Free Republic

You’re kidding me. He spent more than three months working on his Afghanistan policy and the best he could do was steal George W. Bush’s playbook? I’m talking about Barack Hussein Obama, the smartest man on earth. After his first Afghanistan strategy fell flat, and his hand-picked general called for help, he went into deep thought and repeated consultation. In a drawn-out process that his apologists marveled at as a demonstration of inspired deliberation, he spent all of the fall and part of the summer and winter crafting his new approach to Afghanistan. And it looks amazingly like George W....

Col. C.J. Read, commander of the 96th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and a resident of Layton, Utah, passes out candy to students in a Taji area school as part of “Operation Back to School,” Nov. 22. Photo courtesy of the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). CAMP TAJI — U.S. Soldiers here visited a local school in need to distribute school supply kits to the nearly 300 students as part of “Operation Back to School,� Nov. 22. More than 40 members of the 96th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), including Col. C.J. Read, commander of the 96th SBDE, and...

TIKRIT — Twenty-one Iraqi investigators from Ninewa, Diyala, Salah ad Din and Kirkuk provinces attended a Financial Crimes Investigation Course on Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Nov. 22 - 25. The course was taught by members of the International Crime Investigation Training and Assistance Program, in partnership with the U.S. State Department's Salah ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team and the Legal Office of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kan. The course was designed to advise investigators from Iraq's Commission of Integrity on a myriad of tasks including case development, investigative planning, anti-money laundering...

Task Force Pathfinder recently built its very own mudhif to provide a location for meetings with local Iraqi leaders in a comfortable, traditional setting. First constructed in the marshes of what is now southern Iraq more than 5,000 years ago, the mudhif is a unique local meeting place assembled entirely of reeds, straw and other natural materials. Photo by Pfc. Aaron Brooks, 1st Armored Division. COB ADDER — First constructed more than 5,000 years ago in the marshes of what is now southern Iraq, the mudhif is a unique local meeting place assembled entirely of reeds, straw and other natural...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Dec. 3, 2009 – The adage “Send in the cavalry” once referred to soldiers on horseback, riding to the aid of embattled comrades. Today, that same call for backup can be made a lot quicker and with much more devastating effect through the Army’s joint operations. A soldier tries to guide an air weapons team to a target verbally, without marking the target, during training near Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, Nov. 20, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Maurice A. Galloway  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Twelve soldiers from 1st Battalion, 377th Field...

Also statements by Hans Blix and David Kay about Iraq WMD's (Liberals aren't very smart. They need to be reminded again and again and again).....

This Iraqi Security Force (ISF) update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during November 2009. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle is updated as of 30 November 2009. The September 2009 Quarterly Report to Congress was released on 13 November and key items concerning the ISF were addressed in a separate post on 17 November 2009. It will not be addressed in this update. Highlights in this update include: Indications that Iraq is about to receive its first M1126 Stryker armored personnel carriers and is starting to redistribute the Russian APCs that the Strykers are to replace....

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

Round and round: [VIDEO AT SITE] The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at George Bush, the former US president, has himself come under a shoe attack in the French capital at the hands of a fellow Iraqi. Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a television reporter, was in Paris on Tueday at a news conference to promote his campaign for the "victims of the US occupation in Iraq" when the attacker turned the tables on him, shouting: "Here's another shoe for you." Al-Zeidi, who ducked and the shoe hit the wall behind him, said: "When I used this method, it was against the...

Iraq’s desperate economic and security situation is leading to the trafficking of hundreds of Iraqi women into prostitution and sexual slavery. Rising numbers of Iraqi women are being sold into sexual slavery every year because of the waning economy and dire security situation. Human rights organizations are highlighting the plight of Iraqi women and young girls, sometimes as young as twelve, exploited by criminal gangs for profit. “The women trafficking trade is at its height,” Houzan Mahmoud, representative abroad of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq said. “There has never been a situation as extreme, and it’s frightening. Many...

