannon. "I remember in Mosul [in January 2005], we had guys in a raid and they threw them in the back of a Bradley," shackled and hooded. "These guys were really throwing up," he continued. "They were so sick and nervous. And sometimes, they were peeing on themselves. Can you imagine if people could just come into your house and take you in front of your family screaming? And if you actually were innocent but had no way to prove that? It would be a scary, scary thing." Specialist Reppenhagen said he had only a vague idea about what constituted contraband during a raid. "Sometimes we didn't even have a translator, so we find some poster with Muqtada al-Sadr, Sistani or something, we don't know what it says on it. We just apprehend them, document that thing as evidence and send it on down the road and let other people deal with it."


Sergeant Bruhns, Sergeant Bocanegra and others said physical abuse of Iraqis during raids was common. "It was just soldiers being soldiers," Sergeant Bocanegra said. "You give them a lot of, too much, power that they never had before, and before you know it they're the ones kicking these guys while they're handcuffed. And then by you not catching [insurgents], when you do have someone say, 'Oh, this is a guy planting a roadside bomb'--and you don't even know if it's him or not--you just go in there and kick the shit out of him and take him in the back of a five-ton--take him to jail."

Tens of thousands of Iraqis--military officials estimate more than 60,000--have been arrested and detained since the beginning of the occupation, leaving their families to navigate a complex, chaotic prison system in order to find them. Veterans we interviewed said the majority of detainees they encountered were either innocent or guilty of only minor infractions.

Sergeant Bocanegra said during the first two months of the war he was instructed to detain Iraqis based on their attire alone. "They were wearing Arab clothing and military-style boots, they were considered enemy combatants and you would cuff 'em and take 'em in," he said. "When you put something like that so broad, you're bound to have, out of a hundred, you're going to have ten at least that were, you know what I mean, innocent."

Sometime during the summer of 2003, Bocanegra said, the rules of engagement narrowed--somewhat. "I remember on some raids, anybody of military age would be taken," he said. "Say, for example, we went to some house looking for a 25-year-old male. We would look at an age group. Anybody from 15 to 30 might be a suspect." (Since returning from Iraq, Bocanegra has sought counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder and said his "mission" is to encourage others to do the same.)

Spc. Richard Murphy, 28, an Army Reservist from Pocono, Pennsylvania, who served part of his fifteen-month tour with the 800th Military Police Brigade in Abu Ghraib prison, said he was often struck by the lack of due process afforded the prisoners he guarded.

Specialist Murphy initially went to Iraq in May 2003 to train Iraqi police in the southern city of Al Hillah but was transferred to Abu Ghraib in October 2003 when his unit replaced one that was rotating home. (He spoke with The Nation in October 2006, while not on active duty.) Shortly after his arrival there, he realized that the number of prisoners was growing "exponentially" while the amount of personnel remained stagnant. By the end of his six-month stint, Specialist Murphy was in charge of 320 prisoners, the majority of whom he was convinced were unjustly detained.

"I knew that a large percentage of these prisoners were innocent," he said. "Just living with these people for months you get to see their character.... In just listening to the prisoners' stories, I mean, I get the sense that a lot of them were just getting rounded up in big groups."

Specialist Murphy said one prisoner, a mentally impaired, blind albino who could "maybe see a few feet in front of his face" clearly did not belong in Abu Ghraib. "I thought to myself, What could he have possibly done?"

Specialist Murphy counted the prisoners twice a day, and the inmates would often ask him when they would be released or implore him to advocate on their behalf, which he would try to do through the JAG (Judge Advocate General) Corps office. The JAG officer Specialist Murphy dealt with would respond that it was out of his hands. "He would make his recommendations and he'd have to send it up to the next higher command," Specialist Murphy said. "It was just a snail's crawling process.... The system wasn't working."

Prisoners at the notorious facility rioted on November 24, 2003, to protest their living conditions, and Army Reserve Spc. Aidan Delgado, 25, of Sarasota, Florida, was there. He had deployed with the 320th Military Police Company to Talil Air Base, to serve in Nasiriya and Abu Ghraib for one year beginning in April 2003. Unlike the other troops in his unit, he did not respond to the riot. Four months earlier he had decided to stop carrying a loaded weapon.

