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U.S. Army General Dubbed Father of the Iraqi Army
Defend America ^ | June 14, 2004 | U.S. Army Sgt. Jared Zabaldo

Posted on 06/15/2004 4:43:18 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl

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U.S. Army General Dubbed Father of the Iraqi Army
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By U.S. Army Sgt. Jared Zabaldo / Office of Security Transition
 
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 14, 2004 — Less than a year ago an unassuming man from Weatherford, Okla., arrived in this country to guide an organization that didn’t even exist – to build an army that wasn’t there.

There was no plan, no force, and only slight guidance.

And 363 days later – despite a host of staggering setbacks and difficulties with logistics, contractors, funding, cultural differences and a plan that changed in scope, size and overall delivery – Iraq’s armed forces and civil security forces total more than 230,000 people. In only a matter of months, the army will consist of a 27-battalion, nine-brigade, three-division army and air force, navy, coastal defense force, civil defense corps, police service, facilities protection service, border police force, customs police force, immigration police force, national security police force and a diplomatic protection service officers force.

“There’s nothing that could have prepared me for what I’ve encountered here – but a number of things have happened to me in my career that have proven helpful,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, the former Office of Security Transition Commanding General.

Photo, caption below. Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton talks with reporters about the different operations performed at Taji, Iraq, June 3, 2004. Taji is a location where the coalition is assisting in the training of the new Iraqi Army. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen

Eaton recognized the parallels between his career and the huge assignment to rebuild the Iraqi Armed Forces and civil security forces. A duty that brought him here June 13, 2003 – and one which true to his modest reputation, he quietly handed over to the current chief, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, on June 6, 2004.

“When I was commissioned, the Army was a conscript army,” the solidly built, slightly grey-haired 54-year-old Eaton said, recalling his early beginnings with the U.S. Army in 1972 as a fresh graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

“One year later when I took over my platoon,” Eaton said, “It was an ‘all volunteer’ platoon. We had become a professional army.”

“The analogy,” Eaton said from behind his desk at the headquarters of the soon to be disbanded Coalition Provisional Authority, “Coming out of the Vietnam War – having lost it – and going into a professional army from a conscript army is precisely what we have done with the Iraqi army. I trained my own platoon. And that’s what I’m asking these cadre officers and non-commissioned officers to do.

“So a lot of what we are doing here is a direct reflection of what I’ve done in my career,” Eaton said.

What Eaton’s done is spend 32 years serving his country in various capacities and stations beginning with his first assignment as that young platoon leader with the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Carson, Colorado. Most recently he served as the commanding general at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Ga. – as a master of training soldiers and instilling in them the values and ethos of being a soldier.

Photo, caption below.
Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton talks with reporters about the Iraqi military training at Taji Military Training Base, Iraqi, June 3, 2004. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen
 

It was with that in mind that Eaton was brought to Iraq only weeks after U.S. officials disbanded the old Iraqi army in May 2003.

Eaton was brought to Iraq originally to command the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team. The team was specifically created to train and equip the Iraqi armed forces. After delivery of the Eikenberry Report, though – an assessment of Iraq’s security forces authored by Maj. Gen. Karl Eikenberry earlier in the year – the mission was greatly expanded and escalated. The result was a recommendation that the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team be generated and subordinated with the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team under the umbrella organization now known as the Office of Security Transition.

In a year, Eaton has grown the police and military teams to an all-encompassing unit that has overcome a withering daily storm of shortfalls, disappointments, changes, barriers, timelines and a myriad of other problems that never make the headlines. Amidst the reports, as well, a wave of silent successes has gone largely untold.

One is simply that the organization formed of Coalition servicemen and women even exists and if that isn’t enough, continues to perform a complicated mission having been but a handful of individuals less than 12 months ago.

Eaton arrived in Baghdad to little fanfare.

Two days later, though, the first training base was selected and the organization was off and running. Five men. 130 degrees. No air conditioning. From there, the mission evolved, and the personnel came later. Different services. Different countries. Different backgrounds.

“This organization is an ad-hoc organization,” said Eaton, married with three grown children, including two sons also serving in the Army – one in Iraq.

