Surge progress may lead to troop reductions in northern Iraq

15 July 07
by John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service.

BAGHDAD - Now at full strength, the U.S. troop surge in Iraq is showing “definitive progress” and the number of forces serving in Iraq’s Multi-National Division-North could be halved by summer 2009, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon said.

A reduction of U.S. forces under the general’s command could begin as early as January 2008, he told Pentagon reporters via videoconference.

Mixon, commander of both Multi-National Division-North and the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division, is responsible for six Iraqi provinces in northern Iraq, including the city of Baqubah -- site of the ongoing Operation Arrowhead Ripper.

He said he has given U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, a plan indicating a possible reduction of force in Multi-National Division-North during 2008.

Mixon said the current debate over troop withdrawal should revolve around reaching a strategic “end state.”

“It seems to me that we should first decide what we want the end state to be in Iraq, and how is that end state important to the United States of America, to this region and to the world, and then determine how we can reach that end state, and how much time that will take,” he said. “To me, that seems to be the most important thing, because there will be consequences of a rapid withdrawal from Iraq.”

“It cannot be a strategy based on, ‘Well, we need to leave,’” he added. “That’s not a strategy, that’s a withdrawal.”

U.S. forces that remain in the region after a reduction could focus on training and assisting their Iraqi counterparts as needed, Mixon said.

“Over time, in a very methodical and well thought out way,” he said, Multi-National Division-North could be drawn down to “a minimum force that would continue to work with the Iraqi forces in a training and assistance mode, have the capability to react and assist the Iraqis if required, and provide them those capabilities that they don’t have, like attack aviation, Air Force fixed-wing support, and medical support,” he said.

Speaking about Iraq’s Nineva province, the general said the provincial government and security forces there continue to grow and improve. Mixon said he has observed the 2nd and 3rd Iraqi Army Division and Iraqi police providing security to provincial residents requiring scant coalition assistance.

“Based on this assessment, I have recommended that Nineva province go to provincial Iraqi control in August,” he said. Though a handover to the provincial government is a sign of progress, Mixon added that it alone won’t usher in a reduction of U.S. troops, who will continue to partner with Iraqi security forces there, he said.

As part of the troop surge, which reached full strength in mid-June, Mixon received two brigades based out of Fort Lewis, Wash. The general credits the additional forces with helping to improve security in Diyala province, and cited Operation Arrowhead Ripper that was launched last month.

“Operation Arrowhead Ripper kicked off on June 19 with the arrival of 3/2 Stryker Brigade and will continue until Baqubah is secure and the government center there is functioning,” he said. “We have had to clear numerous complex obstacles, including 24 houses booby-trapped with explosives … and 100 other types of improvised explosive devices.”

In the ongoing operation, troops are clearing Baqubah’s city blocks in an “intentionally slow” fashion to reduce the number of casualties. To date, Coalition and Iraqi security forces have killed more than 90 al-Qaeda operatives, discovered 45 weapons and munitions caches and detained about 130 suspected al-Qaeda operatives, Mixon said. During raids in Western Baqubah neighborhoods, troops also have uncovered al-Qaeda safe houses, torture houses, medical clinics and bomb-making factories.

Local leaders, tribal sheikhs and the Western Baqubah’s citizens are cooperating with combined forces, providing them valuable information about al-Qaeda, Mixon said.

“These people are coming forward because they have increased confidence in their security forces and they are simply tired of al-Qaeda dominating their lives and terrorizing their neighborhoods, as they have done over the last several months,” he said.

Mixon specified that al-Qaeda operatives in his area of responsibility primarily are Sunni Iraqis, some of whom received weapons and explosives training as members of the former Iraqi regime or army. The 1920s Revolution, composed “principally former Ba'athists” and others who oppose the new Iraqi government, is one of the multiple groups comprising the greater insurgency, he said.

Listing signs of progress in Baqubah, Mixon said Iraqi forces are beginning to take responsibility for security, and that a “small influx” of residents are returning to the city which they had previously fled. The city’s municipal employees also are working to repair the water and power infrastructure, the general said.

“We still have a long way to go in Baqubah and Diyala,” he said, “but with the influence of al-Qaeda diminished, the security situation will now allow Iraqi security forces and government officials to re-establish basic securities for the citizens of Baqubah.”

