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[Kansas City, MO] 360 Architecture has been selected by the government of Iraq to master plan and design a $500 million “sports city” in Basra. The 360-acre project will be developed in phases. The first phase features a 65,000-seat stadium and a 10,000-seat secondary stadium/practice facility designed to FIFA (international soccer) and Olympic (track and field) standards. It also includes four training facilities, athlete housing facilities, a fire station and helipad, among other items. 360 Architecture is teamed on the project with Newport Global Project Management Group and Abdullah Al-Jiburi Contracting Company, Iraq’s largest general contractor. The team won an...

Surror Yousif Nasar, president of the Basrah Blind Association, recently demonstrated talking software to a member of his association. With this technology, BBA members can now email and surf the Internet. The U. S. State Department's Basrah Provincial Reconstruction Team provided the software after hearing of the association’s needs. Photo courtesy of Multi-National Division – South. BASRAH — Under the former regime, many elements of civil society were neglected here, including the handicapped. Upon hearing of the needs of the Basrah Blind Association, the U.S. State Department's Provincial Reconstruction Team asked how it might help. "It's an honor to meet...

UMM QASR, Iraq, Dec. 4, 2009 – When the city of Basra was particular unstable between 2006 and 2008, the port of Umm Qasr was left to tread water as a contributor to Iraq’s economic development. Workers at Port of Umm Qsar load bags of grain from a cargo vessel that entered the port Nov. 23, 2009. The Joint Interagency Task Force-Iraq and Iraqi partners are working to gain International Ship and Port Facility Code certification to entice more maritime business to Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. David Bennett   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Now, however,...

SNIPPET: "Iraqi officials in Al Kut are seeking four suspected Iranian Qods Force operatives behind attacks on security forces. Members of the Iraqi security forces put up wanted posters with photos of the Iranian operates on the streets in an effort to detain the men. The Qods Force agents are wanted for "armed operations against Iraqi security personnel and civilians," an Iraqi security official told Voices of Iraq. "The security authorities in Kut appealed to local residents to report these dangerous persons who are wanted on charges of involvement in terrorist operations in Iraq." The campaign was announced the same...

BASRAH — Col. Butch Kievenaar, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, met with key Basrah province shaykhs at the Basrah Operations Center here, June 16. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the brigade commander to the shaykhs, as well as discuss partnership as it’s related to the U.S.-Iraqi Security Agreement, said Maj. Richard Fierro, fire support officer for the brigade. The commander spoke with the shaykhs and explained to them what contributions the U.S. forces were bringing to the province. "Since we moved into the province, I wanted you to hear from me what...

BASRAH — British forces handed over a former Coalition headquarters to Iraqi officials during a ceremony at the Basrah International Airport Hotel here, June 15. The handover of the hotel is part of the ongoing withdrawal of British forces from Iraq in accordance with the United Kingdom's security agreement with the Iraqi government. "Military and civilian personnel, both Iraqi and Coalition, have worked within the hotel to achieve the conditions that have allowed us to celebrate many days just like this – the return of functions and facilities to the Basrawis," said Group Captain Richard Hill, deputy commander of British...

BASRAH — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is working closely with Iraqi businessmen to teach them how to bid on contracts for work with the U.S. government. At a workshop in Basrah Oct. 9, USACE contract specialist, Karen Johnson, and project manager, Sheila Hyde, provided information on a variety of topics. The businessmen were shown how to read and understand government solicitation requirements; the key steps in the USACE contracting process, from initial scope of work to contract award; adhering to the Defense Base Act insurance requirements; other important documents (i.e. past performance evaluations, letters of recommendation, security...

”I feel blessed to be working on this important project,” said Ryan Hartwig, construction representative with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Basrah Children’s Hospital Office “Each time we go, we see more progress. I can look at the place now and actually visualize patients using this facility,” he continued. “It’s just very satisfying being part of this effort that will no doubt save or change the lives of so many Iraqi children.” Several key partners are involved in the project including Project Hope (a nongovernment organization), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, explained...

There is an interesting piece of graffiti on a bridge near Basra. A fleeing militiaman has scrawled “We'll be back”; underneath an Iraqi soldier has scribbled in reply “And we'll be waiting for you”. The Shia militias, the Jaish al- Mahdi, who controlled large parts of Basra until March this year, has now gone and instead the city is firmly under the grip of Iraq's new security forces, in whom the coalition has invested so much training. They re-established control in April, in an operation romantically named “The Charge of the Knights”, systematically clearing the city with British and American...

