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Iraqi security forces are massing more than 30,000 soldiers and police for an upcoming operation against al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army in the eastern province of Diyala, according to police and military officials. The operation, which was expected to be launched this week, has been scheduled to kick off on August 1, an anonymous senior Iraqi military officer told AFP. "The operation is aimed at cleansing the region of insurgents, al Qaeda and militias who are still there," the officer said. Like other offensives against al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army, the Diyala operation will be planned and led...

FOB KALSU, Iraq (Army News Service, March 13, 2005) – Iraqis celebrated the reopening last week of the Musayib Bridge, located about 45 kilometers south of Baghdad, and officials said it will make traveling easier for residents of Babil province. The span, which runs over the Euphrates River in Iskandariyah, is the main thoroughfare for merchants, worshippers and families who travel north to Baghdad or south to Karbala. The bridge was destroyed one year ago by a terrorist car bomb. The reopening ceremony March 6 was attended by Salem Salh Mahdy, Babil province governor; Gen. Qais Kamza, Babil provincial police...

AL HILLAH, Iraq (Army News Service, Dec. 1, 2005) – Coalition instructors tested and certified the combat readiness of the 2nd Iraqi Army Brigade this week, and announced that the troops are ready to plan and conduct military operations independently in Babil Province, in south-central Iraq. Meanwhile along the Syrian border, Iraqi forces also assumed greater control of the area. A ceremony Nov. 30 in western Iraq symbolized the securing of the borders through cooperation of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and Multi-National Force Iraq. Defense minister lauds `historic day’ “I won¹t forget this day,” said...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IRAQI 2ND ARMY BRIGADE READY TO TAKE OVER BABIL PROVINCE AL HILLAH, Iraq -- On Nov. 29 the 2nd Iraqi Army Brigade from al Hillah successfully accomplished its certification process. From Nov. 24 – 27, military instructors from Multi-National Division Central-South tested the combat readiness of 2nd Brigade Headquarters and subunits. The exam confirmed that the 2nd Brigade is ready to plan and conduct military activities independently. It opens the way to hand over the responsibility for a safe and secure environment in Babil Province from Coalition Forces to Iraqi Army units. From now on 2nd Brigade...

Excerpt - BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Col. William Wood, commanding officer of the 184th Infantry Regiment, died last week, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. officer to be killed in combat in the Iraq war, the U.S. military said Monday. Wood, based at Forward Operating Base Falcon in the northern province of Babil, had responded to a roadside bomb Thursday and was giving orders to his men as they secured the area when a secondary explosion blew him backwards into a canal, killing him instantly, the military said. Wood, 44, was based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. A memorial service will be held...

The construction work also benefitted the local economy, with 80 to 140 Iraqis working at the site each week. By U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 21, 2005 — A new $4.9 million electrical substation will provide approximately 20,000 Iraqis in the southwestern portion of Babil an increase in power reliability. The substation, completed in early October, replaces an existing facility. Local Iraqis performed the labor that included design and construction of a 33/11 kilovolt switch-gear building, a guard house and installation of two transformers and new switch gear equipment. The local Iraqi economy benefited...

February 1, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — An Iraqi-American businessman under investigation in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal was placed on an honor roll of former regime thugs by Saddam Hussein's demonic son Uday just months before the war, The Post has learned. Detroit-area real-estate developer Shakir al-Khafaji, who received millions of dollars worth of vouchers to buy discount Iraqi crude in the U.N. oil-for-food program, appeared on an "Honor List" of Iraqis considered most valuable to Saddam that was published by the Uday Hussein's newspaper, Babil, in November 2002.

More than 3,000 US and Iraqi troops have launched a major offensive on a rebel stronghold south of the capital, Baghdad, the US military says. More than 30 suspected insurgents were seized in the sweep of Babil region, according to US Central Command. A press release says the forces also secured a bridge across the Euphrates River used by rebels moving in and out of key Iraqi cities. No casualties have so far been reported among the assault force.

  Marines uncover weapons cache in Babil Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq – Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit uncovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in the vicinity of Musayyib Sept. 28 and detained three men with suspected ties to the ordnance. The Marines, who are assigned to Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines – the MEU’s ground combat element – made the discovery during a routine patrol. They turned up three 60 mm mortar systems, seven 82-mm rounds, four 80-mm high-explosive rockets, 147 37-mm projectiles, seven rocket-propelled grenades, 10 100-mm high-explosive projectiles and...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 9/24/02 - Kabul, Babil, Sukkot, Ramallah, al-Shorja, Kosovo BREAKING: Babil, Babylon International Festival, BREAKING: Western Wall, Sukkot, BREAKING: Ramallah, clean underwear, BREAKING: Kosovo, UN accountability, Kabul, firewood, Ashiana center, brick factory, bodybuilders, Kandahar, Bagram, Baghdad, al-Shorja market, Baghdad, women's food rations, Jerusalem, Israel, Bethlehem, Gaza, Hamas, Al Aqsa Terrorists' Brigade, Palestinian police and terror, Gaza blood libel, Hebron, Tel Aviv, Tehran, ===================== Kabul =================== In Kabul, collecting firewood. In Kabul, women are free. Painting at the Ashiana center is allowed These people were FREED BY THE USA. In Kabul, at the brick...