Photo - U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Christopher Kluser, machine gunner with Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, stays alert while on the up gun in the turret located in a 7-ton truck in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, July 9, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Timothy M. Stewman.

Hajj Hameed, AQ-I's Chief Justice of Shari'ah, DEAD

There has been heavy clashes between AQ-I (al Qaida in Iraq) and the Old Guard (Baathists and nationalists) for the past two day in the Amiriya district of Iraq. We have heard that there were some clashes by the AP, but we were told that the Iraqi people rose up against the terrorists. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be true.

Omar, from Iraq the Model, has the real news about what is happening in his country. I chose to grab a hold of this little (big) tidbit:

One correction to the AP story, Hajj Hameed was the chief of the Sharia courts of al-Qaeda in Amiriyah, not the leader of the network. Only god knows how many innocent people were executed by orders from this terrorist. Whether killed by Baathists, fellow terrorists, good Iraqis or American troops….Good riddance! [Continue reading.]

I could not agree more. Squirm in hell, you bastard.

Baghdad ‘Surge’ Moves Forward as Search for Missing Troops Continues

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service.

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2007 – As the troop surge continues in Baghdad, search efforts continue for three 10th Mountain Division soldiers who remain missing following a pre-dawn attack south of the city, the Joint Staff’s deputy operations director reported today.

“A massive effort is under way to locate three missing American soldiers,” Army Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins told reporters during a Pentagon briefing.

The soldiers, members of Fort Drum’s 4th Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, were abducted about 20 miles south of Baghdad at 4:45 a.m. May 12. Four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter were killed in the incident.

Wiggins said credible intelligence points to al Qaeda or an associated group as the abductors.

He described the scope of the search for the missing troops, which includes thousands of U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts. “We are using all intelligence resources at our disposal, including aerial platforms and human intelligence teams,” he said.

In addition, checkpoints set up throughout the area are helping focus the search and prevent the captors from attempting to transport the missing soldiers, he said.

Wiggins declined to give additional specifics about the search that could jeopardize the operation but assured reporters no stone will go unturned until the soldiers are found.

“It is important for the American people to know that we are using every asset and resource available to the United States and Iraqi partners in our efforts to find our soldiers,” he said.

“As a soldier myself who has commanded in Iraq, I can assure the American people, particularly the families of the missing soldiers, that we are committed to the soldier’s creed of never leaving a fallen comrade,” Wiggins said. “And I know that every soldier involved in the search is living by that creed as well and doing everything they can to find these brave soldiers.”

Meanwhile, the troop surge continues in an effort to reduce violence in Baghdad and stabilize the city, Wiggins said. “Our objective in Baghdad, partnered with Iraqi security forces, is to improve security and stability so that the necessary political and economic progress can take place,” he said.

The fourth of five U.S. Army brigade combat teams that constitute the surge has arrived and started operations in the northern part of the Baghdad, he reported. This unit, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, includes about 3,700 soldiers and their Stryker armored vehicles.

These troops are working hand in hand with Iraqi security forces to clear, control and hold key areas of the city. Wiggins said ground commanders welcome the unit’s capability and the tactical range and mobility the Stryker vehicles lend to the effort.

The fifth brigade in the surge, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, is completing its arrival in Kuwait and is expected to be fully operational in the Baghdad area by mid-June, Wiggins said.

These reinforcements will bring the U.S. troop strength there to about 155,000 by mid-June, up from about 133,000 in December, he said. Wiggins emphasized that troop numbers fluctuate regularly as units rotate in and out of the country.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces continue to mature as they grow in numbers and capability, he said. The Iraqi army now has about 140,000 troops trained, equipped and on the ground. Currently 80 battalions have taken the operational lead and nine are working independently, Wiggins said.

As they operate, Wiggins emphasized that the troops go to great lengths to avoid killing or hurting innocent civilians and prevent collateral damage. This is in stark contrast to the “barbaric nature of the enemy we face,” both in al Qaeda in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

These groups kill indiscriminately and actually target civilians, he said. Pointing to a specific example where al Qaeda set up “a premeditated death trap” at a girl’ school north of Baghdad, Wiggins said the insurgents’ action “shows humanity at its lowest point.”