Nine prisoners were killed and three wounded after soldiers opened fire during the riot, and Specialist Delgado's fellow soldiers returned with photographs of the events. The images, disturbingly similar to the incident described by Sergeant Mejía, shocked him. "It was very graphic," he said. "A head split open. One of them was of two soldiers in the back of the truck. They open the body bags of these prisoners that were shot in the head and [one soldier has] got an MRE spoon. He's reaching in to scoop out some of his brain, looking at the camera and he's smiling. And I said, 'These are some of our soldiers desecrating somebody's body. Something is seriously amiss.' I became convinced that this was excessive force, and this was brutality."

Spc. Patrick Resta, 29, a National Guardsman from Philadelphia, served in Jalula, where there was a small prison camp at his base. He was with the 252nd Armor, First Infantry Division, for nine months beginning in March 2004. He recalled his supervisor telling his platoon point-blank, "The Geneva Conventions don't exist at all in Iraq, and that's in writing if you want to see it."

The pivotal experience for Specialist Delgado came when, in the winter of 2003, he was assigned to battalion headquarters inside Abu Ghraib prison, where he worked with Maj. David DiNenna and Lieut. Col. Jerry Phillabaum, both implicated in the Taguba Report, the official Army investigation into the prison scandal. There Delgado read reports on prisoners and updated a dry erase board with information on where in the large prison compound detainees were moved and held.

"That was when I totally walked away from the Army," Specialist Delgado said. "I read these rap sheets on all the prisoners in Abu Ghraib and what they were there for. I expected them to be terrorists, murderers, insurgents. I look down this roster and see petty theft, public drunkenness, forged coalition documents. These people are here for petty civilian crimes."

"These aren't terrorists," he recalled thinking. "These aren't our enemies. They're just ordinary people, and we're treating them this harshly." Specialist Delgado ultimately applied for conscientious objector status, which the Army approved in April 2004.

#############


lenal

Well, from watching the Sunday morning news shows it's painfully obvious the antiwar moveement is on the verge of panick.

We killed the latest leader of al Qaeda in Iraq last night. The fellow who was responsible for blowing up the Golden Mosque.

Not a mention of it on Meet the Press, all they wanted to talk about was how horrible things are going in Iraq.

Sorry lenal, you need to get somebody with a little more creditability than Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian if you want me to believe such nonsense as what those two wrote in the article you posted.

I hope Marine is right. If so, we should be able to turn
this puppy over to the Iraqis by December. But...
which Iraqis? The government? The shieks? The PKK?
The Mahdi Militia? Maybe some to each?

GIs have done what they were tasked to do...and
tragically in this sort of adventure civilians get nailed.
And, will continue too (by us), until we reduce our footprint.

We used to gladly cut trail, alot harder than walking
an established trail, but no bobby-traps (IEDs today).
Hueys resupplied us about every week - in and out.

The 60-mph-dashs between walls and deserts must be
extremely nerve racking. I'm glad it ain't my war...
and yet I suppose it is our war. I hope their is
soon enough "success" to lead toward redeployment.
I pray.

Indianhead - One reason I have chosen to post these features from The Nation is to perhaps let another generation learn just what Sherman was talking about so long ago. And if they know, then they can make better decisions -

I haven't entered the next two because when I first tried boarding earlier today, we were again down for the upgrade.

And it is going to wait until tomorrow.......health issues taking priority on my attention just now.

For those of us who are members of long standing here, it is refreshing to see the different results of how being a veteran has affected each of you in unique ways. I had opportunities in my working years to have interviewed many vets and also found that fascinating then. Of course breathing right down on my eightieth birthday, most of my peers were in WW2 along with most male relatives. But this is not so common now. In a metropolitan area where I live I would wager that most of the twenty something population have few peers involved in this conflict. When the KIA's are announced and honored each time on PBS it is remarkable how most are from small towns.

lenal

Iraqis Sign Up to be Police Officers
Military Police company helps with recruitment drive.