Photo, caption below.
Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton hugs an Iraqi officer after reviewing Iraqi troops for the last time at Taji Military Training Base, June 10, 2004. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jared Zabaldo
 

“We’ve all responded to a telephone call,” Eaton said, “And our higher headquarters that said, ‘Sergeant, lieutenant, colonel, general – hence get thee to Iraq in “x” number of days and assist in building the Iraqi armed forces.’

“And we have built a team that is very high performing where people have operated outside of their comfort zone,” Eaton said. “Outside of their experience, outside of their competence, and have risen to the occasion and have continued to keep moving this very important project and very demanding project down the road.

Eaton's pride in his team is matched by the inspired affection Eaton’s soldiers and coalition partners feel for the soon-to-be departed commander.

“I’m not saying it’s unusual that leaders inspire loyalty in the workforce,” said Office of Security Transition Deputy Commander, British Army Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster. “But he inspired an unusual degree of loyalty in the workforce.

“As much as anything it’s his compassion and his care for his people,” Aylwin-Foster said. “That’s what really sticks in my mind. His loyalty downwards which is unusual.

“And he’s meant everything to the organization,” he added. “He’s taken it from nothing, literally five guys standing around at the back of the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters with the instruction, ‘Build an army,’ to now the Office of Security Transition.

“It’s gone from five to 863 in the space of a year and a mission which started off just, ‘Build an army’ … to ‘Build an army and air force and navy. Take on the ICDC – the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps; take on the Iraqi Counter Terrorist Force; the Iraqi Police Service; the Border Police; the Facilities Protection Service ….’” “He’s the father of the Iraqi army,” Aylwin-Foster said.

The soldiers agree.

“He put the first block in our army. The first brick of the building,” said Iraqi army Lt. Col. Ahmed Lutfi Ahmed Raheem. “He gave us the confidence inside us to do our duty and showed us that there’s no difference between a small duty and a big duty,” he said.

“When you speak with him and ask him a question, he doesn’t move his shoulders or his arms,” said Raheem. “He’s like a machine. But he’s a good man. You find the answer in his eyes before his mouth.”

“God loves men like this,” Raheem said. “This country will never forget him.”

Talking about his tour in Iraq and experiences over the past year, Eaton’s eyes do reveal his answers, and he speaks candidly about the bad as much as he does the good. In particular, this April’s Fallujah incident, a turning point for the fledgling Iraqi military, is a topic he willingly volunteers to discuss.

In April 2004 an Iraqi military unit tasked with its first mission had an operational breakdown. Ambushed around Baghdad by insurgents, the unit repelled an attack, and many Iraqi and Coalition soldiers fought bravely. The unit regrouped and reassembled at an airfield and was dispatched to return to the clash to quell the insurgent uprising. Some of the soldiers in the unit refused to go – the willing fighters verbally fought with the unwilling. The mission was scrubbed and critics of the Coalition’s mission were quick to pile on.

“It was the 2nd Battalion refusal to get on helicopters and go to Fallujah,” Eaton said, “Which was a public embarrassment to the Iraqi army and a very personal mistake on my part for having asked that unit to do it … I regret that.

“And commanders are responsible for everything that happens or fails to happen in their units. The good and the bad,” Eaton said.

To be fair, though, the Iraq army is really only months old. The U.S. Army was once also beleaguered with serious tests in the heat of fire in its own infancy more than 200 years ago. In fact, to characterize the Army in the first months of creation as an unflinching professional force would be to rewrite history.

But since that early April operation that drew so much criticism, that very same unit has melded. In fact, history in this country may well look at “Fallujah” not so much as a critical hour when things went wrong, but rather a clarifying crossroads. The 2nd Battalion now regularly and enthusiastically performs critical Coalition missions with great and habitual success. Within the last month they have found six tons of illicit weapons and nabbed thugs from the streets bent on preventing democracy from setting root. Like its U.S. counterpart, the Iraqi army also has improved through defeat and disappointment.

“We learned, and we got better from it,” Eaton said.

Now Iraq approaches sovereignty with police and military forces in place where none stood before. And the unassuming man will continue to work behind the scenes and do what he has done for decades: build soldiers. Eaton will be the training officer for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command in Fort Monroe, Va.

And in a few days, he will leave Iraq with little fanfare, but he will leave behind the house he built.

