'You will not have one roadside bomb': Iraqi’s promise highlights ambition of Ramadi ERU

Stars and Stripes ^ | 3/3/07 | Monte Morin

[noname247]

It was one hell of a promise.

“As long as we are patrolling here, you will not have one roadside bomb,” the Iraqi commander said to an American officer over piping hot glasses of heavily sweetened tea, or chai.

The commander, Col. Mohammed Rashid, wore a pressed Iraqi army uniform with red-striped epaulettes, marking him as a graduate of the former regime’s prestigious Army Staff College.

While his career in Saddam’s army ended abruptly with its abolition four years ago, Rashid has found himself once again in command of a unit of former soldiers like himself. The unit, dubbed the 1st Emergency Response Unit Battalion, or ERU for short, is an auxiliary police unit that patrols the 50-square-mile Jazeera suburb north of downtown Ramadi.

Whether Rashid’s roadside bomb prediction comes to pass remains to be seen. But so far, U.S. Army Capt. Matthew Marston, said that Iraqi police and newly formed ERUs in Ramadi’s Jazeera suburb, north of downtown, appeared to be earning their keep.

“I was kind of surprised when we got here,” said Marston, the commander of Combat Troop, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. “They’re very gung-ho.”

The units, which are armed but wear no standardized uniforms, have been issued pickup trucks and, in some cases, night-vision goggles. They draw pay from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. They have, since they were stood up in November, showed great prowess in locating hidden weapons stashes, U.S. officers say.

U.S. commanders say they have made phenomenal gains in Ramadi during the last eight or nine months. Much of their success, they say, is tied to an alliance of local tribes who’ve sided with the U.S. military against fighters here. As a result, the tribes have flooded local Iraqi police stations with recruits.

[rwgal]

Of course this will be the lead story on the alphabet network news shows, right?

Meadow Muffin

[LdSentinal]

It seems to be quiet in Ramadi for some time. Hoping.

[vigilante2]

(((ping)))

[noname247]

ping

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News at Home and Abroad You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

Or if they do report it, without the anti-War Agenda Spin!

[Valin]

More bad news for the democrats and 11-7 republicans...Oh when will it ever stop!

[Farmer Dean]

Former Iraq army members form this unit.I bet their methods of acquiring intel are not quite as inhibited as ours.

[HiJinx]

Aye, and that’s a good thing.
No gloves...

[Marine_Uncle]

Ar Ramadi will soon be far safer to walk the streets then many US cities. The goons no longer can attempt to run and then rehabitate a city that is dead set against killing them off.
The insurgency is approaching the point where it may be in a death dance. The missing element all along has been the un-willingness of Iraqi, mostly Sunni to help the IG and and US forces find and kill off the various mixes of insurgents. Now as we witness they are doing it not only in al Anbar but in other provinces. Iraq is really turning around.
Pelosi, Kerry, Murtha, Edwards, and the rest of the filthy mix must be spending all day at their shrinks.
Then again. They may still be so misinformed and in the dark even now, that they are not reacting at all. Who knows. Obviously the important thing is in seeing the Iraqi finally taking the bull by the horns in ever increasing numbers.

[FreedomPoster]

Ping for comments.