U.S. and Iraqi troops found and dismantled the operation before it could inflict any damage, he reported.

Anbar Province Still Dangerous; Getting Better

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service..

For example, 22 joint security stations in the town of Ramadi now are helping to tamp down violence, Marine Brig. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus, ground forces commander for Multinational Force West, said during a news conference.

“As security continues to improve, we don’t think that there will be a need for all of those security stations,” Gurganus, whose jurisdiction includes Anbar province, said.

Much success has been achieved in reducing violence in Anbar province, Gurganus said, although he acknowledged that conditions there can still be precarious for residents as well as for Iraqi and coalition forces.

“There are still dangerous things going on there,” the one-star general said. “While we have achieved a great deal of success, there still are dangers.”

Gurganus cited Anbar residents’ growing disapproval of and hostility toward al Qaeda and other terrorists as an indicator of an improving climate across the western province.

“We clearly see that the Iraqi citizens have grown tired of what the insurgency has to offer; they do not want any part of it,” Gurganus said. Iraqis living in Anbar province want a cessation of violence, he noted, and a secure future for themselves and their families. Iraqi citizens in Anbar are increasingly providing information about insurgent operations to Iraqi security forces, he said.

A second indicator of success in Anbar is illustrated by the brave Iraqi army and police that serve across the province, Gurganus said. Although challenged by danger, Iraqi security forces in Anbar province “come back to work” each day, he said.

“They know that they are the solution for the future,” Gurganus said of the security forces.

There’ll be additional success against insurgents operating in Anbar, Gurganus predicted, noting U.S. and coalition forces now enjoy a “full partnership” with Iraqi security forces serving across the province.

Also, recruitment for Iraqi security forces is up across Anbar, Gurganus said.

“Now, the sons of al Anbar have stood up and are stepping forward to join the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police,” he said.

Cheney: America Will Stay on Offensive Against Terror

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2007 – Al Qaeda terrorists have chosen Iraq as the central front in their worldwide campaign against freedom, so America must stay in the fight to prevent them from establishing a safe haven from which to launch more attacks, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said in Iraq today.

Al Qaeda leaders believe they can wear down the United States, force the troops out of Iraq and make the country a launching pad for new attacks in the region and abroad, Cheney said in remarks to members of the Army’s 25th Infantry Division in Tikrit. “The terrorists have stated these ambitions clearly, and this is where they’ve decided to fight,” he said. “The United States also has made a decision. As the prime target of a global war against terror, we will stay on the offensive; we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.”

Echoing comments by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, Cheney said that the operational environment in Iraq is complex and challenging. Extremists from inside and outside the country are trying to stir violence and hinder the progress of the fledgling democracy, he said.

Through these challenges, however, the Iraqi people have shown courage and fortitude in pursuing freedom and democracy, Cheney said. U.S. troops are in Iraq to help establish basic security, which is essential for that progress to move forward, he said.

“The United States is the kind of country that stands up to brutality, terror and injustice, and you’re the kind of people we depend upon to get the job done,” Cheney told the troops.

Cheney thanked the troops for their service and sacrifices, as many of them are serving on extended deployments. “As members of an historic division of the U.S. Army, you’re serving on a vital mission in a strategic part of the world,” he told them. “The job you’re doing here has a direct impact on the security of the United States.”

During his visit, Cheney presented medals to several soldiers. He presented the Combat Action Badge to two soldiers, the Combat Infantryman Badge to two soldiers, the Air Medal to five soldiers, and the Bronze Star with valor device to two soldiers.

“You need to know that your country does not take you for granted, not for a single minute,” Cheney said to the gathered troops. “We’re grateful to your families back home, because they also are making sacrifices for America. While you’re out here in the desert heat and the dust and the heavy winds, you’re constantly in the thoughts of millions of your fellow citizens.”

Iraqi, U.S. officials discuss way forward

8 May 2007
U.S. Army story by Spc. Carl N. Hudson
Combined Press Information Center

BAGHDAD — Iraqi and U.S. government officials along with the Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman held a press conference at the Combined Press Information Center Sunday.