 


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Oklahoma; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: gnfi; goodnews; handover; iraq; iraqiarmy; pauleaton; progress; rebuildingiraq
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1 posted on 06/15/2004 4:43:19 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: TEXOKIE; xzins; Alamo-Girl; blackie; SandRat; Calpernia; SAMWolf; prairiebreeze; Eagle Eye; ...
Photo, caption below.
Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton hugs an Iraqi officer after reviewing Iraqi troops for the last time at Taji Military Training Base, June 10, 2004. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jared Zabaldo
 
~*~

2 posted on 06/15/2004 4:48:13 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Think the Iraqis will remember General Eaton 200 years from now?
3 posted on 06/15/2004 5:30:36 PM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4 (I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl

I wouldn't ask this "army" to cover my 12, 3, 6 or 9,,,,
Until they have made bones and fed the worms with some long toothed Islamists --- they're are totally UNPROVEN.

I should also add, UNTRUSTWORTHY..

Semper Fi


4 posted on 06/15/2004 5:33:02 PM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek...But I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: river rat
Reassessing the ARVN

The New Iraqi Army in the summer of 2004 is about at the same stage the ARVN was in 1961. They will get better.

5 posted on 06/15/2004 5:49:04 PM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4 (I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out)
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To: river rat
Our troops were rather rough around the edges during the American Revolution, too...and they hadn't suffered for decades under a monster.

American troops who train the Iraqi security forces admit they need training, yes, but also say they are hard-working, courageous - and grateful.

6 posted on 06/15/2004 5:51:26 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
I hope these guys have some stones.

It'd be real nice if the American boys could come home soon, knowing that these troops will ensure that their sacrifices weren't wasted.

I am not of great faith in this regard.

7 posted on 06/15/2004 5:52:14 PM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: Cannoneer No. 4
"....the same stage the ARVN was in 1961. They will get better."

I don't believe the Iraqis will have the luxury of time...

In I Corps --- we didn't really trust the ARVN with anything that impacted our security......

I guess it will be the same with this Iraqi "army"...

The closer we were to the border with Laos - the less reliable the ARVN and the more reliable the local highlands hill people ('yards) became.

Semper Fi

8 posted on 06/15/2004 6:04:21 PM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek...But I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: river rat; Criminal Number 18F; Squantos; Steel Wolf; Wolf_Lochert
I think we are ignoring a fine military resource in the Kurdish Peshmerga. They'd make a great Mike Force.

I wonder how close these comparisons are?

New Iraqi Army = ARVN

ICDC = RF/PF (RuffPuffs)

Facilities Protection Service = CIDG

9 posted on 06/15/2004 6:23:30 PM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4 (I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out)
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To: river rat

You know what made the difference river rat? When they failed, they were not shot, they were not tortured, they were not shamed. They were brought together and told they can do better with a bit more training. This probably shocked the life out of these men. They will feel a loyalty to him for the rest of their lives and you know what? They will do better.


10 posted on 06/15/2004 8:14:22 PM PDT by McGavin999 (If Kerry can't deal with the "Republican Attack Machine" how is he going to deal with Al Qaeda)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl

Bump!


11 posted on 06/15/2004 9:05:35 PM PDT by windchime (Podesta about Bush: "He's got four years to try to undo all the stuff we've done." (TIME-1/22/01))
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl

Bump!


12 posted on 06/15/2004 10:36:17 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: McGavin999
That may be...
We're all being asked to trust and have faith in Arabs that haven't earned or justified that faith..

I believe you would win more often than not, betting against their trustworthiness....Where infidels are concerned......

These folks have been hammered since birth, to despise and blame all the evil in their lives on the "infidels"...
They have been promised paradise if they destroy the Jew or the infidel....
Going to take a lot of to convince me these folks are reliable allies...

I wouldn't want them anywhere near me until they demonstrate they're worthy of trust...
They will have to build a huge bone pile of our enemy to earn that trust...

Prudence and suspicion are key elements in staying alive, in your enemy's homeland....


Semper Fi

13 posted on 06/16/2004 12:13:24 AM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek...But I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
This is a typical Army brass "puff piece"...
It would have carried more weight, if they had waited until this new army had PERFORMED as advertised...