Iraq’s desperate economic and security situation is leading to the trafficking of hundreds of Iraqi women into prostitution and sexual slavery. Rising numbers of Iraqi women are being sold into sexual slavery every year because of the waning economy and dire security situation. Human rights organizations are highlighting the plight of Iraqi women and young girls, sometimes as young as twelve, exploited by criminal gangs for profit. “The women trafficking trade is at its height,” Houzan Mahmoud, representative abroad of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq said. “There has never been a situation as extreme, and it’s frightening. Many...

A Teleflubbie from the Obama speech on Afghanistan. Watch Obama stumble as he says that the US will "bring the Iraq War to an irresponsible end." (22 seconds in)

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Police (IP) arrested 11 suspected members of the al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) terrorist group during two joint operations yesterday in northern Iraq. Near Sadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, IP and U.S. advisors searched several buildings for an alleged AQI member believed to have ties to senior leadership. Based on preliminary questioning and evidence discovered on the premises, IP identified and arrested the AQI member and six suspected criminal accomplices without incident. During a separate security operation conducted near Duluiyah, northwest of Baghdad, IP arrested a suspected AQI member and three suspected criminal associates. IP and U.S. advisors searched...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Dec. 2, 2009 – A soldier who was badly wounded in a 2005 roadside-bomb explosion is serving in Iraq again, and he’s finding deployed life easier this time around. Army Spc. David Broome is back in Iraq after receiving a Purple Heart for injuries he suffered in 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Neil Gussman  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The road back to Iraq has been arduous for Spc. David Broome. In all, he was a patient in four hospitals for nearly two months before going home to begin the rehabilitation process. After...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2009 – Iraqi police arrested eight terrorism suspects today, and an air strike during one of the operations killed an enemy fighter, military officials in Iraq reported. A Salahuddin provincial police unit and U.S. advisors searched two buildings in a rural area north of Baghdad for a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq member coordinating suicide bombings in the region. Based on preliminary questioning and evidence discovered, police arrested four criminal suspects. In a separate operation near Sadiyah, northwest of Baghdad, Iraqi police arrested four suspected al-Qaida in Iraq members. Intelligence led police and U.S. advisors to the home...

British troops in Iraq had to let attackers go free British troops in Iraq had to let 40 armed men who had just ambushed them “walk away” under “constraining” and “frustrating” rules of engagement, papers leaked to The Daily Telegraph show.   Andrew Gilligan Published: 8:00AM GMT 24 Nov 2009 British soldiers take up positions as they guard outside the presidential palace during a handover ceremony in Basra in 2007 Photo: REUTERS Despite fighting “the most sustained conflict since the Korean War”, the rules left troops with one hand tied behind their backs, the secret documents said. Ministers refused to...

Staff Sgt. Heriberto Gonzalez, a force protection escort for the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, holds the American flag his father and grandfather both carried during wartime. Photo courtesy of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. JOINT BASE BALAD — Staff Sgt. Heriberto Gonzalez, 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, possesses an American flag that was carried by both his father and grandfather during wartime. "Gonzo," as he is referred to by his flight line coworkers, is on his eighth deployment since joining the Air Force. An avionics craftsman by trade, he volunteered to deploy to Iraq to provide security for local...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Dec. 1, 2009 – Four soldiers serving here with the New Hampshire National Guard earned a special distinction last week when they became their company’s first all-female medical evacuation crew. From left, Sgt. Debra Lukan, Capt. Trish Barker, Staff Sgt. Misty Seward and Chief Warrant Officer Andrea Galatian, of the Army’s 3-238th Medevac, C company, became the company's first all-female crew just before Thanksgiving. They are serving in Iraq as part of Task Force Keystone. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Neil Gussman  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. In the three days before Thanksgiving, Capt....