Muqtada al-Sadr. The Mahdi Army has suffered a significant blow during fighting against Iraqi and Coalition forces this year, according to an Iraq intelligence report. The heavy casualties sustained by the Mahdi Army have forced Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army and the Sadrist political movement, to change his tactics and disband the Mahdi Army in favor of a small, secretive fighting force. "More than 2,000 cadres from the Mahdi Army leaders were killed recently," an Iraqi intelligence official told the Gulf News. "This led to the almost complete collapse of the army," the official said....

BAGHDAD - The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Saturday that al-Qaida's network in the country has never been closer to defeat, and he praised Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for his moves to rein in Shiite and Sunni militant groups. Ryan Crocker's comments came as Iraqi forces have been conducting crackdowns on al-Qaida militants in the northern city of Mosul and on Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra. Thousands of Iraqi forces also moved into the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad last week imposing control for the first time in years. But truces with the powerful...

QUIBLA, Iraq - As dawn broke over the town of Quibla, Iraq, soldiers from Quick Reaction Force 1 of the 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction force fanned out and began searching the city house-by-house for illegal weapons. QRF 1, deployed from al-Anbar province on April 1 had been setting the stage for Operation Charge of the Knight since their arrival. In the previous two weeks they, along with elements of the 14th Iraqi Army Division and local police cordoned off the city and established basis at strategic points on the perimeter. Operation Charge of the Knight represented the first large-scale...

SHAIBA AIRBASE, Iraq – The 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force has come a long way. Literally and figuratively. As the first Iraqi division formed in 2004, the 1st Iraqi Army Division, renamed the 1st IA (QRF) in February, has developed, with the help of dedicated military transition team advisors, into the one of the premier units in the young Iraqi Army. Within the last year, the al-Anbar based 1st IA (QRF) has deployed brigades to Baghdad and Diyala to fight terrorist groups like al-Qaeda in Iraq and anti-government militias, while still providing security for the citizens of al-Anbar. Most...

Received this via email from an ex-Navy Seal with friends in Iraq. Feel free to pass on to whomever -- I have Mike's approval. You can tell he was fired up. You may agree or disagree with this war, we all hate war and wish our boys weren't there, but how about some factual reporting. It's got me fired up! Many of you have written over the last two weeks, and I appreciate it. A lot of you have asked questions, based on what you’ve seen or read in the news. Since so many of you have asked many of...

Eleven days after Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki launched Operation Knights' Assault in Basrah, the picture of the fighting in the city has become clearer. Maliki launched the operation after giving limited notice to Multinational Forces Iraq, and an inexperienced Iraqi Army brigade from the newly formed 14th Division cracked doing the opening days of the fighting. Basrah Operational Command rushed in forces into Basrah, including Army and elite police units, to stabilize the fighting, and six days after the operation began, Muqtada al Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army to stand down in Basrah, Baghdad, and the South. . .

Three days after Muqtada al Sadr ordered the Mahdi Army to withdraw from the fighting in Baghdad and the Shia South, the fighting has dropped dramatically. The Iraqi government has denied that it has agreed to Sadr's terms, but has softened its rhetoric against Mahdi Army, instead shifting its focus on the "criminal elements" just as the US military has done over the past year. Meanwhile, the Iraqi security forces are continuing operations in Basrah. The Iraqi military has continued to target Mahdi Army elements in Basrah and in Baghdad and southern Iraq, but the government is now referring to...

The 14th division of the Iraqi army, which led the fight in Basra, was supposed to be one of their best — and also one of the most loyal to Prime Minister Maliki — and yet they took heavy casualties, had to be bailed out of firefights, and according to Browne, showed "fragility" under fire. (Nice euphemism, that.) If that's how the 14th performed, what does that say about the rest of the Iraqi army?

US forces stepped deeper into the Iraqi government's fight to cripple Shiite militias. It has launched air strikes in the southern city of Basra and firing a Hellfire missile in the main Shiite stronghold in Baghdad. . The American support occurred Friday as Iraqi troops struggled against strong resistance in Basra and retaliation elsewhere in Shiite areas - including more salvos of rockets or mortars into the US-protected Green Zone in Baghdad. It was the first time American jets have been called to attack militia positions since Iraqi ground forces launched an operation Tuesday to clear Basra of the armed...

There are four factors in determining when to transition a province to Iraqi control: the threat, Iraqi Security Forces capability, governance, and politics. The reporting on the turnover of Basrah province addresses three of the four factors in determining PIC; yet the established press leaves out one of the most important changes of the last year.

BASRAH — A courthouse and witness protection facility project is providing hundreds of jobs as well as technical and management training for many people in this southern Iraq city. At last count the project was employing on average 350 local workers a day and has helped the local economy to grow, according to Leo Sandoval, resident engineer with the Basrah Area Office of the Gulf Region South (GRS) district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). In addition, Sandoval said, USACE has trained construction and management staff on construction processes from in-the-trenches field construction to management responsibilities for handling...