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Marines assist Iraqi Government in improving border

Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20053711126
Story by Cpl. Matthew R. Jones

HUSAYBAH, Iraq (Feb. 28, 2005) -- Marines from Company C, 2nd Combat Engineers Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 7, improved the international border between Iraq and Syria near the town of Husaybah by building a massive dirt barricade.

The Marines assisted the new Iraq government in their desire to stop the smuggling of arms, insurgents and goods across the border in this volatile region. The coalition forces are using the assets they have to provide a safer Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government.

Strains of concertina wire were run along the berm in order to provide another deterrent for the illegal border crossers. The Iraqi government also ordered the formal closing of the Husaybah point of entry into the country. The border has been closed due to the high level of insurgent activity using the crossing.

The insurgency has used the crossing and the neighboring border city as a safe haven to smuggle both fighters and weapons into and out of the country. Many of the foreign fighters that fought in Fallujah had crossed into the country at Husaybah.

The Marines of Headquarters and Support Platoon Company C, which is based out of Camp Lejuene, will build approximately 5 miles of berm between the two countries, said Staff Sgt. Ronald S. Gillaspie, heavy equipment operation chief.

The new border includes three phases, a trench, a berm and concertina wire.

A D-9 bulldozer dug the trench, which is roughly six feet deep. The dirt removed to dig the trench was then used to build the berm. Another bulldozer piles the dirt to a height of approximately 10 feet.

“A two-bulldozer team can build one quarter of a mile of the new border in a day,” said Gillaspie, 29, a native of Crown Point, Ind.

Marines play reindeer games at Norwegian feast

Submitted by:    Marine Forces Reserve 
Story by:   Computed Name: Cpl. Enrique Saenz 
Story Identification #:   200536113919

NAMDALSEID, Norway – (Mar. 05, 2005) -- Every Christmas Santa straps eight tiny reindeer onto his sleigh and goes for the ultimate joyride passing out toys to the good little girls and boys throughout the world. The old boy might have one less this year, thanks to a group of Norwegian soldiers and six U.S. Marines.

Soldiers from the Norwegian Home Guard hosted a reindeer dinner as a gift to six Marines from Marine Air Ground Task Force 25.

The first taste of reindeer was a giant leap into Norwegian culture.

“I had no idea what to expect,” said Pfc. Andrew D. McCoy, a radioman with MAGTF 25. “I’d worked with Norwegians before, but this was my first time doing anything Norwegians do.”

Norwegian Home Guard soldiers, led by Home Guard Capt. Bjorn Deras invited the Marines to one of their homes for a feast featuring the Norwegian delicacy, and even though Marines are not known as having discriminating taste buds, the feast was resounding success.

“It was awesome,” said McCoy, a Southwindsor, Mass., native. “I can honestly say it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. It tasted kind of like beef stroganoff.”

The second course was a surprise for the Marines, who were presented a dish and only were only told what it was after they had eaten it.

“It turned out to be smoked reindeer’s heart,” said Cpl. Andy S. Puga, a Leominster, Mass. native. “It sounds kind of gross, but it tasted good. It was kind of like bacon.”

The cultural exchange was only a small part of exercise Battle Griffin 2005, a Norwegian invitational exercise that tests the interoperability of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Partnership for Peace nations tactics and systems.

Abducted Jordanian released in Iraq after ransom paid

Tue, Mar 08, 2005:

AMMAN (AFP) - A Jordanian businessman abducted in Iraq was released after his associates paid a 100,000 dollar ransom and is on his way to Amman, his family said.

Ibrahim Maharmeh, who was seized Friday by unknown kidnappers in the upmarket Mansur neighbourhood of Baghdad, was set free Monday, his brother Bilal Maharmeh told AFP.

Maharmeh, who lives almost permanently in Baghdad where he owns a house and runs and import-export business, was abducted after word got around that he had sold a property in Iraq for over 200,000 dollars, his brother said.

His assistants in Baghdad negotiated with the abductors, whose identity was not immediately known, to reduce an initial ransom demand of 250,000 dollars down to 100,000 dollars, Bilal said.

"There was concern when the kidnappers said last night they needed one more hour to release Ibrahim although they had received the ransom, but they finally set him free," Bilal said, adding that Ibrahim was on his way to Amman.

Several Jordanians, most of them truck drivers, have been abducted in Iraq since the downfall of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in April 2003 but most of them returned home unharmed, although in some cases relatives said a ransom was paid.