Lord knows, there have been plenty of opportunities!

I'll wait, before I applaud..

Semper Fi
14 posted on 06/16/2004 12:26:01 AM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek...But I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: river rat
Thanks for your insight, river rat.

It will take some time, but I have heard direct reports from our guys that the Iraqis are very motivated, appreciative of the treatment and training their receiving, courageous and hard working...a good start.

One member of the Iraqi Governing Council had 63 members of his family killed by Saddam's thugs. They have reason to start 'wobbly' - and very good reasons to fight our mutual enemies!

Please, as a civilian on the homefront, give me 'puff pieces' that rightly honor and represent our troops, truthfully relate the importance of our war efforts and the nature of this enemy, support our troops and war efforts on bad days and good. Give me reporters who were awake on 911, who sacrifice for a greater good - are willing to tell the truth about Bin Laden, expose this enemy's true cruel history and daily lies. Give me reporters who know the difference between right and wrong, SOD Rumsfeld and Baghdad Bob, President Bush and Saddam Hussein - who promote traditional American values, aren't working to intentionally undermine morale at home and abroad for the sake of a byline, paycheck, politics - vanity, power. Please give me 'puff pieces' that don't actively embolden our enemies, and endanger brave men and women who are risking their lives for others daily.

15 posted on 06/16/2004 6:47:00 AM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl

I'm sure what you've been told is true --- amongst at least some of this new Iraqi army...
After all, the Arab Muslim is well known to show a friendly face to a potential benefactor or a disappearing ass to a stronger force..

The motivation of the Iraqi to be free or to avenge the brutalities of the former regime - would be natural for any human with free will and courage, and should have been present BEFORE our "arrival".

So far -- the Iraqi have shown their free will by complaining that we haven't improved their life enough, and the courage to demonstrate with glee at the murder of their benefactors and liberators, KNOWING we will tolerate their insane celebration and not kill them for their behavior.

Yet, they failed to show their courage of CONVICTION to fight our "common enemy" when they've been armed, trained and accompainied by our own forces. The performance of the Iraqi "forces" in Fallujah, has also been less that complimentary -- and futher demonstates the value of an agreement struck with these genetic liars.

The Arab in this region has learned to survive by being compliant to the stronger man, for decades if not centuries.

The Arab in this region has been educated primarily in the hateful and murderous "teachings" of Islam.
The Arab in this region has been taught that life on earth is filled with grief - and that the promised life can be gained by spreading Islam and destroying the infidel...

I will be able to trust the Arab muslim -- only after Islam has gone through a "reformation" and edited to coexist with the civilized world... This "reformation" must come at the hand of the Arab - and if not forthcoming, the reformation will have to be the result of destruction from the West...

My belief is that militant Islam must be defeated .....not just an army of insane militants..
This new Iraqi Army will be the best example of the feasibility of internally driven "reformation"...
My money is moving toward many years of failure, and many more years of our continued presence with a gun at their back....

Semper Fi


16 posted on 06/16/2004 5:19:32 PM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek...But I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: river rat
You are sincerely misinformed. While I agree with some of your comments, particularly about the need for reformation of Islam, I completely disagree with your vehemence on pessimistic appraisal of this fledging military force. The dynamics are immense. You are dealing with a situation in which Iraqi nationals are asked to take up arms against brothers in their eyes. Against fellow tribe mates. Against people from their region. Against fellow Muslims. The psychology isn't derived from years upon years with a gun to their heads even though this may have been a necessity given the dynamics plainly visible today. It is derived of over a thousand years of social behaviour quite different from what we traditionally accept. Training, trust and respect over a long period of time regardless of failures is going to create the force we want there. In their ability to fail and live through it will be their ability to change and become stronger.

