Change in players, change in scene

Multiple ^

[SandRat]

Iraqi Policemen from the 2nd Iraqi National Police Division leave a house after searching it in Risalah, Sept. 9. Department of Defense photo by Army Sgt. Steven Phillips.

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi security forces this week continued to make progress in the capital city as security operations worked to restore peace to another Baghdad neighborhood, while in broader Coalition news, the 101st Airborne Division relinquished command in northern Iraq.

With Iraqi and Coalition forces moving into the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Risalah, officials hoped a calm sense of normalcy might return to the area, though they warned there is still work to be done.

“The easy part is searching … the buildings; the harder part is holding the buildings and making sure violence does not reoccur,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jim Danna, commander, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment.

In late July and early August there was a spike in sectarian violence in the Risalah area. Danna said that violence was addressed through a component of Operation Together Forward called Operation Relentless Hunt.

“This is a long-term operation. This is a long-term commitment to this area and to bring in the Iraqi security forces, then later the Iraqi Police,” Danna said.

According to a Risalah council member, now that the area is secure, the focus will shift toward restoring civil services.

Danna said among Risalah’s main problems are solid waste and trash removal, but other necessary projects include rebuilding roads, schools and hospitals, and restoring fuel and other services.

Even getting the rebuilding projects started is challenge, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Joe Gandara, commander, 4th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team.

“We can do it ourselves, but we’re trying to get the Iraqis to do it for themselves,” said Gandara, who oversees civil services projects in Baghdad.

Still, initial positive signs on security and reconstruction have been matched by the return of families to the neighborhood. Violence had earlier driven 30 to 40 families from their homes, Danna explained.

“Now that we are in a holding phase, families are moving back to their homes,” Gandara said.

He said he now sees moving trucks loaded with furniture moving back into the neighborhood.

Coalition officials said the fact that families are returning and rebuilding is underway is an indicator that the situation in Risalah is changing for the better.

Also this week, the 101st Airborne Division relinquished responsibility for Mutli-National Division - North to the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division. A Transfer of Authority ceremony was held Wednesday at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, located near Tikrit.

MND-N covers the provinces of Ninewa, Kirkuk, Diyala, Dahuk, Sulaymaniyah and Salah ad Din. Key cities in the region include Kirkuk, Tal Afar, Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra and Baqubah.

In other developments throughout Iraq:

• Iraqi Police detained three suspected insurgents and discovered one improvised explosive device near a mosque in western Mosul Sept. 11.
  
  
• Iraqi Army Soldiers found and disabled a large vehicle-borne improvised explosive device Sept. 14 in central Baghdad.
  
  
• Iraqi National Police, working with Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, searched more than 980 buildings in southern Baghdad’s Risalah neighborhood this week.
  
  
• Iraqi security forces, with Coalition support, began clearing operations in Baghdad’s Khadra neighborhood this week in support of Operation Together Forward.
  
  
• Iraqi security forces and U.S. Marines discovered an enemy weapons cache Sept. 10 while conducting a joint patrol in the al-Qa’im region of western Al Anbar.

(Compiled from official DoD sources)

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

[pickrell]

This is pretty much where it pays off. This is where we get the chance to see if the blood the G.I.'s have shed to buy for them an opportunity to throw off the chains from the cycle of dictators... either is worth enough to them to fight for, and if necesary to die for... or is not.

If they free themselves- they empower others in the Middle East to emulate their success. If they fail... they will forever know what they lost. And we have bought enough time for the majority of them to now understand that we can't win the fight for them.

My money is on them toughing it out, and smashing the power of the terrorists forever.

Of course, that begs the question... if we in the U.S. fall victim to liberalism, a few decades from now, ... will they eventually help us out? :-)