BAGHDAD, Dec. 1, 2009 – Iraqi police arrested 11 suspected members of the al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group today during two joint security operations in northern Iraq. Near As Sadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police and U.S. advisors searched several buildings for an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq member believed to have ties to senior leadership. Based on preliminary questioning and evidence discovered on the premises, police identified and arrested the al-Qaida in Iraq member and six suspected criminal accomplices without incident. During a separate security operation conducted near Ad Duluiyah, northwest of Baghdad, Iraqi police arrested a suspected al-Qaida in...

BASRA, Iraq, Dec. 1, 2009 – Some soldiers at a base in Basra, Iraq, awoke Nov. 28 to find that concrete barriers had tipped over during the night and had come to rest upon containerized housing units. “No one was injured,” said Lt. Col. Steve Hanson, the mayor of Contingency Operating Base Basra. The incident is under investigation. Between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., the concrete barriers, also known as T-walls, fell onto four different housing units in the 34th Infantry Division’s living area. T-walls are 17-feet-tall, prefabricated, reinforced concrete barriers that provide protection from indirect fire. Recent rainy weather...

PARIS (AFP) - A protester who presented himself as an Iraqi journalist in exile hurled a shoe Tuesday at the colleague who one year ago found fame hurling his own footwear at then US president George W. Bush. Television reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi was in Paris to promote his campaign for the "victims of the US occupation in Iraq" when a fellow Iraqi critic turned the tables on him, shouting: "Here's another shoe for you." The thickset man with an Iraqi accent made a brief speech in Arabic during the question and answer session, defending US policy and accusing Zaidi of...

<p>PARIS -- The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in Baghdad last year had a taste of his own medicine Tuesday when he nearly got beaned by a shoe thrower at a news conference in Paris.</p>

DIYALA — Checkpoints in Iraq are inherently dangerous locations. Enemy combatants work to blend into the civilian population, and too often target such facilities. For Iraqi Police in Diyala province, a new class being offered on Forward Operating Base Warhorse is designed to make these volatile situations safer for all. The nine-day class, which focuses solely on operating checkpoints, came out of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior's request to strengthen areas of security that are already in place. "All of these students have previously graduated from the basic course to become an officer. This is continuing education for them," said...

Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa Rome, Italy, Nov 30, 2009 / 03:52 am (CNA).- Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of Mosul said last week that last Thursdya’s anti-Christian attacks in Iraq which destroyed a church and damaged a convent “show that there is a strategy to erase our cultural heritage and more than 2000 years of history” on the part of Muslim extremists.  In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, the archbishop said these Islamic groups “want to destabilize the atmosphere of trust in our country. We must oppose this atmosphere of hatred with strength and with prayer,” he added. The strategy...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2009 – As Iraq rebuilds its economy, many Iraqi women are looking to be recognized as working equals, according to a U.S. military officer posted in Iraq. "As far as a glass ceiling, that idea is very much a Western process. That doesn't exist here yet due to the cultural differences of Iraq and their religion,” Army Maj. Elba D'asaro, Multinational Forces-Iraq Chief of Women's Initiatives Program, told bloggers during a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable Nov. 25. In Islamic tradition, women’s status is higher at home than in the workplace, D’asaro said. In Iraq, she said, women are...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2009 – Iraqi police and U.S. advisors apprehended 15 suspects with alleged ties to al Qaida in Iraq during operations in there in the past few days, military officials said. Iraqi police arrested four suspected members of al Qaida cells today in two joint security operations near Baghdad and Kirkuk, military officials said. In a joint security operation in Karmah, west of Baghdad, police apprehended an alleged associate of a car-bomb cell believed responsible for attacks targeting government buildings and civilians in the Iraqi capital. Police also arrested a suspected accomplice. During a separate operation in a...