Ali Al-Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the MNF-I spokesman, and Daniel Speckhard, Charge D’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, provided an update concerning the current relationship between Iraq and its neighboring countries.

“The stability of Iraq means the stability of the region itself, which matters to the whole world” said Al-Dabbagh. “As for the conference of the neighboring countries, there’s a general [good] feeling.”

Al-Dabbagh stressed the importance of national and international unity and cooperation to pull Iraq out of a state of violence.

“This success should be supported by a national determination between all political parties to pull Iraq out of violence,” he said. “[Iraq] could be a meeting of all cultures to remove violence and conflicts from the area.”

Al-Dabbagh recognized the need of neighboring countries to help with reconstruction.

“[Iraq] will stay like this unless the neighboring countries help Iraq enter a new era,” he said.

Speckhard commented on the ‘International Compact of Iraq,’ and the Neighbors’ Ministerial Conference. Both meetings offered leaders from around the region to participate in peaceful dialogue.

“The neighbors’ meeting marked the first time there has been a gathering on Iraq at this level with the participation from all the neighbors in the region,” he said. “The participation of Iraq’s neighbors shows the promise for the goal of addressing Iraq’s challenges by creating a stable, secure and prosperous Iraq with the support of its neighbors.”

“The ‘International Compact for Iraq’ laid the economic foundation, which progress can be built on,” he continued. “Iraq’s leaders have to move forward with courage and boldness in bringing the country together through political action.”

According to Speckhard, Iraq’s reconstruction will not be easy.

“Iraqi leaders have a full plate of issues on their agenda,” he said.

Caldwell expressed the importance of securing Iraq and how efforts may get harder before the quality of life for the Iraqis gets easier.

“Once security is improved, the Iraqi people will be able to move forward, build their government, deal with challenging issues and develop their own security forces so they can assume responsibility for protecting themselves,” he said.

According to Caldwell, al-Qaeda continues attempting to decimate hope by advancing their agenda through chaos, fear and intimidation to discredit the Iraqi government and demoralize the citizens.

“Al-Qaeda is a vicious and committed enemy,” he said. “They target symbols of progress, vital infrastructure and gatherings of innocent people.”

Recently, Coalition forces discovered detonation wire leading to a girls’ schoolhouse in Tarmiyah, Iraq, which was found to be rigged with explosives around and within its construction.

“It was designed to be a vicious, ugly, sophisticated, premeditated attack against the most vulnerable and innocent members of society – girls trying to get an education,” he said.

However, Caldwell remained optimistic due to the amount of help received from the Iraqi populace.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in the reporting and discovering of weapons caches,” he said. “People know the security forces are there, and they are there to protect the people.”

As Iraq continues to progress in reconstruction, Speckhard reaffirmed the commitment of the U.S. to support the Iraqi democracy.

“The United States remains firmly committed to supporting the government, the nation and the people of Iraq as they move ahead, which is of vital importance to all Iraqis,” he said.

Photo: Daniel Speckhard (left), Charge D’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, Ali Al-Dabbagh (center), an Iraqi government spokesman, and U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the MNF-I spokesman, provided an update concerning the current relationship between Iraq and its neighboring countries at the Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad Sunday. U.S. Army photo courtesy of Combined Press Information Center.

Suicide Bomb Attacks Present Top Challenge in Iraq, Fallon Says

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2007 – Suicide-bomb attacks on coalition and Iraqi troops and civilians, orchestrated by Al Qaeda and Sunni extremists, present the top challenge in establishing security and stability in Iraq, the commander of U.S. Central Command testified at a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill today.

“Of all the things that we have on the plate in Iraq, the one that I think is first and foremost as a target for us to try to get a grip on and to neutralize is the group that is very clearly al Qaeda-motivated that is linked to Sunni extremists in this country that are perpetrating these big suicide bombings,” Navy Adm. William J. Fallon told House Armed Services Committee members.

Al Qaeda in Iraq and affiliated Sunni extremists want to kill and maim U.S. troops in Iraq in order to sap the coalition’s will, Fallon said. The extremists also want to kill and injure as many civilians as possible to foment sectarian strife and destabilize the new Iraqi government.

