As Marines go home, Bulgarians keep city secure [Karbala, Iraq]

Marine Link thru Defend America ^ | August 26, 2003 | Army Spc. Benjamin R. Kibbey

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

As Marines go home, Bulgarians keep city secure

Submitted by: I Marine Expeditionary Force
Story Identification Number: 200382595648
Story by Army Spc. Benjamin R. Kibbey

KARBALA, Iraq(Aug. 26, 2003) -- After more than five months rebuilding the local infrastructure, the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment are preparing to return to home after handing over to the Bulgarian Army Aug. 26.

The Bulgarian force is in the city to guarantee a secure environment for the continued work to be done both by coalition members and the various nonprofit organizations operating in the city.

The secure situation of the city is among the highest accomplishments by the Marines, said Lt. Col. Matthew A. Lopez, 39, the battalion commander and Karbala province military governor.

"The local people trust that when the coalition forces tell them that they're going to do something... it will be done," said Lopez, a native of Naperville, Ill. "It's really that trust and confidence the local people have in the coalition forces, that's led to the security environment that we find today."

This positive relationship with the locals seems to promise to continue, Lopez said.

"We know from surveys we've conducted and the local leadership that we've talked to, to include the clerics, that the Bulgarians are well respected," he said. "The Bulgarians, because of their recent history of developing from a communist country under a dictator into a democracy, have already traveled the road that the country of Iraq is about to travel. So, local Iraqis are very receptive to the Bulgarians because they know they have traveled down that path."

In addition, the Bulgarians are quite capable of handling any situations that may threaten security in Karbala and the surrounding area, according to Lopez.

"I think the Bulgarians will do a fine job," Lopez said. "They're a very disciplined force. They know how to do security operations."

The battalion's governate support team will remain in place another 30 days to ensure a smooth transition.

"The turnover is very dependent on the Coalition Provisional Authority following through with their plan to have a civilian governate team up and running by the first of September," Lopez said.

The Marines have worked hard to make sure that the handover goes smoothly for the Bulgarians, according to Bulgarian Army Lt. Col. Grudi Ivanov Angejov, from Stara Zagora, deputy senior national representative for Bulgaria, and Deputy National Contingent Commander.

"First, I think that Colonel Lopez met us (and was) very friendly," Angejov said. "He show us most parts of our work, and he has done for us three presentations: a working briefing, a briefing of the town, and a briefing of responsibilities.

"Colonel Lopez, he is very useful for us because he want to give us all information about the town, about the people in the town. He organized a meeting for us with the leaders of the town."

As the Marines look forward to their return home, Lopez said he feels confident in the hands in which they leave the security of Karbala and the surrounding area.

"I think the Bulgarians have displayed a great attitude toward this operation," he said. "They've been very friendly with their interactions with the Iraqis, and not only that, they've been very, very eager to learn from our successes, and to avert from some of the difficulties that we had."

The words of Lopez about returning home echoed the feelings of many in the battalion who have been in theater since January.

"For me personally, I can't wait to get home to see my son, he turned one just the other day," Lopez said. "When I left he was barely crawling, and now he's walking. I think all of the Marines can't wait to get home to their loved ones.

"I think the Marines have done a phenomenal job here, to a man. They've done a great job, they've accomplished their mission-both through the combat phase and the security operations phase-and they're looking forward to going home."

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

8 Unapologetically Pro-Coalition News Links and Articles

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Another NON-UNI*lateral, non-quagmire, pro-stabilization PRO-'awesome Coalition military' NEWS story.

If you want on or off my pro-Coalition/anti-wanker ping list, just ping.

[prairiebreeze]

A big "WELL DONE" to our fine military. God speed to them. God bless them and their families.

Prairie

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[eleni121]

Thanks to the Marines for their superb heroic work. And Bulgarians - sincere best wishes for your professional work in helping Iraqis to achieve their dreams free from terrorism...

[ken5050]

I can't wait for future Bablefish translations from Arabic into Bulgarian...

[Soaring Feather]

bump

[Roughneck]

RC Thanks for all the good pings, I'm still browsing and sending!

[My2Cents]

Poland, Bulgaria...It's interesting that freedom is getting its strongest support from among those nations whose people lived under oppression. I'm all in favor of international help in Iraq, but only among freedom-loving peoples (this would exclude the UN).

[Gritty]

Tell me again why we need UN troops in Iraq?

[blackie]

U.S. Marines ... Big Bump!

Be Ever Vigilant!

[Ax]

I read in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel yesterday that a group of Salvadoran Special Forces soldiers had arrived in Iraq and were placed under the command of the Spanish forces there.

[windchime]

Welcome home Marines bump!

[gatorbait]

I read in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel yesterday that a group of Salvadoran Special Forces soldiers had arrived in Iraq and were placed under the command of the Spanish forces there.


God help the Jihadis , then.The Salvos are good troops, work damned hard, too. HOWEVER,do something incredibly stupid with them and one more batch of 6 dozen sloe eyed goats needs to be readied.

[ThreePuttinDude]

"The local people trust that when the coalition forces tell them that they're going to do something... it will be done," said Lopez, a native of Naperville, Ill. "It's really that trust and confidence the local people have in the coalition forces, that's led to the security environment that we find today."

That's a pretty strong statement. I love the sound of it.

[PhilDragoo]

"The Bulgarians, because of their recent history of developing from a communist country under a dictator into a democracy, have already traveled the road that the country of Iraq is about to travel. So, local Iraqis are very receptive to the Bulgarians because they know they have traveled down that path."

Bulgarians: been there, done that, got the tee-shirt--and the Iraqis gotta have one.

America's warriors spreading the light of liberty.

Imbed more reporters:

[VOA]

I'm all in favor of international help in Iraq, but only among freedom-loving peoples
(this would exclude the UN).

The folks from the former Eastern Bloc know what the deal is.

As for the UN, I presumed they still probably couldn't tell who the good guys in Iraq are
even after their humanitarian mission got blown to bits.
But...I read an article buried in the LA Times the other day that the UN is actually
thinking about considering the murders of their personnel in Iraq as war crimes.

Too bad to think that more UN personnel will probably have to die before Kofi Annan
and his band of fools figure out what is going on.

[radu]

Another great one for mass e-mailing! On it's way out now. :-)

[ChewedGum]

Poland, Bulgaria...It's interesting that freedom is getting its strongest support from among those nations whose people lived under oppression.

Very interesting. It's almost like they understand what evil is or something like that.

Gum

[Spc. Kibbey]

Well, as the guy who wrote this article, a few things I'd like to say:

I think one of the things that took me aback the most was when an Iraqi translator asked a Polish army doctor we were with what he thought of Iraq. He said it was not very different from Poland. I hadn't really thought about it until then, but for the Polish and Bulgarians, the Iraqis don't seem to have it so bad economically.

From my experiences, they have a little harsher, more cynical approach to the Iraqis than the Americans, but I can not find it in me to fault them for that.

I can say this though, and many will dissagree with me, but after I saw the way Kerbala immediately began to fall apart when the Marines left (the police started a turf war with a near-by town the day after the last Marines pulled out), and after seeing some of the way things are going in the North, I am eager to have the Marines back in Iraq, and eager to see whether or not things take a dramatic turn when they roll into their new AO in the North. Semper Fi, good buddies.