An inquiry board will convene Wednesday morning at Camp Pendleton to decide if a Marine Corps officer should be demoted for his actions after the shooting deaths of 24 Iraqi men, women and children four years ago. At issue is whether Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, who commanded the Camp Pendleton unit that carried out the slayings, engaged in misconduct in handling the incident. The inquiry board is the final step in Chessani's case; prosecutors earlier this year dropped two counts of criminal dereliction of duty. If the board finds there was no misconduct, the case will be closed. If it...

War photos of U.S. soldiers in Iraq are circulating on the web unlike those you may have seen before. The undated pictures give "Proof of abuse by our troops." Unlike the pictures from Abu-Ghraib with grabbed the attention of the media, these are largely unpublicized due to their sensitive nature. The photos which show our soldiers actively engaged with Iraqi citizens are especially intriguing because they appear to clarify the nature of the relationships between our men and women in uniform and the Middle Eastern people who actually live in the areas occupied by our troops. These are photos you...

BAGHDAD -- Turning on their TVs during the long holiday weekend, Iraqis have been greeted by a familiar if unexpected face from their brutal past: Saddam Hussein. The late Iraqi dictator is lauded on a mysterious satellite channel that began broadcasting on the Islamic calendar's anniversary of his 2006 execution. No one seems to know who is bankrolling the so-called Saddam Channel, although the Iraqi government suspects it's Baathists whose political party Saddam once led. The Associated Press tracked down a man in Damascus, Syria named Mohammed Jarboua, who claimed to be its chairman. The Saddam channel, he said, "didn't...

Turning on their TVs during the long holiday weekend, Iraqis were greeted by a familiar if unexpected face from their brutal past: Saddam Hussein. The late Iraqi dictator is lauded on a mysterious satellite channel that began broadcasting on the Islamic calendar's anniversary of his 2006 execution. No one seems to know who is bankrolling the so-called Saddam Channel, although the Iraqi government suspects it's Baathists whose political party Saddam once led. The Associated Press tracked down a man in Damascus, Syria named Mohammed Jarboua, who claimed to be its chairman. The Saddam channel, he said, "didn't receive a penny...

Sgt. 1st Class David A. Holder, the non-commissioned officer in charge with the 561st Movement Control Team Detachment out of Springfield, Mo., watches a truck driver open his vehicle at the validation yard at Habur Gate on the Iraq/Turkey border, recently. Holder, a Waco, Texas, native, inspected the truck for items not on the transportation movement request before the driver could process his paperwork and wait for a convoy south into Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Ryan Twist, 13th Sustainment Command. HABUR GATE — Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Soldiers and civilian contractors here are manning the Iraq/Turkey border to ensure the...

BAGHDAD — A Nov. 18 ribbon-cutting ceremony here in the International Zone marked the opening of a new English language testing facility for Iraqis. The mission of the facility is to provide an improved environment for English language testing and to allow military and civilian candidates from the Government of Iraq to achieve their full performance potential. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Judith Resendiz, test control officer, said, "This new facility will support Iraqis who need to validate their English proficiency so they can participate in specialized schooling and pursue opportunities in other English speaking environments that will help them get...

Chief Warrant Officer Steve Bridges, 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, shows 2nd Lt. Karam Ebrahem, an Iraqi Air Force student pilot, the inner workings of a U.S. helicopter during an open house on Forward Operating Base Warrior, Kirkuk, Nov. 25. Photo by Pfc. Justin A. Naylor, 1st Cav. Div. KIRKUK — Iraqi Air Force student pilots came here to Forward Operating Base Warrior, Nov. 25, to speak with U.S. pilots and get a closer look at their aviation assets. It has taken months of training, hard work and dedication for this group of IqAF helicopter student...

Ministers in Britain were secretly told that the United States were set on "regime change" in Iraq...

Veterans of Iraq recall rolling to war along asphalted highways, sweltering in flat scrublands and chatting with city-wise university graduates connected to the wider world. Now fighting in Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers invariably encounter illiterate farmers who may never have talked to an American as they slog into remote villages on dirt tracks through bitterly cold, snow-streaked mountains. "Before deploying here we were given training on language, culture, everything. I thought that since I was an Iraq combat veteran, I didn't need any of that stuff. I was wrong. Both countries may be Muslim but this is a totally different place,"...