By Staff Sgt. Carlos J. Lazo
Multi-National Division - Center Public Affairs Office
COMBAT OUTPOST CLEARY, Iraq, Aug. 7, 2007 — It began with a bit of confusion and awkwardness.

"They (Iraqi police) put the whole drive together,"

Capt. Elizabeth M. Cane, commander, 59th Military Police Company.


Superiors were busy ensuring everything was set, and subordinates asked each other if anybody would show up. At first no one did, and a disappointing silence fell over most of the building. Some wondered if the rest of the day would be the same.

Then, through the large metallic gate, with its rusty handles and desert-sand-colored face, they came.

They came throughout the day, local Iraqis wanting to apply for work at the Salman Pak Iraqi police station during a recruitment drive July 30.

Organized by police of the Mada’in district and supported by the 59th Military Police Company, the drive allowed Iraqis in the area to apply to serve as a police officer.

“Right now, we’re just helping them with security,” said Capt. Elizabeth M. Cane, commander, 59th Military Police Company.

“They (Iraqi police) put the whole drive together,” said Cane, a native of Wynnewood, Pa.

This is the first recruitment drive in Salman Pak in quite some time, Cane said.

Applicants had to be Iraqi and between the ages of 17 and 35.

Police also checked to ensure recruits were healthy and didn’t have a criminal record.


Pfc. Jeremy Weflen, a medic with Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, takes a retinal picture of an applicant during an Iraqi police recruitment drive at the Salman Pak Police Station, July 30. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Carlos J. Lazo


Once they applied, candidates enrolled in a Coalition database and were required to provide their name and contact information to the police station.

Everybody (who applies) is put into the system, said Pfc. Jeremy Weflen, a medic with Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

Additional requirements include a written exam, physical fitness test and a medical exam, all to be administered at a later screening.

In total, 59 Iraqi men came in and signed up, Cane said.

Although this was the first recruitment drive in some time, Cane said the police will sponsor more drives across the Mada’in Qada.





http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/aug2...a080707sj1.html

Freedom Walks Total 157 Nationwide



By Samantha L. Quigley / American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2007 - Planning for the 2007 America Supports You Freedom Walk is well under way in the nation’s capital as well as in 41 states across the country.

The inaugural America Supports You Freedom Walk, created by Pentagon employees to commemorate the attack on the building and honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, was held Sept. 11, 2005. America Supports You is a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

As of today, 1,231 people have registered for the national Freedom Walk, part of a series of events commemorating the Sept. 11 attacks.

“That’s kind of … on track (with last year),” Stephanie Linder, the national Freedom Walk coordinator, said. She added that the number of walks scheduled across the country seems to be on a high-speed rail. Organizers have registered 157 registered Freedom Walks across the country so far. “As of last year at this time, we had … 39 walks,” she said.

A handful of those walks cover the Hampton Roads region in Virginia. “Eight cities -- Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg -- all are hosting Freedom Walks,” Linder said.

Students aren’t to be outdone by their grown-up counterparts. One Texas school system is contributing to the number of walks registered. “Killeen Independent School District has 50 separate schools,” Linder said. “Each school will have a Freedom Walk.”

More students will learn about Freedom Walks in a couple of weeks when they return to school and get their first Weekly Reader issue of the year.

As the publication for students did last year, it has published a piece telling its readers how they, too, can organize Freedom Walks. Last year’s article caught the eye of Sebring, Ohio’s Colton Lockner, then nine, whose uncle had been deployed to Iraq.

When he asked his mom and his principal, they gave him the green light, thinking it would be a school event. Little did they suspect that he could rally nearly half of his town’s 4,800 residents to participate.

Lockner, now 10, is featured in this year’s Weekly Reader article, Linder said.

“The reason Colton was featured was because that’s how he learned about Freedom Walk last year,” she said. “It’s kind of an encouragement (for other students). ‘He did it, so can you,’ basically is the message.”

She hopes the article will create a surge of student- or school-organized walks.