“In Iraq, we need an essential degree of security and stability so that the fledgling institutions in this country can actually be able to benefit the citizens,” Fallon said, adding he’d like to see “a substantially reduced level of bloodshed and violence.”

Fallon took over as CENTCOM’s chief March 16. Since then, he told the committee, he’s traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern couintries that come under his command’s purview.

After discussions with key U.S. and Iraqi military and civilian leaders and sifting through reams of data, Fallon said, he found significant signs of a reduction in the number of murders and other kinds of sectarian violence in Iraq.

“However, I will tell you quite honestly that it bothers me and I hold my breath regularly in anticipation, regrettably, of the suicide bombers,” Fallon said. “These people that are just seemingly, totally bent on creating as much chaos and bloodshed as possible, particularly against the civilian communities. I think we are challenged to work against this problem.”

The best way to circumvent al Qaeda’s strategy in Iraq is to convince the country’s Sunni population that it has a viable stake in the new Iraq’s future, Fallon said.

The al Qaeda-Sunni extremist nexus “is the most destabilizing” element in Iraq today, he reiterated.

A key to establishing stability across Iraq is to convince its people there’s a better life for them down the road, the admiral said.

“I’d like to see a place in which people have confidence that their future is going to be better than what they’d seen in the past and what they have today,” Fallon said. “And how we’re going to measure that (Iraqi confidence) is one of the key things that I’m working on right now.”

CBN News on the Anbar Salvation Front

Source: CounterTerrorismBlog.

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
April 15, 2007.

Last week CBN News terror analyst Erick Stakelbeck and I developed a story on the Anbar Salvation Front, a group that includes a broad mix of Sunnis who are united in their goal of expelling al-Qaeda from Iraq. An excerpt:

The Anbar province has served as a nerve center for al-Qaeda since the early days of the insurgency -- some might call it al-Qaeda Country. It's estimated that more than 8,000 Iraqis have been killed or injured by insurgent attacks in Anbar province. Cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi have long been trouble spots for U.S. troops. The campaign of terror has led to power and influence in the predominantly Sunni region.

But many tribal leaders here are tired of living in fear and want to take their home back from al-Qaeda. "They believe that al-Qaeda in Iraq is breaking Iraq apart and turning the Sunni people on each other, and they want to eliminate that," said military analyst Bill Roggio. Roggio says the Anbar Salvation Front includes a broad mix of Sunnis: local tribesmen, Iraqi nationalists, ex-Baathists, and even some Islamists. Many are former insurgents that are now working with the U.S. military and Iraqi government.

The Anbar Salvation Front is already a powerful force, and is likely to take on increasing importance in the future. As Bill Roggio of The Fourth Rail told CBN, "We're certainly allied with people who fought us, probably less than a year ago. But this is, in the end, how you win insurgencies. How you break them apart and turn the more moderate elements against the more radical elements."

You can read the whole piece and watch the video report here. For more, see Eli Lake's excellent profile of Anbar Salvation Front leader Abdul Sattar al-Rishawi in The New York Sun.

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Gates: Still ‘So Far, So Good’ in Iraq

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service.

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2007 - Security in Baghdad has improved even though only part of the planned increase of U.S. troops is in place, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today on a nationally syndicated radio program.

“So far, so good,” Gates said on the Laura Ingraham Show, noting it is too early to draw conclusions.

Al Qaeda continues to launch dramatic terror attacks against population centers, but Gates said some of these attacks are in reaction to the progress being made.

“It’s been part of their strategy since last year to foment sectarian violence,” Gates said. “I think some of these large car bombs are to counteract some of the positive things that have been happening as a result of even the two brigades going into Baghdad along with a significant number of Iraqi forces.”

A third U.S. brigade is in Baghdad, but hasn’t fully joined operations. The last two U.S. brigades into the Iraqi capital will be there by late May or early June, Defense Department officials said.

Gates said he is pleased with the commitment and cooperation from the Iraqi government. The Iraqis have delivered the additional troops they promised, and Iraqi commanders in Baghdad are directing operations. The Iraqi government is allowing Iraqi security forces and coalition forces into any neighborhood.

The Iraqi government also is maintaining its commitment to no political interference in operations, Gates said.

And the changes have been noticed, Gates told Ingraham and her listeners.