Former Congresswoman and U.S. Presidential Candidate (Green Party 2008), Cynthia McKinney, known for speaking truth to power, has again written to President Obama, this time with the subject headed: Please Bring Our Troops Home Now! (below) Ray Songree of Kauia Truth and the Paul Revere Email Campaign wrote to his email list: "Cynthia McKinney is one of the greatest heroines of our times. Very few elected officials have EVER spoke truth to power. That is all she does. There are many women on this email list. It really is your time to stand up and be heard, not as wannabe...

"Another symptom of the U.S.' political collapse, [also linked] to our burning region... "Abu Mazen counted on his friendship with the U.S. when he [tried to] persuade its leaders to pressure Israel to at least freeze the Zionist settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories... "Another collapse was in Somalia... The Somali president, whom the U.S. considers [politically] desirable, promised that he would regain control of the capital Mogadishu from the armed Islamic movements. This is a news item that should be noticed, because it is a man-bites-dog situation. It makes sense to see the end of the attacks by these...

BAGHDAD — The exchange of information between medical professionals is commonplace throughout the world. But after years of conflict and instability, many doctors here are out of the information loop. To help Iraqi doctors catch up on some of the latest medical information, U.S. Soldiers from the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, organized an alliance between U.S. military doctors and local Iraqi hospitals. "Our goal is to meet with the hospitals monthly," explained Capt. Gabriela Niess, a native of Davis, Calif., the brigade's medical planner. Currently the brigade meets with two hospitals, one in Abu Ghraib and...

Hussaen Haney Lateef pauses from playing with a soccer ball to pose with his ice cream during the October kids' day hosted by the U.S. Air Force on Joint Base Balad. Photo by Spc. Beth Gorenc, Task Force 38. JOINT BASE BALAD — Over the years and still today, while deployed here in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, many U.S. service members use their free time to mentor and assist the communities of Iraq’s youngest citizens and future leaders Airmen and Soldiers here hold monthly programs that bring children on base to learn from and interact with military mentors. During...

BAGHDAD - Thirty-nine women from the Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Interior attended a women's issues conference here, Nov. 19, the first time an Iraqi woman moderated such an event. Ms. Iman Najid, director of Human Rights for the MoD, led the discussion about the struggles of Iraqi women who are still striving for equal treatment. "The purpose of this conference is to show how Iraqi women are participating in the Ministry of Defense", said Najid. Five Iraqi female leaders spoke about their experiences and struggles as a means to encourage and inspire the attendees. Dr. (Maj.) Noor Lath Saaed...

Brig. Gen. Gerald E. Lang (right), the Multi-National Division – South deputy commanding general for support and a Sauk Rapids, Minn., native, shares a laugh with Lt. Col. Clinton Moyer, the chief of Civil Operations with the 36th Sustainment Brigade out of Temple, Texas, and a Clearwater, Kan., native, and Shaykh Uday, during lunch, Nov. 19, at a home in southern Iraq. Photo by Spc. Lisa A. Cope, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). COL ADDER — The Multi-National Division – South deputy commanding general for support recently visited local shaykhs near here to discuss how the drawdown of U.S. forces will...

The archive contains eight stories censored or removed from the on-line archives of the Guardian, Observer, Telegraph and New Statesman. Seven stories were removed in their entirety and one partly redacted following legal pressure by Iraqi-British billionaire fraudster Nadhmi Auchi who has been linked to US senator Barack Obama via the so-called “Rezko Affair”. The action was taken during April-June 2008. The material complements the Wikileaks release a few days ago of a significant 2004 Pentagon Inspector General's report into Mr. Auchi's, apparently grossly fraudulent, activities in Iraq — see US Defense Inspector General: Mobile Telecommunications Licenses in Iraq, 2004....