More than 15,000 walkers participated in the 2005 inaugural walk to remember those who lost their lives and honor the nation’s veterans. That walk began at the Pentagon and ended on the National Mall with a performance by country singer Clint Black.

The 2006 America Supports You Freedom Walk, which took place on Sept. 10, began on the National Mall with a brief opening program before walkers crossed the Potomac River bound for the Pentagon. In addition to a patriotic program featuring opera singer Denyse Graves, beams of white light shone from the building's center courtyard honoring the people who lost their lives when American Airlines Flight 77 was flown into the Pentagon.

This year’s America Supports You Freedom Walk will be held on the morning of Sept. 9 and will look similar to its predecessors. Walkers will begin at the Lincoln Memorial and walk to the Pentagon, where, as in years past, they will enjoy a patriotic program.

Those interested in participating in the national walk can register through the America Supports You Freedom Walk Web site, www.americasupportsyou.mil/freedomwalk. The site also helps people find Freedom Walks near their communities and provides information on how to organize Freedom Walks.

A list of registered walks and when they’re taking place can be found on the Freedom Walk Web site.

Here are two more sections from the feature in The Nation that is the topic subject.

I hope some of you are tracking the blogging by Iraqi -- many of them high school and college age, making heroic efforts to continue schooling under desperate conditions. some have succeeded in getting out of the country. And of course many have lost multiple family members.




http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070730/hedges/7


article | posted July 9, 2007 (July 30, 2007 issue)

The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness

Chris Hedges & Lail Al-Arian

page 7 of 11 | PREV 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 NEXT


This article will form the basis of Collateral Damage, forthcoming from Nation Books. Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute. Research assistance was provided by Nicholas Jahr.


Patrols

Soldiers and marines who participated in neighborhood patrols said they often used the same tactics as convoys--speed, aggressive firing--to reduce the risk of being ambushed or falling victim to IEDs. Sgt. Patrick Campbell, 29, of Camarillo, California, who frequently took part in patrols, said his unit fired often and without much warning on Iraqi civilians in a desperate bid to ward off attacks.

"Every time we got on the highway," he said, "we were firing warning shots, causing accidents all the time. Cars screeching to a stop, going into the other intersection.... The problem is, if you slow down at an intersection more than once, that's where the next bomb is going to be because you know they watch. You know? And so if you slow down at the same choke point every time, guaranteed there's going to be a bomb there next couple of days. So getting onto a freeway or highway is a choke point 'cause you have to wait for traffic to stop. So you want to go as fast as you can, and that involves added risk to all the cars around you, all the civilian cars.





"The first Iraqi I saw killed was an Iraqi who got too close to our patrol," he said. "We were coming up an on-ramp. And he was coming down the highway. And they fired warning shots and he just didn't stop. He just merged right into the convoy and they opened up on him."

This took place sometime in the spring of 2005 in Khadamiya, in the northwest corner of Baghdad, Sergeant Campbell said. His unit fired into the man's car with a 240 Bravo, a heavy machine gun. "I heard three gunshots," he said. "We get about halfway down the road and...the guy in the car got out and he's covered in blood. And this is where...the impulse is just to keep going. There's no way that this guy knows who we are. We're just like every other patrol that goes up and down this road. I looked at my lieutenant and it wasn't even a discussion. We turned around and we went back.

"So I'm treating the guy. He has three gunshot wounds to the chest. Blood everywhere. And he keeps going in and out of consciousness. And when he finally stops breathing, I have to give him CPR. I take my right hand, I lift up his chin and I take my left hand and grab the back of his head to position his head, and as I take my left hand, my hand actually goes into his cranium. So I'm actually holding this man's brain in my hand. And what I realized was I had made a mistake. I had checked for exit wounds. But what I didn't know was the Humvee behind me, after the car failed to stop after the first three rounds, had fired twenty, thirty rounds into the car. I never heard it.