“What’s interesting to me is just in the last few days, looking at the news media, … there have actually been some pretty positive stories coming out of Baghdad – children returning to playgrounds, markets reopening, and so on,” the secretary said.

Illegal militia in Baghdad have stood down, though activity continues in some parts of Iraq. Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr remains in Iran, and there are “some signs that his prolonged absence is leading to some fractures in (his militia’s) organization,” Gates said.

Gates also discussed the military’s need for funding to finance the war effort. He said he is concerned about delays in enacting an emergency supplemental bill. Each house of Congress has passed a version of the bill, and both versions contain a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. President Bush has vowed to veto any bill containing the withdrawal language.

Gates said each of the armed services will be affected by a delay, with the Army being the worst off. The service may be forced to suspend training for deploying forces, repairing equipment and putting in place a civilian hiring freeze. The secretary said a threatened complete cut-off of war “would be dramatic.”

Most Americans across most parts of the political spectrum agree that the only way Iraq can emerge as a country that can govern, defend and sustain itself is if there is a political reconciliation among the different parties in Iraq, the secretary said.

U.S. officials recognized late last fall that with the level of violence was so high in Baghdad that prospects for reconciliation were almost nonexistent.

“The whole idea of the surge is to help buy the Iraqis time to pursue political reconciliation,” he said. “And there seems to be some progress in that regard.”

Gates said there should be a dialogue with Syria, “but talking for the sake of talking really doesn’t accomplish very much unless you have some sort of a goal out of it.”

He said any U.S. officials going to Damascus should ask the Syrians to stop allowing suicide bombers to cross their borders into Iraq. They should ask about the flow of weapons out of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon, he added.

“I think these are the kind of issues that if there is going to be a dialogue there has to be some substance to it,” Gates said.

U.S. Army Soldiers Ward Off Attack by al Qaida

The release date by the US CENTCOM Press Release for this article is 3/27/2007. The release number is 07-01-03P.

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Soldiers from Regimental Combat Team 6 repelled a coordinated attack on a Coalition post, including two suicide truck bombs, approximately 4 km north of Karmah March 26[, 2007].

The attack started at about 2 p.m. when a Soldier from 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment (Airborne), attached to 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment (Airborne), engaged a water truck attempting to enter the compound without authorization, causing it to detonate.

Immediately following the explosion, approximately 30 terrorist fighters engaged the compound with small-arms fire, rocket propelled grenades and mortars.

The Soldiers returned fire with small arms, mortars and artillery from Regimental Combat Team 6.

Approximately five minutes into the attack, Soldiers engaged a dump truck following the same path as the previous suicide attacker, causing it to also detonate.

Initial estimates indicate as many as 15 terrorists were killed.

Eight U.S. Soldiers were wounded in the attack. One was evacuated to a nearby Coalition medical facility and the remaining seven were treated on site and returned to duty.

-30-

15 dead on their side. 8 injured on our side. Great job, guys. Get well soon.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR FOR HIGH-RES PHOTOS, CONTACT MULTINATIONAL FORCE
- WEST, PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER BY E-MAIL AT MNF.

Suspected terrorists hit in air strike near Arab Jabour

Here is a bit of good news:

2/8/2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition Forces conducted an air strike Wednesday targeting an al-Qaida in Iraq-related vehicle-borne improvised explosives devices network near Arab Jabour.

Intelligence reports indicated that this network is responsible for a large and devastating number of VBIED attacks in the Baghdad area. They are also responsible for IED and sniper attacks conducted against the Iraqi people and Iraqi and Coalition Forces.

As Coalition Forces approached the targeted building they came under intense enemy fire. Ground forces assessed seven suspected terrorists were in the targeted building. Coalition Forces determined the targets too hostile for ground troops and called for air support. Two precision guided munitions were dropped destroying the targeted building and an associated structure.

Coalition Forces continue to tear apart the al-Qaida leadership inside Iraq. This operation significantly reduces this VBIED terrorist network's ability to operate, and increases the safety of all Iraqi citizens, Iraqi forces, and Iraq's Multi-National partners.

If I do say so myself, great job guys!

Source: CENTCOM. If you have trouble with that link, try this one.