Point 2: The majority of men and women in Iraq are Shiite. The same branch of Islam as is observed by the Iranians. It is common knowledge that an Arab will trust you with his or her life if you give them proof that you will do the same in return. Most of these people, under interrogation, will look at you like a member of their own family if you pour them a cup of tea, light them a cigarette and sit down with them to chat instead of yell. It is the custom. An Arab lets you into his house, pours you tea and you are safe. Now, this generalization said, what do you think the common response was of the Arabs in Iraq, particularly, the Shiite majority under the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, after the United States of America decided to pull out and make good on its promise to Saudi Arabia to leave after expelling the Iraqi forces from Kuwait? The consequential crack down, disappearances in the night and ultimate drop in quality of life amongst the Shiite may seriously be a reason for our current problems with creating a fan base in that region. You won't trust an Arab...(oh and all Arabs are the same blah blah blah)...is probably equally mirrored with historical proof to back this distrust by the "Arabs" in Iraq.

What we need to do now, River Rat, is accept the complicated dynamics of the arena. We need to arm ourselves with knowledge and the understanding that throwing money around isn't going to dissolve difficulties the way it does on our side of the world. We need to observe their ways of life the way they see it and we need to draw clear and distinct difference between the various groups, tribes, religions, etc that make up what you so described at "Arabs" that compose the population of Iraq.

As for the Kurds...yes, it is far safer in their part of Iraq then in any other mainly do to the effect of need and lack of historical betrayal. They don't have a whole nation of Shiite friends sitting right next to them and they experienced what couldn't be described any other way then genocide. They also have a common goal...the creation of Kurdistan and a nation right next to them that is currently infusing its special forces inside Iraq to possibly help this goal from coming to fruition.

Lastly. As for the reformation of Islam. I seem to recall that that horrible anti-semite Martin Luther drew up his reformation and attacked a single entity called the Catholic Church. Now, the Catholic Church and "All of Islam" have something of a huge difference being that . . . there was and is a single authority in the Catholic Church and, "All of Islam" is actually composed of many different branches, each of which consider the other to be kaffer or infidel. A reformation of Islam would have to happen in Saudi Arabia first with the gaining of control Mecca and Medina by Islamic militants and the establishment of a single authority followed by several hundred years of expansion and homogenization of the religion before someone brave enough to demand change stepped forward. You really want that? I would rather see Islam converted over time to something meaningless, to be exchanged by a high mileage, efficient car in every garage and Iraqi/Saudi/Syrian/etc flags flapping in the wind, casting shadows on vinyl siding.

I really am quite sick of all the bull.... that pops up on the internet. I refer to the internet as The Giant Lie Machine. Maybe instead of surrendering to generalizations, River Rat, you can pick up a book about these people and draw up an educated theory and support your theory before posting your crap for other people to scoff at.
17 posted on 08/22/2004 12:52:27 AM PDT by Mr. Intercept
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To: Mr. Intercept
Everything I needed to learn about Arabs and militant Islam, was driven deep into my heart on 9/11..

The silence of the "peace loving Muslim" was deafening....

As a veteran myself, I need to see PROOF of competency of a fighting force before I trust them or accept them as a reliable ally... At the time of my post -- only the Kurds had demonstrated their willingness to fight the good fight against the Iraqi insurgents fighting the coalition..

You make a big point of the difficulty of Muslim killing Muslim.... Hell, man - they've been killing each other for centuries.. My problem, is they seem unwilling the kill the same Muslims we are trying to kill!

Nothing in your post - gives me reason to retract anything in my post or my opinion...

I remain unwilling to trust any Arab that identifies themselves as a "fundamental or militant" Muslim...
That, in my mind - defines a person who ascribes to a "religion" that calls for my destruction....

For your information, rightly or wrongly - I draw a distinction between Arab Shiites and Iranian Shiites.
I saw no evidence of Iranian citizens celebrating the murder and desecration of Americans -- which seems to be common practice among the Arabs.

The next few weeks will provide ample opportunity for the peace and freedom loving Iraqi to show their commitment - while being asked to address the problem with militants in Najaf and Fallujah. It will be interesting to observe...I hope they don't disappoint their country or us...

Semper Fi

18 posted on 08/22/2004 1:52:30 AM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek...But I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
U.S. Army General Dubbed Father of the Iraqi Army

errr.. Just HOW LONG was he there? ;-P
19 posted on 08/22/2004 1:53:34 AM PDT by Cronos (W2K4)
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To: Cannoneer No. 4; blam; SunkenCiv

Why DID von Steuben help us out??


20 posted on 08/22/2004 1:54:43 AM PDT by Cronos (W2K4)
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