"I heard three rounds, I saw three holes, no exit wounds," he said. "I thought I knew what the situation was. So I didn't even treat this guy's injury to the head. Every medic I ever told is always like, Of course, I mean, the guy got shot in the head. There's nothing you could have done. And I'm pretty sure--I mean, you can't stop bleeding in the head like that. But this guy, I'm watching this guy, who I know we shot because he got too close. His car was clean. There was no--didn't hear it, didn't see us, whatever it was. Dies, you know, dying in my arms."

While many veterans said the killing of civilians deeply disturbed them, they also said there was no other way to safely operate a patrol.

"You don't want to shoot kids, I mean, no one does," said Sergeant Campbell, as he began to describe an incident in the summer of 2005 recounted to him by several men in his unit. "But you have this: I remember my unit was coming along this elevated overpass. And this kid is in the trash pile below, pulls out an AK-47 and just decides he's going to start shooting. And you gotta understand...when you have spent nine months in a war zone, where no one--every time you've been shot at, you've never seen the person shooting at you, and you could never shoot back. Here's some guy, some 14-year-old kid with an AK-47, decides he's going to start shooting at this convoy. It was the most obscene thing you've ever seen. Every person got out and opened fire on this kid. Using the biggest weapons we could find, we ripped him to shreds." Sergeant Campbell was not present at the incident, which took place in Khadamiya, but he saw photographs and heard descriptions from several eyewitnesses in his unit.

"Everyone was so happy, like this release that they finally killed an insurgent," he said. "Then when they got there, they realized it was just a little kid. And I know that really fucked up a lot of people in the head.... They'd show all the pictures and some people were really happy, like, Oh, look what we did. And other people were like, I don't want to see that ever again."

The killing of unarmed Iraqis was so common many of the troops said it became an accepted part of the daily landscape. "The ground forces were put in that position," said First Lieut. Wade Zirkle of Shenandoah County, Virginia, who fought in Nasiriya and Falluja with the Second Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion from March to May 2003. "You got a guy trying to kill me but he's firing from houses...with civilians around him, women and children. You know, what do you do? You don't want to risk shooting at him and shooting children at the same time. But at the same time, you don't want to die either."

Sergeant Dougherty recounted an incident north of Nasiriya in December 2003, when her squad leader shot an Iraqi civilian in the back. The shooting was described to her by a woman in her unit who treated the injury. "It was just, like, the mentality of my squad leader was like, Oh, we have to kill them over here so I don't have to kill them back in Colorado," she said. "He just, like, seemed to view every Iraqi as like a potential terrorist."

Several interviewees said that, on occasion, these killings were justified by framing innocents as terrorists, typically following incidents when American troops fired on crowds of unarmed Iraqis. The troops would detain those who survived, accusing them of being insurgents, and plant AK-47s next to the bodies of those they had killed to make it seem as if the civilian dead were combatants. "It would always be an AK because they have so many of these weapons lying around," said Specialist Aoun. Cavalry scout Joe Hatcher, 26, of San Diego, said 9-millimeter handguns and even shovels--to make it look like the noncombatant was digging a hole to plant an IED--were used as well.

"Every good cop carries a throwaway," said Hatcher, who served with the Fourth Cavalry Regiment, First Squadron, in Ad Dawar, halfway between Tikrit and Samarra, from February 2004 to March 2005. "If you kill someone and they're unarmed, you just drop one on 'em." Those who survived such shootings then found themselves imprisoned as accused insurgents.

In the winter of 2004, Sergeant Campbell was driving near a particularly dangerous road in Abu Gharth, a town west of Baghdad, when he heard gunshots. Sergeant Campbell, who served as a medic in Abu Gharth with the 256th Infantry Brigade from November 2004 to October 2005, was told that Army snipers had fired fifty to sixty rounds at two insurgents who'd gotten out of their car to plant IEDs. One alleged insurgent was shot in the knees three or four times, treated and evacuated on a military helicopter, while the other man, who was treated for glass shards, was arrested and detained.

