Posted on 08/11/2009 4:34:32 PM PDT by SandRat
Brig. Gen. Majid M. Abaas hands out school supplies to the children of the Bab Al-Toob neighborhood during a humanitarian aid drop in West Mosul, Aug. 8. Photo by 2nd Lt. Jeff Orban, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
MOSUL — The Mosul Brigade Federal Police (FP) handed out school supplies and children's shoes to the citizens of the Bab Al-Toob neighborhood here, Aug. 8. The humanitarian drop was one part of a larger mission to reach out to the populace of this West Mosul neighborhood.
Children and parents alike clamored for the much-needed pencils, notebooks, and other school supplies that will be used when the children return to school in September. Children formed a line in front of Brig. Gen. Majid M. Abaas, the Mosul Brigade FP commander, as he passed out hundreds of bags of school supplies.
Giving out humanitarian aid has become a vital part of the FP's non-lethal mission. Handing out this humanitarian aid allows the FP to reach the citizens on a much more personal level than conducting combat patrols or raids.
"Our project here is the people,” said Abaas. “You want the people on your side, and if the people feel that you will protect them and keep them safe, they will help you in your operations."
The reception of the FP on the streets of Bab Al-Toob was warm, and the citizens also see the value in operations like this.
"It's very good for the kids to be happy and to have a good relationship between the Iraqi Security Forces and the people," said one Mosul citizen. "It's a very good idea."
The FP also went door to door delivering supplies to many homes in the neighborhood, even stopping by a local Christian church to give some school supplies to the nuns who care for the Christian children in the area.
As part of their larger operation, the FP handed out wanted posters of known criminals believed to be in the area. They encouraged shop keepers and store owners to put them up on their doors and windows and aided them in doing so.
"We put up posters of all the people who are warranted by law, according to the high judge [in Mosul]," said Abaas. "Putting up the [wanted] posters help us catch the criminals. This increases the security in our area."
The FP also use these humanitarian aid drops as opportunities to speak with the populace about the situation in their neighborhoods and gather intelligence directly from the people.
"When I collect the intelligence and the people give me the information about the people on the posters it helps me catch these criminals and provide security for the area," says Abaas.
In conjunction with the humanitarian aid the people of the neighborhood willingly accepted the posters and promised to give the FP any information that they could provide, helping to make Mosul a safer place to work and live.
The commander of the Mosul Brigade FP Transition Team, Lt. Col. Leonard Rosanoff, whose team helped the ISF coordinate the humanitarian aid drop, said, "This operation is indicative of how operational and humanitarian goals can be nested in order to achieve positive results for the populace."
(By 2nd Lt. Jeff Orban, 3rd Brigade Combat Team)
For a moment I thought this was going to be news about children being encouraged by Obama to report their parents via the flag@whitehouse.gov email address.
Could one have even imagined this just a few years ago...?
Ugh. Don't know what's worse: the thought, or that it's no longer unimaginable?
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