War On Terror: As Khalid Sheikh Mohammed receives the benefits of U.S. justice, three Navy SEALs face court-martial for allegedly punching a captured terrorist who hanged Americans from a bridge in Fallujah. Apparently our efforts to impress the world about the marvels of our criminal justice system require us to give foreign terrorists such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the man who invented the manned cruise missiles that flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and plowed into a Pennsylvania field on its way to the Capitol Building, the full rights and protections of the American citizens he conspired...

Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Loriaux, 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, surveys the foundation of a new secondary school being built in Kalour village in Kirkuk province, Nov. 22. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division. KIRKUK — U.S. Soldiers here are helping the village of Kalour construct a new secondary school to relieve overcrowded conditions through the addition of six classrooms. The new school is being built across from the Kalour Primary School and will have six classrooms, helping to alleviate overcrowding at the primary school.According to Abdul Jabbar Norey Ahmad, the Kalour Primary School principal, the addition of...

In this photo from another Thanksgiving celebration in Iraq, The Red Bull logo of the 34th Infantry Division is displayed in bread for their Thanksgiving meal on Contingency Operating Base Basrah, Nov. 26. Photo by Spc. Samuel Soza, 34th Red Bull Infantry Division. BAGHDAD — Two cultures come together at a table. The hosts, strangers in an exotic land, welcome native guests with a rich history stretching back thousands of years. This scene, reminiscent of the historic celebration at Plymouth, took place here on Forward Operating Base Falcon, Nov. 26, as dozens of Iraqi tribal, civil and military leaders and...

Thanksgiving dinner video from the dining facilities (DFACs) on Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2009. Soundtrack is my addition, and should be familiar to one and all. I'm thankful to have been there, done that, and be home for this one. And I'm thankful that the men and women of the US military keep on keeping on.

The invasion of Iraq was legal but of "questionable legitimacy" because the US and UK had failed to persuade other countries of the need for war, the then-British ambassador to the UN told the Chilcot inquiry today. Sir Jeremy Greenstock said: "I regard our participation in the military action in Iraq in March 2003 as legal but of questionable legitimacy in that it did not have the democratically observable backing of the great majority of [UN] member states, or even perhaps of the majority of people inside the UK." Earlier, Greenstock told the inquiry that he had threatened to resign...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 24, 2009) — House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) sent a letter to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to request information on the National Guard’s current state of readiness to respond to natural disasters in the United States. Skelton also strongly urged the Department of Defense to consider U.S. domestic needs when planning for the redeployment of U.S. forces and equipment from Iraq. “When floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes strike, Americans depend on their neighbors in the National Guard to keep them safe and help with disaster response. In virtually any type of national...

Col. Sami Saeed (right), commander of the Iraqi Air Force’s 70th Squadron, conducts preflight checks on a CH2000 surveillance plane during training on Contingency Operating Base Basrah, Nov. 19. Photo by Spc. Samuel Soza, 367th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. COB BASRAH — Reaching a critical training milestone, the Iraqi Air Force’s (IqAF) 70th Squadron is now conducting its own training from beginning to end, ushering in an era of independence it has worked toward so diligently. The goal has always been to create a sustainable training squadron that can effectively transition new recruits into operational missions and put the protection...

COS MAREZ — When members of the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion (CAB) first began assessing the Zanjili neighborhood in Mosul, the area, a long-time insurgent stronghold, was anything but secure. Months later, the CAB team, escorted by Iraqi Federal Police (FP), walked the neighborhood market place, interacting with residents and shopkeepers during a joint project oversight patrol. Zanjili, one of the largest neighborhoods in western Mosul with about 30,000 residents, is steadily improving under the watchful eye of the FP battalion responsible for security in the area. According to 1st Lt. Glen Taylor, a team leader with Co. D., 401st...