"I come to find out later that, while I was treating him, the snipers had planted--after they had searched and found nothing--they had planted bomb-making materials on the guy because they didn't want to be investigated for the shoot," Sergeant Campbell said. (He showed The Nation a photograph of one sniper with a radio in his pocket that he later planted as evidence.) "And to this day, I mean, I remember taking that guy to Abu Ghraib prison--the guy who didn't get shot--and just saying 'I'm sorry' because there was not a damn thing I could do about it.... I mean, I guess I have a moral obligation to say something, but I would have been kicked out of the unit in a heartbeat. I would've been a traitor."


Copyright © 2007 The Nation




Checkpoints

The US military checkpoints dotted across Iraq, according to twenty-six soldiers and marines who were stationed at them or supplied them--in locales as diverse as Tikrit, Baghdad, Karbala, Samarra, Mosul and Kirkuk--were often deadly for civilians. Unarmed Iraqis were mistaken for insurgents, and the rules of engagement were blurred. Troops, fearing suicide bombs and rocket-propelled grenades, often fired on civilian cars. Nine of those soldiers said they had seen civilians being shot at checkpoints. These incidents were so common that the military could not investigate each one, some veterans said.

"Most of the time, it's a family," said Sergeant Cannon, who served at half a dozen checkpoints in Tikrit. "Every now and then, there is a bomb, you know, that's the scary part."





There were some permanent checkpoints stationed across the country, but for unsuspecting civilians, "flash checkpoints" were far more dangerous, according to eight veterans who were involved in setting them up. These impromptu security perimeters, thrown up at a moment's notice and quickly dismantled, were generally designed to catch insurgents in the act of trafficking weapons or explosives, people violating military-imposed curfews or suspects in bombings or drive-by shootings.

Iraqis had no way of knowing where these so-called "tactical control points" would crop up, interviewees said, so many would turn a corner at a high speed and became the unwitting targets of jumpy soldiers and marines.

"For me, it was really random," said Lieutenant Van Engelen. "I just picked a spot on a map that I thought was a high-volume area that might catch some people. We just set something up for half an hour to an hour and then we'd move on." There were no briefings before setting up checkpoints, he said.

Temporary checkpoints were safer for troops, according to the veterans, because they were less likely to serve as static targets for insurgents. "You do it real quick because you don't always want to announce your presence," said First Sgt. Perry Jefferies, 46, of Waco, Texas, who served with the Fourth Infantry Division from April to October 2003.

The temporary checkpoints themselves varied greatly. Lieutenant Van Engelen set up checkpoints using orange cones and fifty yards of concertina wire. He would assign a soldier to control the flow of traffic and direct drivers through the wire, while others searched vehicles, questioned drivers and asked for identification. He said signs in English and Arabic warned Iraqis to stop; at night, troops used lasers, glow sticks or tracer bullets to signal cars through. When those weren't available, troops improvised by using flashlights sent them by family and friends back home.

"Baghdad is not well lit," said Sergeant Flanders. "There's not street lights everywhere. You can't really tell what's going on."

Other troops, however, said they constructed tactical control points that were hardly visible to drivers. "We didn't have cones, we didn't have nothing," recalled Sergeant Bocanegra, who said he served at more than ten checkpoints in Tikrit. "You literally put rocks on the side of the road and tell them to stop. And of course some cars are not going to see the rocks. I wouldn't even see the rocks myself."

According to Sergeant Flanders, the primary concern when assembling checkpoints was protecting the troops serving there. Humvees were positioned so that they could quickly drive away if necessary, and the heavy weapons mounted on them were placed "in the best possible position" to fire on vehicles that attempted to pass through the checkpoint without stopping. And the rules of engagement were often improvised, soldiers said.

"We were given a long list of that kind of stuff and, to be honest, a lot of the time we would look at it and throw it away," said Staff Sgt. James Zuelow, 39, a National Guardsman from Juneau, Alaska, who served in Baghdad in the Third Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, for a year beginning in January 2005. "A lot of it was written at such a high level it didn't apply."

At checkpoints, troops had to make split-second decisions on when to use lethal force, and veterans said fear often clouded their judgment.

Sgt. Matt Mardan, 31, of Minneapolis, served as a Marine scout sniper outside Falluja in 2004 and 2005 with the Third Battalion, First Marines. "People think that's dangerous, and it is," he said. "But I would do that any day of the week rather than be a marine sitting on a fucking checkpoint looking at cars."

No car that passes through a checkpoint is beyond suspicion, said Sergeant Dougherty. "You start looking at everyone as a criminal.... Is this the car that's going to try to run into me? Is this the car that has explosives in it? Or is this just someone who's confused?" The perpetual uncertainty, she said, is mentally exhausting and physically debilitating.

"In the moment, what's passing through your head is, Is this person a threat? Do I shoot to stop or do I shoot to kill?" said Lieutenant Morgenstein, who served in Al Anbar.

Sergeant Mejía recounted an incident in Ramadi in July 2003 when an unarmed man drove with his young son too close to a checkpoint. The father was decapitated in front of the small, terrified boy by a member of Sergeant Mejía's unit firing a heavy .50-caliber machine gun. By then, said Sergeant Mejía, who responded to the scene after the fact, "this sort of killing of civilians had long ceased to arouse much interest or even comment." The next month, Sergeant Mejía returned stateside for a two-week rest and refused to go back, launching a public protest over the treatment of Iraqis. (He was charged with desertion, sentenced to one year in prison and given a bad-conduct discharge.)

During the summer of 2005, Sergeant Millard, who served as an assistant to a general in Tikrit, attended a briefing on a checkpoint shooting, at which his role was to flip PowerPoint slides.

"This unit sets up this traffic control point, and this 18-year-old kid is on top of an armored Humvee with a .50-caliber machine gun," he said. "This car speeds at him pretty quick and he makes a split-second decision that that's a suicide bomber, and he presses the butterfly trigger and puts 200 rounds in less than a minute into this vehicle. It killed the mother, a father and two kids. The boy was aged 4 and the daughter was aged 3. And they briefed this to the general. And they briefed it gruesome. I mean, they had pictures. They briefed it to him. And this colonel turns around to this full division staff and says, 'If these fucking hajis learned to drive, this shit wouldn't happen.'"

Whether or not commanding officers shared this attitude, interviewees said, troops were rarely held accountable for shooting civilians at checkpoints. Eight veterans described the prevailing attitude among them as "Better to be tried by twelve men than carried by six." Since the number of troops tried for killing civilians is so scant, interviewees said, they would risk court-martial over the possibility of injury or death.

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The new issue (Aug 13-20, 2007) has the letters to the editor regarding this feature which will be the basis of a book as stated. I will post those also with some comments of my own.


lenal

There's lots of hot air from Democrats and liberals about how bad things are in Iraq, etc. And, it's hard to see through it all when all of the pessimism and negativity is being tallied off by all the major news networks and newspapers. Then time passes... And there are those times when there's an opening in the clouds... The end result will be a better way of life for the Iraqi's. When all the dust settles... when all the words have been said... what will be left is peace and a better way of life. For now, 2 new age journalists are providing the news you ain't going to find in the New York Times or on the NBC Nightly News. Whoa, there's actually some pretty positive stuff happening. Imagine what a young generation of American soldiers can make possible.


« Welcome to Baghdad | Home Page | The Rule, Not the Exception »
July 24, 2007
In the Wake of the Surge
By Michael J. Totten




BAGHDAD – 82nd Airborne’s Lieutenant William H. Lord from Foxborough, Massachusetts, prepared his company for a dismounted foot patrol in the Graya’at neighborhood of Northern Baghdad’s predominantly Sunni Arab district of Adhamiyah.

“While we’re out here saying hi to the locals and everyone seems to be getting along great,” he said, “remember to keep up your military bearing. Someone could try to kill you at any moment.”




I donned my helmet and vest, hopped into the backseat of a Humvee, and headed into the streets of the city with two dozen of the first infantry soldiers deployed to Iraq for the surge. The 82nd Airborne Division is famous for being ready to roll within 24 hours of call up, so they were sent first.

The surge started with these guys. Its progress here is therefore more measurable than it is anywhere else.

Darkness fell almost immediately after sunset. Microscopic du